Former captains offer help to revive Pakistan cricket
Oct 06, 2008
Former Pakistan Test captains have offered to help the country overcome what is a deepening cricket crisis.
Former skippers Rameez Raja, Wasim Akram, Inzamam ul Haq, Saeed Anwar and their former teammate Mushtaq Ahmad met with Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naek in Lahore and discussed the possibility of playing a role in a campaign to save Pakistan cricket.
Naek, a member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, welcomed their suggestions and favoured setting up a high-powered cricket committee comprising Pakistan's ex-Test stars to help ensure a smooth functioning of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Naek said a five-man committee comprising former stars should be formed to ensure that cricket is run in a professional manner in Pakistan.
Pakistan cricket is facing hard times as top teams are refusing to tour the country because of security fears. World champions Australia scrapped a Test tour of Pakistan earlier this year while September's Champions Trophy, which was to be held here, was postponed after five of the eight competing teams raised safety concerns.
Pakistani cricketers are now starved of international cricket and the PCB is facing a financial crunch because of the postponement of the Australia series and the Champions Trophy.
Seeing the grim situation, the ex-Test stars have decided to campaign to save Pakistan cricket. They are suggesting that a World XI should be invited to Pakistan to play a series, saying that such an exercise would help restore the country's image in the cricket world.
They gave this suggestion during an hour-long meeting with Naek.
Naek said that these cricketers should be given a wider role by including them in a committee that can help curtail the powers of the PCB chairman.
Raja, one of the most vocal of the cricketers who met Naek, made it clear that he and his fellow players had no hidden agenda. "We don't want anything from Pakistan cricket, we are just offering our help," he told reporters.
Inzamam said that a collective effort is needed to boost Pakistan cricket. He also appealed for lifting the ban on cricketers playing in the breakaway Indian Cricket League
Pakistan to play international cricket in Dubai
Sep 25, 2008
The Pakistan Cricket Board has signed a three-year, US$9 million deal to play international limited-overs and Twenty20 matches in Dubai, starting with a triangular tournament next year.
"Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the participating teams for next year's one-day international tournament in April," PCB spokesman Mansoor Suhail said Thursday.
The one-day internationals will be played at new stadium being constructed at Dubai Sports City, the United Arab Emirates, with whom the PCB has signed the deal.
Suhail said that the stadium is expected to be completed in March 2009 and will open with the triangular tournament.
The move to play international cricket in Dubai comes after Australia refused to tour Pakistan this year due to security fears and the Champions Trophy tournament was postponed for a year after four leading teams expressed their reservations over touring the country.
Pakistan, which has not played a test match this year, is now planning to rope in the West Indies for two test matches in November after both teams played three one-day internationals in Abu Dhabi.
The United Arab Emirates is not a new cricketing venue for Pakistan. Sharjah has hosted a number of international limited-overs tournaments featuring Pakistan, as well as a test match between Australia and Pakistan in 2002 when foreign teams refused to tour Pakistan after the 2001 Sept. 11 attacks.
Rawalpindi to host India Test
Sep 23, 2008
Rawalpindi will host its first cricket Test in more than four years when India tours Pakistan in January.
India will play Pakistan in the second Test and third limited-overs match of the series at Rawalpindi, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board's tour itinerary released Tuesday.
India played Pakistan the last time Rawalpindi hosted a Test match in April 2004.
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at Rawalpindi in December, and the city has been the scene of several violent incidents in past years. The city is also located near the federal capital Islamabad where at least 53 people died after a powerful blast at the Marriott Hotel on Saturday.
"As of now Rawalpindi is the venue," PCB spokesman Mansoor Suhail said, adding that the schedule was finalized before the Marriott blast.
The Indian team arrives in Pakistan on Jan. 4 and is scheduled to play a three-day warm-up match at Hyderabad before the first Test at Karachi. Lahore will host the third and final Test starting Jan. 29.
The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium was extensively renovated for the Champions Trophy before being excluded as one of the limited-overs tournament's three venues. The Champions Trophy was eventually postponed for a year due to security concerns held by the participating teams.
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