Afridi no automatic choice for ODI captaincy: Butt

Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to decide on the ODI captaincy and Shahid Afridi is not the automatic choice to lead the national side in next month's Asia Cup, chairman Ejaz Butt said on Saturday.
Afridi, current Twenty20 captain, was being tipped to lead Pakistan in the June 15-25 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka but Butt said a decision would be taken on May 25.
"We will announce the captain for the Asia Cup on May 25 after a meeting of the selection committee. Until now we have not decided or discussed any names as yet for the captaincy, Butt said.
Butt said the captaincy issue would be decided after taking into account report of the manager and coach on the performance of the team in the recent ICC World Twenty20.
He said the selectors had been told to finalise a list of 30 players for the Asia Cup and a full tour of England this summer.
Sources said the 30 players would be asked to attend a conditioning camp before the final squads are announced for the Asia Cup and England tour.
Chief selector Mohsin Khan also made it clear that nothing has been decided as yet on the captaincy or selection of players.
"We will only meet on May 25 with the Board chairman to take these decisions," he said.
The governing board the PCB has also been called for a meeting on May 23 in which the performance of team in the ICC World Twenty20 and other issues would be discussed.
"The concept of having two separate captains or one captain for the coming one-day and Test matches will be discussed at this meeting," one source said. Opener Salman Butt is being tipped to be named captain of the Test side.

Younus wants his appeal to be heard on camera: Qayyum

Karachi: Younus Khan wants his appeal to be heard in front of the media even though appeals judge Irfan Qadir on Saturday said that other Pakistani players, facing PCB bans and fines, were in favour of a closed door hearing.
Abdul Qayyum, the legal advisor of Younus, who is serving an indefinite ban imposed by the cricket board, today said his client''s appeal was a separate one and has nothing to do with pleas of other players.
"These are separate appeals and Younus's appeal has nothing to do with the others. If the other players don't want their hearings on camera fine but Younus wants his hearing before the media as we feel there is no ground for the ban to be enforced on him and he has nothing to hide from anyone," Qayyum said.
Justice (retd) Qadir, hearing the appeals of six cricketers against their bans and fines imposed in March by the PCB, had earlier today said that players didn't want their hearings to be made open to the media as they thought it would result in more controversies and scandals.
"I personally feel there is no need to conceal anything but the players felt that if the hearings are on camera than they will be further scandalised," Qadir said.
Meanwhile, the legal advisor of the Pakistan board Talib Rizvi, has said that players were afraid of an open hearing because they didn't want their names to be further spoilt and entangled in controversies.
"We ourselves are keen to dispose of these appeals as soon as possible because we want to clear this wrong impression of the players in the eyes of the public," Talib said.
The PCB lawyer added that the board wants the appeals issue to be settled soon so that the players can concentrate on their cricket.

Akmal threatens to sue Pakistan coaches over fix claims

KARACHI (Reuters) - Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has threatened to sue former Pakistan coaches Intikhab Alam and Aaqib Javed for defamation unless they apologise for suggesting his performance in Australia may have been linked to bookmakers.

Akmal said on Saturday Alam and Javed should substantiate their allegations or make a public apology to him.

"I am fed up with these allegations. My family is disturbed. I go out and people hoot me and I am mentally disturbed. I want to clear this unwarranted stigma with my name," he told Reuters.

"I want an apology from these people. I will be speaking to the chairman of the board about this as they are employees of the board. If they don't apologise I intend to go to court in my personal capacity."

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit said on Thursday it was examining Pakistan's dismal tour of Australia this year when they were whitewashed in the test and one-day series.

However, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters the board had informed the ICC they had found no evidence of match-fixing by any player on the Australian tour.

Pakistan slumped to defeat in the second test in Sydney after they appeared to have victory in their grasp with Akmal dropping three catches and missing a run out.

His performance came under scrutiny during a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe into the team's poor tour with the two former coaches suspecting Akmal may have links with bookmakers.

The pair's statements caused an uproar in Pakistan when video recordings of the inquiry committee proceedings were leaked to a television channel this week.

"The point is (if) these people suspected me of deliberately under-performing why did they keep on selecting me for other matches?" Akmal said.

Akmal said it was about time someone took action against people making baseless allegations of match-fixing or the ordeal for Pakistani players would never end.

Alam and Javed were removed as team coaches after the Australian tour but given top positions in the national cricket academy by the board.

