PCB announces itinerary of Sri Lanka series

KARACHI: Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play a three Test series, five one-day internationals and a T20 match in the United Arab Emirates from Oct. 18 to Nov. 26 this year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday. The series will also see the revival of Test cricket at the Sharjah stadium after 11 years after Pakistan and Australia last played Tests at the desert venue in 2002. Pakistan has been forced to play its home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE after the Lankans refused to tour Pakistan because of security concerns. Sharjah will also host an ODI between the two teams marking its return as an international venue after eight years. The PCB announcing the itinerary of the series said the matches would be played at Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as the venues were cost effective. "We had a choice of neutral venues but we opted for UAE because it allows us to manage things smoothly," chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad said. The Sri Lankan team came under attack by militants in March, 2009 in Lahore in which six Pakistani policemen and a van driver were killed and five visiting players wounded. Since then no foreign team has toured Pakistan. Sri Lanka had also offered to host the series at home but the offer was declined by the PCB. Pakistan is also due to host England in Jan-Feb next year in the UAE for a full series.

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Pakistan set to test revived Zimbabwe

HARARE: Having negotiated the first hurdle in their campaign to justify Test nation status by beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test two weeks ago, Zimbabwe now face a much higher fence on Thursday - Pakistan.The single Test match, which starts Thursday, will be followed by three ODI's and two Twenty-20s.Zimbabwe was granted a return to Test cricket by the ICC last year after a gap of six years. They had been obliged to field a weak side following a strike of nearly all their professionals and two consequent Test defeats by an innings and more than 200 runs. Withdrawal from Tests was inevitable and those years have been used to rebuild. With just what success is now under the microscope with three successive tours by Bangladesh, followed by Pakistan and in October/November New Zealand.These opponents are considered by the ICC to be ones a nascent Zimbabwe can best cope with.

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Pak women lose first ODI against West Indies

ST. VINCENT: Pakistan’s women’s cricket team lost the first One-day International against the West Indies. Pakistan scored only 82 runs in 40 overs and only three players reached double figures. In reply West Indies reached the total in 20 overs and lost only two wickets.The hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the four match series.

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Spot-fixing scandil

KARACHI: A year on from the spot-fixing scandal that ended in long bans for three leading Test players, Pakistani cricket is still struggling to recover.In late August 2010, Britain's now-defunct News of the World tabloid alleged that captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had arranged deliberate no-balls for money from an agent during the Lord's Test against England."We were settling in the hotel after coming from the third day's play when police raided the team hotel, showed us documentation and searched the rooms of the players," then-team manager Yawar Saeed told."It was earth-shattering and I couldn't believe my ears for the first 20 minutes.Pakistan lost the match by an innings and 225 runs the following day as a visibly upset Butt tried his best to hide his shock, and the claims of spot-fixing at the spiritual home of cricket shook the game around the world.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) pulled the trio from the one-day series which followed and Scotland Yard investigated the players before they were allowed to return home on condition they would return for criminal proceedings.The International Cricket Council (ICC) went on to suspend them and an anti-corruption tribunal led by senior lawyer Michael Beloff heard their case in Doha in January and February this year.Butt was given a ten-year ban with five years suspended, Asif seven years with two years suspended and Aamer a flat five-year ban effectively meaning all three will be out of action for five years.The gifted Aamer is still only 19 and could yet make a return to the game, but Butt and Asif will be into their 30s by the time their bans expire, and their international careers appear to be over.Pakistan have not fared badly since the England tour, drawing a Test series against a strong South Africa side, beating New Zealand away and reaching the semi-final of the World Cup.But Saeed said Pakistan was still feeling the loss of three star players who could have led the side into the future."In Salman we had a young captain who in his first Test as leader defeated Australia and then in Aamer we had a world-class fast bowler who even in his early days was lethal," said Saeed, who quit his post after the scandal-hit tour."I still feel they were set up but the fault lies with them and it seems they did it for temporary monetary gains. Even today it's hair-raising when I remember that incident," said Saeed, who refused to accept the management could have done anything to prevent what happened."We barred their agents coming into their hotel rooms but we couldn't stop them from talking to someone on the phone. Had we known, we would have taken every possible step."Forced by the ICC, the PCB took measures to prevent a repeat in the future, forming an "integrity committee" to look into players' assets and adding stringent clauses on match-fixing to players' central contracts.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt admitted the loss of three key players had been devastating for a cricket-mad country where the game is often a unifying force in adversity."Losing three players hurt us badly," said Butt. "Salman had shown great potential as captain but after that case we had to look around for a permanent captain and it was tough."The side suffered yet another blow earlier this month with the surprise resignation of coach Waqar Younis, who stepped down after less than 18 months in charge, citing "personal grounds".Captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said the side wants to give Waqar a fitting send-off with a successful Test and one-day international tour of Zimbabwe.Pakistan have sent a new-look side to the African nation and their fans will hope they bring back brighter hopes for the future.

