Waqar to get treatment in Australia

Waqar Younis will have to undergo a treatment programmed in Australia for around five months to treat his health problems which enforced him to step down as Pakistan coach.

Sources close to the former Test captain said that Waqar's choice to resign as coach and end his tenure after the Pakistan team's tour to Zimbabwe was exclusively because of his health issue.

"He is facing some liver problem and specialists in his now adopted hometown, Sydney, have advise him to start an instant treatment/rehabilitation programmed to prevent the health problem from turning into a more serious disease," one source said.

"Waqar only learnt that he will need undergoing the treatment programmed after coming to Pakistan to prepare the team for the Zimbabwe tour because the consequences of the tests he underwent before coming to Pakistan only came out earlier this month after which he knowledgeable the PCB about his personal and health problem," the source said.

He said PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt didn't want Waqar to go and the former Test pacer has certain the board that once he is 100 per cent well he will be obtainable for Pakistan cricket again.

"Don't rule out the opportunity of Waqar recurring as coach sometime next year or even being given another top liability by the board as even while resigning Waqar made it clear he wanted to serve Pakistan cricket in any capacity," the source said.

The source said the possibility of the board appointing a coach on temporary basis until Waqar is well again is also a strong opportunity and for the time being Aaqib Javed, who served as supporter coach with Waqar, might be the temporary choice.

There have been speculations that Waqar's acceptance might be related to some problems with the board but the sources close to him denied this and said the pace bowler had faced lot of pressure from his family and doctors to return to Australia instantly and start his treatment.

"But because of the PCB request him to at ablest carry on for the Zimbabwe tour he agreed and he will return to Pakistan with the team to collect his possessions and sort out all matters with the board before returning to Sydney to start his treatment program," one source added.

The 39-year-old former Test captain has won a lot of praise and appreciation from former players and greats, who felt Waqar did a good job transformation the Pakistan team in spite of the several controversy and scandals that Pakistan cricket had to undergo since last year.

Read more »

West Indies name inexperienced squad

West Indies have named an inexpert squad for their two Twenty20 internationals in England next month.

With the two matches at The Oval set to clash with the Champions League Twenty20, the Windies selectors have chosen to fail to notice Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo and Ravi Rampaul.

Star batsman Chris Gayle has also been lost as he remains out of favour following a spat with the West Indies Cricket Board after he miss the limited overs series next to Pakistan earlier this year.

West Indies' choice not to select their Champions League Twenty20 players may not go down well with their England rivals, who earlier this month, tag the matches on to the end of their summer programme to help fulfil a contractual responsibility with the media and the WICB.

England is also likely to select Eoin Morgan in spite of the left-hander being named in the Kolkata Knight Riders' squad for the competition.

In contrast, Bravo and Pollard are due to play for their IPL franchises - defensive champions the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians correspondingly - while the residual four players will appear for home country Trinidad & Tobago.

In their nonattendance the Windies have called on four new uncapped players - Miles Bascombe, Johnson Charles, Nkruma Bonner and Derwin Christian. The two Twenty20s are listed for September 23 and 25 at The Oval.


West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Christopher Barnwell, Miles Bascombe, Devendra Bishoo, Nkruma Bonner, Johnson Charles, Derwin Christian (wk), Fidel Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Ashley Nurse, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Dwayne Smith.

Read more »

Flower listening carefully on remaining No. 1

Andy Flower on Tuesday allowed a brief moment of approval at a job wonderfully done by England - before they move on to the powerful challenge of staying on top of the world.

England took the last seven India wickets for only 21 runs at The Oval, to complete a 4-0 power Test series loss with an innings victory.

After the general elation had died down - and a sell-out swarm made their way home - Flower and Andrew Strauss' team held their own low-key celebration, transport a box of freezing drinks out to camp just off the square for a few moments to reproduce together on their attainment.

There will be valuable little time for any more of the same before a rush of England limited-over’s assignments begins when Test batsman Eoin Morgan lead his adopt country for the first time next to his native one in Dublin on Thursday.

There is much longer - five months till January when they head to the United Arab Emirates to take on Pakistan - for England to plan how they protect their new world-beating Test status.

While Flower is noted for his confrontation to the smallest amount hint of satisfaction, and can be count on to be thinking already about the way forward in all formats, he adjudicators it only right too that England are given due praise for their rise to the top of the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

"It gives me wonderful fulfillment, but it is the players we have to think about," said the coach. "I look at them in the changing room after the game, and they can rightly feel very proud of themselves.

"They've put in a wonderful amount of hard work to get themselves into a place where they feel very confident and where they are creation good decisions - and then are good sufficient to back them up out in the middle."

England's winning recipe has centered on collective support for one more towards a common aim, but it has also been achieve on the back of a stream of exceptional individual performances.

Ian Bell's creative batting form has been a exposure over the past 12 months; Stuart Broad was named man of the series for his all-round heroics, especially in the second Test on his home ground in Nottingham; and Kevin Petersen is back to somewhere near his substantial best.

There is no one in the team, though, undeserving of special mention. Flower believes success is reproduction success - and insists England's forceful victory should not be devalue by those decry India, for whom only Rahul Dravid has perform in keeping with his status among a clutch of superstars.

"It is nice to see the team like that and see them actually sure and it's nice to see them believing that they will win games of cricket.

"They have conquered a very good side here, and I don't think we should forget that.
"There are some very fine cricketers in that Indian side, and they have been drama at a high level for a very long time.