Pak's entire 'dysfunctional' Oz tour under ICC scanner

The entire Pakistan tour of Australia in 2009-10 is under a cloud with the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit investigating the visiting team's performance during the series, and not just the 'controversial' Sydney Test.
Outgoing ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) chief Paul Condon said that his department has been concerned about the entire tour and not just the New Year's Sydney Test.
"It is a series that worried us. The challenge is to find where the solid fact is, because what you've got there is a lot of internecine strife within the team and within Pakistan politics, with rival camps making allegations," The Australian quoted Condon, as saying.
"We are satisfied that that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistani point of view, and that dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, and maybe making them potentially underperform deliberately," he added.
Condon further said the ACSU was still inquiring into the series to establish facts.
"What we are trying to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to (bring) down captains or potential captains, or whether they were doing something more serious, for a financial fix," he said.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) has promised to co-operate, but chief executive James Sutherland has written to the ICC for more details of its investigation.
"We have no knowledge of any concerns and we'd have expected to have some knowledge if there were any," a CA spokesman said.
"If the ICC had any concerns, we would absolutely provide them with whatever support they needed. At this stage we believe we won that game on the merits of our performance," the spokesman added.
The Pakistan Cricket Board punished almost half of the Pakistan team for their performance in Australia. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were suspended for a year, while Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, were fined and placed on probation for six months

"Pak's entire dysfunctional tour of Australia" under ICC anti-corruption scanner

Sydney, May 22(ANI): The entire Pakistan tour of Australia in 2009-10 is under a cloud with the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit investigating the visiting team's performance during the series, and not just the 'controversial' Sydney Test.

Outgoing ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) chief Paul Condon said that his department has been concerned about the entire tour and not just the New Year's Sydney Test.

"It is a series that worried us. The challenge is to find where the solid fact is, because what you've got there is a lot of internecine strife within the team and within Pakistan politics, with rival camps making allegations," The Australian quoted Condon, as saying.

"We are satisfied that that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistani point of view, and that dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, and maybe making them potentially underperform deliberately," he added.

Condon further said the ACSU was still inquiring into the series to establish facts.

"What we are trying to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to (bring) down captains or potential captains, or whether they were doing something more serious, for a financial fix," he said.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) has promised to co-operate, but chief executive James Sutherland has written to the ICC for more details of its investigation.

"We have no knowledge of any concerns and we'd have expected to have some knowledge if there were any," a CA spokesman said.

"If the ICC had any concerns, we would absolutely provide them with whatever support they needed. At this stage we believe we won that game on the merits of our performance," the spokesman added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board punished almost half of the Pakistan team for their performance in Australia. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were suspended for a year, while Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, were fined and placed on probation for six months.

PCB to name skipper for Asia Cup, England tour to be named on Monday

Lahore, May 22 (ANI): Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has said that the national team captain for the Asia Cup and the Test tour to England will be announced on Monday (May 24.)

Ijaz told reporters here Friday that he was satisfied with Pakistan's performance in the just-concluded Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies. He described the team losing to Australia in the semi-final as sheer bad luck, the Daily Times reports.

He said PCB Governing Council members and selectors would discuss the forthcoming tours.

Ijaz, however, refused to speculate on whether the board would announce one captain for the Asia Cup and England tour or have separate leaders.

Opener Salman Butt is the favourite to become Pakistan's Test skipper while Shahid Afridi, who led the side in the Twenty20 World Cup, is expected to retain the captaincy for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and limited over matches in England.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younus, who is in Sydney at present, also backed Salman for the Test captaincy.

"I really don't see any other candidate in sight at the moment," he was quoted, as saying.

Appeals of Naved and Malik adjourned

An arbitrator has adjourned appeals of Pakistan allrounder Rana Naved and former captain Shoaib Malik against one-year suspensions and fines.

Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer Talib Rizvi told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore that Malik's appeal has been adjourned until May 29 while Naved's appeal will be heard on June 19.

"Naved's lawyer wanted to make some amendments in the appeal and needed some time," Rizvi said.

Malik's laywer had presented his arguments in the last hearing on May 15, but Rizvi said the PCB needed time to discuss it.

"PCB chairman (Ijaz Butt) was out of country and only returned home yesterday so we will discuss all the legal matters with him before giving our reply in the next hearing," Rizvi said.

The PCB suspended both players for one year and fined them two million rupees ($23,500) each for poor performance and ill discipline during the tour of Australia earlier this year.

Six players filed appeals against suspensions and fines except for former captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has retired from international cricket.

Arbitrator Irfan Qadir said he wanted to wrap up the proceedings as quickly as possible in all the six appeals and wanted it to be transparent.

"Video recordings of all our proceedings will be done so as to bring transparency," Qadir told reporters.

The PCB imposed fines and suspensions on the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistan's performance during the winless tour of Australia.

Players launched accusations at each other in a leaked video recording of the PCB inquiry's proceedings.

In the videos, former coaches Intikhab Alam and Aqib Javed questioned wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal's poor performance in the Sydney test.

Alam told the inquiry committee he was "flabbergasted" when Akmal missed an easy run out of Shane Watson and later said he had heard stories about match fixing