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Aussies, Sri Lanka set for tough Test battle

GALLE: Rival captains Michael Clarke and Tillakaratne Dilshan will look to lead their young teams from the front when Australia and Sri Lanka begin their three-Test series on Wednesday.Clarke, 30, begins his reign as a full-time Australian Test captain hoping to ease into the giant boots of Ricky Ponting, who quit as skipper after the World Cup in April.Ponting, the world's most successful Test captain with 48 wins, will take the field as the senior statesman and the team's frontline batsman, but the focus will clearly be on the new skipper.Clarke's lone Test as captain so far, when he stood in for an injured Ponting, was a forgettable experience as England swept to an innings and 83-run win at Sydney in January.Ponting began his Test captaincy in Sri Lanka in 2004, leading Australia to a 3-0 sweep, and Clarke will hope for similar results even without retired greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.Dilshan, 34, also took over after the World Cup from Kumar Sangakkara and goes into his first home series as captain hoping to make up for the 1-0 defeat in England earlier in the year.Dilshan will miss the experience of prolific off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's leading bowler with 800 wickets, who retired from the longer format a year ago.Sri Lanka have not won a Test since Muralitharan bade goodbye, losing two and drawing six matches since July 2010.The first Test at the Galle International Stadium marks the start of a new chapter for both teams looking to climb back in the Test rankings.Former world number ones Australia have fallen to fifth place, while Sri Lanka, ranked second just a year ago, are fourth behind leaders England, South Africa and India.With the top four teams due to contest the inaugural world Test championships in England in 2013, both Australia and Sri Lanka will hope to push their claims."I think it is going to take time for us to work our way back up the rankings," said Clarke. "But I'm confident with the talent we have and our dedication, I can see us having some success."Clarke made a confidence-boosting start to the tour, winning the one-day series 3-2 before hitting a century in the drawn three-day practice match in Colombo ahead of the first Test.Dilshan, meanwhile, was hoping his inexperienced bowling attack would perform well in home conditions where batsmen and slow bowlers have traditionally dominated.The home squad has four spinners in its ranks, including the unorthodox Ajantha Mendis and leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna, 26, who has yet to make his Test debut.Sri Lanka will be without sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who rattled the Australians with his third one-day hat-trick last week, as he has quit Test cricket to concentrate on the shorter forms of the game.Local media speculated that efforts were being made to convince Malinga to change his mind and make himself available from the second Test onwards.Rookie paceman Shaminda Eranga, 25, is one of the four young seamers in the squad for the Galle Test alongside Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedara."There is a lot of variety in our bowling, but we must put up good runs on the board to put the Australians under pressure," said Dilshan. "The key to success is how we bat."The remaining two Tests will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and Colombo (Sept 16-20)

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Fiji and PNG through to Gold Medal Match

