PCB to take action against afridi over waqar comments

Local media last week reported that serious differences had emerged between Afridi and Waqar during this year's World Cup. -Photo by AFP

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday demanded Shahid Afridi explain why he criticised coach Waqar Younis, saying the one-day captain had violated the code of conduct.
Afridi criticised Younis for interfering in team selection during the 3-2 one-day series win over the West Indies.
“Waqar interferes with the team selection and everyone should do his job,”Afridi said on his return from the West Indies Sunday.
“PCB has taken notice of the statements made by Afridi in the media about the differences within the tour management in West Indies. It is a violation of code of conduct on part of Afridi,” the PCB said.
“An explanation has been sought from him for the reasons to make such statements publicly. PCB will take appropriate action after submission of the tour-report at the conclusion of the tour.”
Pakistani media last week reported that serious differences had emerged between Afridi and Waqar during this year’s World Cup.
Pakistan reached the semi-finals in the tournament, jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, before being beaten by India who went on to win the championship

Afridi makes differences with waqar public

“Although the differences with the coach are not such which could not be solved... I must say that everyone should do his job and need not interfere in other's work.” -Photo by AP

KARACHI: Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi on Sunday criticised coach Waqar Younis for interference in team selection, saying that he would take up the matter with the country’s cricket chief.
Pakistani media last week reported that Afridi and Waqar did not get on during the 3-2 one-day series win against the West Indies.
Afridi, not happy with selection matters, on his return home early Sunday lashed out at Waqar.
“Although the differences with the coach are not such which could not be solved… I must say that everyone should do his job and need not interfere in other’s work,” Afridi told reporters.
Afridi said he will soon meet Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt to take up the matter before giving further details to the media.
With a relatively young string, Pakistan won the first three matches comfortably before going down in the last two matches against the West Indies who were also depleted by the non-selection of senior players like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Afridi regretted his team lost a good chance to win all the matches.
“We should have clean sweet the West Indies but the defeat in the last two matches left a bad taste in the mouth, we flopped in batting and that’s why I must say we need a batting coach,” said Afridi, who admitted he was also below par in the series.
“I played average cricket because I was tired after the World Cup and only played the series on the advice of some friends and former players.”
Afridi managed just two wickets in five matches and scored 28 in three innings

change a gears ass pakistan take on guyana today

Pakistan will be eager to get themselves ready, since the series is widely regarded as their best chance to win their first-ever Test series in the Caribbean. -Photo by AFP

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Pakistan continue their sojourn through the Caribbean with a two-day match against host nation Guyana, starting on Sunday at the Bourda Oval.
The Pakistanis will look to transition from the limited-overs mode of the game, as they prepare to face West Indies in the first Test of two, starting on Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium.
The visitors won the preceding one-day international series 3-2, but they sputtered in the last two matches, when West Indies were able to fight back to finish on a high note.
Misbah-ul-Haq will take over the reins of captaincy of the Test side from Shahid Afridi, and the visitors will welcome two pairs of fresh legs into the squad, with the arrival of former captain Younis Khan and key fast bowler Umar Gul.
Both Younis and Gul were rested following a challenging tour of New Zealand, which preceded a gruelling World Cup in Asia.
They will be the only two players that would need to get acclimatised to conditions in the Caribbean, since the rest of the squad has spent the last few weeks in the Caribbean.
Pakistan will be eager to get themselves ready, since the series is widely regarded as their best chance to win their first-ever Test series in the Caribbean.
Guyana are likely to be weakened, after batting heroes Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan were named in a West Indies 15-member training squad, which will take part in a two-day match practice match of its own at the neighbouring Demerara Cricket Club.
The side however, does include left-hander Narsingh Deonarine, who has a chance to remind the West Indies selectors about his ability, after losing his place over the last six months.
Squads:
Guyana (from): Shemroy Barrington, Ronsford Beaton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Derwin Christian, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fuddadin, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Keon Joseph, Amir Khan, Zaheer Mohammed, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Gajanand Singh
Pakistan (from): Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Abdur Rehman, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam , Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Salman, Saeed Ajmal, Tanvir Ahmed, Taufiq Umar, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan
Umpires: Nigel Duguid, Clyde Duncan
Match refree: Colin Stuart
Reserve umpire: Shannon Crawford