"They are hugely knowledgeable - so to play like we did and to rule them like we did is a great credit to these England players."

Bell, Petersen and Alastair Cook have each made double-centuries over the past month - a clear response to batting coach Graham Gooch's familiar call to make 'daddy hundreds'.

But as they look towards those supplies which must be met to beat the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and - a winter on - India again away from home, England's batsmen knows more of the same is a must.

Oval man of the match Bell has obviously got the message. He averages more than 118 this calendar year, and has made 950 runs, but will prize major contributions in the sub-Continent even more highly - and is challenging himself and his team-mates to outdo the efforts of several previous generation by making England's first 200-plus individual scores in Asia for almost 30 years.

"I think when we get out to the sub-Continent it's about getting big scores," he said. "I'm not certain when anyone last got a double-hundred out there. That'll be the goal.

"Goochie will be approaching us hard - because with our bowling attack, we know if we get big scores on the board in the first innings we can win Test matches. "We've complete it well here; we've now got to take it abroad, where we've not done it so well in the past," Flower completed.

Read more »

India can be able to number two in ODIs

Going by the present form, it looks highly improbable but if India strike England by a 4-1 margin or better in the upcoming one-day series, they can scale to second spot from third in the ICC ranking chart.

World champions India (117) are placed third behind Sri Lanka (119) in the list, head by Australia (130)

Australia's 3-2 series win has limited Sri Lanka to earn only one rating point which, in turn, has given India a chance to get back the second position.

To get the number-two positions, India will have to beat England by a 4-1 scoreline, or whitewash the hosts in the five-match series, initial at Chester-le-Street on September three.

Meanwhile, in the rankings for ODI batsmen, Virat Kohli has enter into the top-five with a gain of one position and sachin Tendulkar re-entered into the top-10 with a similar gain.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost a place to find himself at number nine. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian bowler in the top-10 as he missing one position to be at 10.

Australia's fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson, who the length of with Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga was the most important wicket-taker in the recent series with 11, has jump four places to maintain third position while Malinga, who recorded the third hat-trick of his career in Monday's ODI, has jump 19 places to claim 11th position.

Dough Bollinger's nine wickets in the series has help him return to the top-10 in seventh place after vault 15 places while Brett Lee has been satisfied with a jump of four places after his eight wickets in four matches which has put him just at the back Malinga in 14th position.

Graeme Swann of England is on top of the bowling table but leads New Zealand's Daniel Vettori by just six points.

In the list of batsmen, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has return to the top-20 in 17th position after increasing five places following his series contribution of 180 runs which made him the fourth most winning batsman in the series behind Michael Clarke (242), Ricky Ponting (196) and Shane Watson (185).

While Watson and Ponting have retained their third and 15th positions, correspondingly, Clarke has moved up two places to seventh place.

The batting table is head by South Africa's Hashim Amla while his captain, AB de Villiers, is in second position.

There is no modify in the top three of the rankings for all-rounders which are still led by Watson.

Read more »

Akram: Nothing cool concerning Dhoni

Former Pakistan skipper establish the Indian captain distant and his batting form a big fret against England. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s demean was hardly exciting during the Test series against England.

The four-nil defeat next to England has done no good to Dhoni’s standing as a captain and former Pakistan skipper Akram is just not pleased at the way Dhoni handled belongings during the Test series that completed at The Oval on Monday.

In a limited chat with Mobile ESPN from London on Monday night, Akram, like other cricket pundit, was sorrowful with the way Dhoni unsuccessful to lead India by example. Captain Cool has unexpectedly lost a few admirers and Akram is positively one of them.

At The Oval on Monday, India lost seven wickets for 21 runs after Sachin Tendulkar (a lucky 91) and Amit Mishra (a defiant 84) held the Indian fort with a 144-run partnership. One of the culprits in this recurrent middle-order capitulation has been the skipper himself. Dhoni was out for three; Stuart Broad once again revealing the captain’s batting restriction next to a moving ball.

“His batting form is of great anxiety. In this series Dhoni frequently got out in the slips region. He may have got a couple of 70-plus scores in the third Test at Edgbaston, but what good are these runs when your adversary has collective a 700-plus score?” asked Akram.

Akram feels a dressing room can never be a happy one waiting and if not a captain and coach communicate with the team and lift their confidence. Dhoni’s body language was absolutely not motivating sufficient, felt Akram.

“I feel Dhoni needs to be even more concerned in the game. New coach Duncan Fletcher is not a performer and will take time to settle down,” Akram said.

The serious lack of preparation by the BCCI (for example, RP Singh arriving late for the third Test) and the announcement gap between the team organization and the Board bigwigs was expressively clear. Akram agrees too.

“According to me, it seems that no one had any idea in the Indian camp about what was going on. Dhoni did not look too concerned with on-field events. I know this has been his style, but when your team is getting thrash, ‘Captain Cool’ can’t pay for to freeze! At times, you have to change your style to get the best out of your players. This result should be eye-opener for Dhoni,” said Akram.

In spite of the censure, Akram back Dhoni as Indian skipper. Removing him is not a quick-fix explanation, he felt.

“Our cricketing civilization in the sub-continent doesn’t hold up a losing captain, but here is where we need to back Dhoni. He can certainly show the critic wrong in the ODI series. While that will work to India’s benefit, Dhoni can pick up his piece as well,” said Akram.

Read more »