Fiji and PNG have each booked a place in Friday's gold medal match after wins over Vanuatu and New Caledonia respectively at the Pacific Games Cricket Competition in Noumea.In the match of the tournament so far, Fiji fought back from the jaws of defeat to snatch a four run victory over Vanuatu.Set the modest total of 114 to win, Vanuatu were in control for the majority of the run chase before terrific bowling spells from both Viliame Yabaki and Jikoi Kida caused a late innings collapse to hand Fiji the victory."It's an awesome feeling to win and I haven’t had that feeling for a long time," said Fiji captain Jo Rika. "Yesterday we spoke about playing to our strengths and improving our fielding and bowling and taking nothing away from our great batting performance, but we really improved in the field today."Sakaraia Lomani was again the stand out with the bat for Fiji smashing another 44 not out and was well supported by his captain Rika who was in fine touch for his 36.In reply Vanuatu were well in control early thanks to a terrific 44 from Lenica Natapei and 27 from Andrew Mansale.However once Mansale departed and Natapei followed soon after the young Vanuatu side struggled to deal with the spin of Yabaki who took two wickets in three balls to set up the win.Yabaki ended with figures of 4-21 and Kida also got well amongst the wickets taking 3-21.In the afternoon PNG dealt the hosts New Caledonia a significant blow, defeating them by 150 runs and setting up a showdown with Fiji on Friday.New Caledonia put up a spirited fight in the field restricting PNG to 6-197 off their 20 overs, which considering their performance yesterday against Fiji was a great improvement from the inexperienced side."It is a huge pleasure to play against a side like PNG and to keep them to under 200 which was less than Fiji scored against us yesterday and was one of our targets so we are pretty happy," said Noel Sinyeue who top scored and also took two wickets. "To take six wickets against a team like PNG is a real achievement."For PNG Kapena Arua top scored with 62 and Tony Ura once again performed brilliantly with 57. Sinyeue was the only multiple wicket-taker for New Caledonia ending with figures of 2-28.After a solid performance in the field, sadly it all went downhill with the bat for New Caledonia bowled out for just 47 thanks mainly to an awesome display of bowling from Inoa Baeau who ended with the incredible figures of 5-3 from four overs.Tomorrow will see PNG v Fiji and Vanuatu v New Caledonia in two matches that will not influence who will play-off in the medal matches. These fixtures will be repeated again on Friday when PNG and Fiji play off for gold and Vanuatu and New Caledonia for bronze.PNG's Arua says however they will hold nothing back against Fiji tomorrow in what is effectively a dead rubber."We always do the normal routine, we are a good side and always want to maintain our standard," he said. "We have many strengths and tomorrow we will make sure we use them."Brief scores:At Terrain de cricket N’Du: Fiji 3-113, 20 overs (S Lomani 44 not out, J Rika 36; S Obed 2-29) Vanuatu 8-109, 20 overs (L Natapei 44, A Mansale 27; V Yabaki 4-21, J Kida 3-21) Fiji won by 4 runs At Terrain de cricket N’Du: PNG 6-197, 20 overs (K Arua 62, T Ura 57; N Sinyeue 2-28) New Caledonia 10-47, 14 overs (N Sinyeue 13; I Baeau 5-3, J Mado 3-10) PNG won by 150 runs

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Dry wicket leaves Aussies, Sri Lanka in a spin

Australia and Sri Lanka were searching for the right combination to tackle a bone-dry wicket as they prepared for Wednesday's first cricket Test in Galle.

Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke expected spin to dominate at the Galle International Stadium, leaving selection headaches for both teams.The wicket looks more dry than what we got in previous matches in Galle," said Dilshan, who leads Sri Lanka for the first time in a home series. "It will be a bit slow and I think it will turn after tea on the first day itself.Clarke, who begins his reign as a full-time Australian Test captain, also foresaw a trial by spin for his batsmen. "I hope I win the toss," he said. "It will be harder to bat as the game goes on. Our biggest challenge in the series is how we are going to play spin bowling. It is going to be a tough battle."Clarke's predecessor Ricky Ponting is the only one in the touring party to have played a Test match in Sri Lanka, way back in 2004 when Australia won 3-0.Australia were debating whether to play both their specialist spinners, Michael Beer and Nathan Lyon, or go in with three fast bowlers in Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and debutant Trent Copeland. Left-armer Beer, 27, has played in just one Test, while the 23-year-old Lyon was a surprise selection for the tour after just four first-class matches behind him.Copeland, 25, a lanky seamer from New South Wales, enhanced his claims in the three-day tour match in Colombo last week with a five-wicket haul in the first innings.Australia will also need to choose between two left-handers, Shaun Marsh and the Pakistan-born Usman Khwaja, for the number six place in their batting line-up.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, left out the rookie duo of seamer Shaminda Eranga and leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna in a short-list of 13 players announced on Tuesday.Dilshan was non-committal when asked if Sri Lanka would field three spinners -- unorthodox Ajantha Mendis, left-armer Rangana Herath and off-spinner Suraj Randiv -- in the opening clash. "There is a good chance of playing three spinners, but I can also bowl a bit of off-spin, so we will see what is best," he said. If all three play, left-arm bowler Chanaka Welegedera may be the only seamer in the team with all-rounder Angelo Mathews sharing the new ball.The first Test marks the start of a new chapter for both teams as they look to climb back up the Test rankings. Former world number one Australia have fallen to fifth place, while Sri Lanka, ranked second just a year ago, are fourth behind leaders England, South Africa and India.With the top four due to contest the inaugural world Test championship in England in 2013, both teams will hope to push their claims. A series win for Australia would see them rise to fourth place, but the positions will remain unchanged if Sri Lanka win.Since the retirement of world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan a year ago, Sri Lanka have failed to win a Test, having lost two and drawn six. The remaining two Tests will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and Colombo (Sept 16-20).