Mohammad hafeez,saeed ajmal improve ODI ranking

Mohammad Hafeez is now ranked sixth in ODI all-rounders' rankings. —Photo by AFP

KARACHI: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, on Friday, broke into the top three of the International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings for one-day international (ODI) bowlers for the first time in his career.
Ajmal reached the third spot during the recently concluded ODI series against the West Indies.
The 33-year-old from Faisalabad, who took six wickets in the series which Pakistan won by 3-2, has climbed 16 places and now sits in third position, five points behind Zimbabwe’s left-arm spinner Ray Price.
Ajmal’s rise means the top four spots are now occupied by spinners with New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori leading the field and England’s Graeme Swann sitting in fourth position.
With Ajmal reaching the third spot, he has now become Pakistan’s highest-ranked bowler with captain Shahid Afridi dropping out of the top 10 after a disappointing series, with just two wickets in the five matches and is now ranked 14th.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Hafeez has also improved his ranking after claiming six wickets in the series at 23.50 and has moved up seven places to number 27.
Hafeez, who was the second most successful batsman in the series with 267 runs, has improved his ranking by 17 places and is now in 49th position. Misbah-u-Haq’s series contribution of 184 runs has helped him move up three places to 31st spot while Umar Akmal has achieved a career-best ranking of 23rd after rising four places.
Hafeez’s all-round performance in the series has also helped him become the sixth-ranked all-rounder in the world. His 267 runs and six wickets in the series have helped him climb six places in the rankings for ODI all-rounders.
In the ODI Championship table, Pakistan had started the series with a difference of 35 ratings points relative to West Indies. This gap had meant Pakistan were expected to win the series convincingly. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, Pakistan’s failure to win comfortably has meant they have dropped points.
Despite losing the series 3-2, the West Indies have earned four ratings points which puts them five points clear of ninth-ranked Bangladesh, while Pakistan have dropped three ratings points to open the gap with fifth-placed England by five points

Mohsin hassan khan makeup with PCB

Mohsin Hasan Khan has taken back his resignation threats. —File photo by AFP

KARACHI: Chief selector Mohsin Hasan Khan resolved his differences with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after a meeting with board chairman Ijaz Butt on Thursday.

The meeting resulted in Khan withdrawing his threat to resign as the chairman of the national selection committee, following a row emerged over the composition of Pakistan’s Test squad for the series against West Indies.
“I am pleased to inform that there are currently no unresolved issues between PCB and Mohsin Hasan Khan,” PCB chief Ijaz Butt said in a statement.
The meeting, which was termed ‘fruitful’ by Butt, focused on the role and functioning of the national selection committee.
Earlier, Khan had said he would step down on Wednesday if some of his player choices were not included in the 15-member squad for the series, which starts at Guyana on May 12.
The PCB followed Khan’s statement by warning that any such action would be against the board’s code of conduct. However, after Thursday’s meeting, the board said it had decided against taking any further action.

Pakistan slump to quickfire defeat in fifth ODI

West Indies' bowler Devendra Bishoo, left, is embraced by teammate Darren Bravo after he took the wicket of Pakistan's Usman Salahuddin, right, who was trapped LBW for 8 runs, during their fifth and final one-day international cricket match which was won by West Indies in Georgetown, Guyana, Thursday, May 5, 2011. – Photo by AP

PROVIDENCE, GUYANA: Pakistan’s batting was undermined by West Indies’ three frontline seamers and their bowling upstaged by another blistering innings from Lendl Simmons in a 10-wicket loss in the fifth one-day international on Thursday.
A fluent 55 off 83 balls from Mohammad Hafeez failed to inspire the Pakistanis, and their batting crumbled for the first time in the series as they were all out for 139 in 41.2 overs after they chose to bat on an unpredictable Guyana National Stadium pitch.
The visitors’ bowlers found it difficult to defend such a modest target as Simmons hit a career-best, unbeaten 77 from 73 deliveries, and fellow opener Kirk Edwards supported with 40 from 71 ball to guide the hosts to victory with 159 balls remaining.
Pakistan however, won the five-match series 3-2, with comfortable victories in the first three matches, securing the result.
“It is a disappointing end to the series for us because it was not a pitch on which we should have been dismissed for 139,” said Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi.
“Our batting has been struggling for a long time, and I think we need someone to help us with situations like this.” “We all wanted to bat on this pitch and that is why the management and I decided to bat, but we did not play well. The thing that I always keep stressing – building partnerships – we did not build any partnerships and this is what was missing.” Afridi added: “The series victory is important for us. We are not playing any cricket at home, so winning this series is very important and will keep the morale high, and I think for the future it will be good for us.” Hafeez and Umar Akmal were the only Pakistani batsman to pass 20 as Ravi Rampaul up-ended the visitors batting with four for 45 from his allotted 10 overs.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy grabbed three for 30 from 10 overs, and Dwayne Bravo supported with two for 16.
“It is a good feeling to have won again, but it’s been well-played in the last two games for the boys,” said Sammy.
“We played as a team, and got the result that we wanted. This was the type of performance for which we have been searching for a very long time. It showed the good work that we have been doing at practices has finally transferred to the game, and it was good to see everybody taking part, and it was a total team effort.” He added: “The way we have chased down totals in the last two games, I guess it may be fair to say that our guys are more comfortable doing this. But throughout the series, we created several opportunities to win it, but we did not put enough runs on the board.” Hafeez dropped Simmons on 31 at slip off Saeed Ajmal before the West Indies opener knocked a short delivery from Afridi to long-on to bring up his 50 from the same number of balls in the 16th over.
He then carried West Indies over the threshold when he punched a delivery from Ahmed Shehzad to point, and stole a second run from an overthrow.
The two sides now contest two Tests, starting next Thursday at this same ground, and from May 20 to 24 at Warner Park in St. Kitts.
Pakistan contest a two-day, practice match on Sunday and Monday at Bourda Oval – the previous international venue here

Afridi wants winning end to ODI series

PROVIDENCE: Pakistan will be looking to give unshakeable proof that the West Indies were fortunate to gain a victory in their One-day International series, when the final match is contested on Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium.
The Pakistanis were upstaged by rain and a blistering innings from Lendl Simmons to lose the previous match last Monday at Kensington Oval by one run under the Duckworth-Lewis Method.
The visitors have an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series, following victories in the first three matches, but they will want to sign-off with a strong performance to knock West Indies back down a few notches, particularly with the two-Test series looming.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that though the conditions they contested the previous match were difficult, his side should have still performed much better.
“We started on a difficult pitch, but the way Mohammad Hafeez batted, we thought we would have scored 270 to 275,” he said.
“But I think we missed that chance, and we did not bat well in the end. It was disappointing because we missed an opportunity to score a big total, and we have to do much better, and show more consistency in the future.”
Afridi said though the Pakistanis wanted to give some of the less experienced players an opportunity to play, he still felt that they were good enough to help the side finish the series on top.
“I am pretty happy with our boys, and the way they have played in this series, so I think we can be proud,” he said.
“We set a total in the previous game, and in the conditions, and with our attack, I felt it was a decent target, but the weather played a role, and we lost.”
West Indies Darren Sammy was relieved to get a victory over a Test-playing nation other than Bangladesh for the first time in two years, but he is looking forward to the final match, and hoped there are no interruptions to prove that the hosts are the genuine article.
“It has been a long time since we have beaten a top side, but we took the opportunity, and came through in the end,” he said.
“We needed that victory, and it was good to win against a top side, and the guys will take the positives from this game, and we will look to take confidence from it, and put it into play here.”
BANGKOK: Thailand have been kicked out of the 2012 men’s Olympic qualifying competition round for fielding an ineligible player, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) told the Bangkok Post they would appeal after being thrown out following a first round penalty shootout victory over Palestine.
The Thais were set to face Bahrain in the next round of regional qualifiers for next year’s London Olympics before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stepped in, according to the paper.
The AFC punished Thailand for fielding suspended player Sucharit Chanthakul during the first leg in February, the report added.
“We have been formally informed by the AFC about the matter,” FAT secretary general Ong-art Korsinkha told the paper.
“We are appealing.”
Neither the AFC or FAT were immediately available for comment.
Soccer’s governing body FIFA would not confirm or deny Thailand’s expulsion but said an investigation was under way.
“FIFA has a case open with Thailand,” FIFA told Reuters in an email, adding that it could not comment further

BANGKOK: Thailand have been kicked out of the 2012 men’s Olympic qualifying competition round for fielding an ineligible player, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) told the Bangkok Post they would appeal after being thrown out following a first round penalty shootout victory over Palestine.
The Thais were set to face Bahrain in the next round of regional qualifiers for next year’s London Olympics before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stepped in, according to the paper.
The AFC punished Thailand for fielding suspended player Sucharit Chanthakul during the first leg in February, the report added.
“We have been formally informed by the AFC about the matter,” FAT secretary general Ong-art Korsinkha told the paper.
“We are appealing.”
Neither the AFC or FAT were immediately available for comment.
Soccer’s governing body FIFA would not confirm or deny Thailand’s expulsion but said an investigation was under way.
“FIFA has a case open with Thailand,” FIFA told Reuters in an email, adding that it could not comment further