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PCB forms committee to pick new coach

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket authorities on Monday formed a committee to pick a new national team coach to replace Waqar Younis, who will step down next month.Waqar is leaving his post for medical reasons after Pakistan's current tour of Zimbabwe.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the four-member committee will be headed by former captain and coach Intikhab Alam, and will consider candidates from within and outside Pakistan.Following Waqar's resignation, PCB has constituted a committee to look for a new coach," it said in a statement, adding that the other members were Zaheer Abbas, Naushad Ahmed and Ramiz Raja.PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad said Sunday that former Australian batsman Dav Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup glory in 1996 before guiding Bangladesh to the World Cup Super Sixes in 2007, could be approached."Although Whatmore is currently employed in India's National Academy, we can still contact him for the post," Ahmad told media in Lahore.Former paceman Aaqib Javed, who was Waqar's assistant until this year's World Cup, has also emerged as a strong candidate to take over as head coach.Pakistan has a bitter history of sacking coaches after abysmal performances by the team. They hired South African Richard Pybus and Australia's Geoff Lawson in the past but both were dismissed before their tenures finished.Former England batsman Bob Woolmer also coached Pakistan between 2004-2007 until he died in mysterious circumstances after the team's shock defeat against Ireland in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.Pakistan approached former Australian great Greg Chappell last year, who turned down the offer of the position.

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Ponting, Clarke hope to change Test fortunes

Australia's star batsmen Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke are hoping to shrug off their recent poor run in Test cricket when they take on Sri Lanka from Wednesday.The tourists will rely heavily on the batting exploits of captain Clarke and his predecessor Ponting to win the three-test series, Australia's first since the embarrassing 3-1 Ashes defeat to England in January. But the pair have struggled in the five-day format for almost two years and will be keen to make amends when the first test opens at the Galle International Stadium.Ponting, 36, is the third highest run-getter in Test cricket behind the Indian duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, with 12,363 runs from 152 matches and 39 centuries.But he has not scored a test hundred in his last 20 innings since making 209 against Pakistan at Hobart in January 2010.Clarke, 30, has fared no better, going without a hundred in 10 matches after hitting 168 against New Zealand in Wellington in March last year.But a turnaround in the fortunes of the tourists' captain and elder statesman may be just an innings away.Ponting, who made way for Clarke as captain after the World Cup in April, scored 53 and 90 not out during the preceding one-day series against the Sri Lankans which Australia won 3-2.Clarke also chipped in with two half-centuries in the series and then scored 104 in a three-day practice match in Colombo last week ahead of the first test.Clarke, who begins his reign as a fulltime Australian test captain on Wednesday, said he was keen to score test runs again."My form has not been as good as I would like in test cricket," Clarke told the travelling Australian media."For me, Test cricket is the ultimate, the pinnacle, and I want to be at my best."I could not have asked for better preparation, but now I have got to do it when it counts. It's important to make runs every time I bat but I would prefer a hundred in the first test."Clarke, regarded as one of the finest players of spin bowling, has scored 4,742 runs in 69 tests at an average of 46.49 with 14 centuries.Ponting admitted Australia's Ashes loss when he was captain had affected his batting, and now looked forward to doing well as the team's frontline batsman."The team's performance had started to play on my mind and it probably dragged my batting down a little bit," Ponting told Cricinfo in a recent interview."I have got to score runs that are going to be enough to win for Australia, and that's my main objective for the immediate future.

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Australia can gain one place with series victory

Australia can make its first step on the road to regaining number-one position on the Reliance ICC Championship table by beating Sri Lanka over a three-Test series, which begins on Wednesday.If Michael Clarke's team wins by even a single match, it will move ahead of Sri Lanka on the ladder into fourth position from its current place in fifth. If Australia wins the series 3-0 it will close the gap on third-placed India to 10 points.However, Tillakaratne Dilshan and his men will be eyeing upward movement of their own and a clean sweep by the home team in this series will see them move to 114 ratings points, just three behind the World Champion. To see how future results will affect the table, check out the ICC Test Championship predictor function by clicking

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