Dashing opener Imran Nazir is likely to get pardon from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) paving the way for his return to international cricket with the one-day international series against Sri Lanka starting July 30. Imran visited the PCB headquarters here the other day and sought apology for misbehaving with umpire Nadeem Ghauri during the domestic Twenty20 National Championship and later issuing statements against the official. A spokesman for the PCB said that Imran met a top official of the board and apologised for his behaviour. The PCB took serious note of Imran’s behaviour and denied him a place in the Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka tour. “But after submitting a written apology, his request for inclusion in the squad will be given serious consideration within next couple of days enabling him to be part of the squad for the limited over series in Sri Lanka.”

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has disbanded the country’s senior and junior selection committees a week after the national team, under captaincy of Younis Khan, won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in England. “Headed by former Test captain Wasim Bari, an interim committee that picked up the squad for the current tour of Sri Lanka will continue to function,” a spokesman for the PCB said on Tuesday. The spokesman did not provide details on when the next panel of selectors will be named.

Bari was brought in after former test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir resigned in acrimonious circumstances during the World Cup, saying that Ijaz did not allow the selectors to make independent decisions. Bari, former wicketkeeper, was appointed to the post earlier this month following Abdul Qadir’s resignation. Qadir, a former Test leg spinner, blamed meddling by PCB officials for his sudden resignation as chief selector during the Twenty20 World Cup. The interim committee also includes the Pakistan captain Younis Khan, vice-captain Misbahul Haq and coach Intikhab Alam. Former Test players Salim Jaffer and Shoaib Mohammad, who were members of the senior selection committee, have been shown the door along with chairman junior selection committee Mohammad Ilyas.

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England's Kevin Pietersen has tried to spook Australia's batsmen by talking up the chances of reverse swing being a major factor in the Ashes series.

The weather bureau is forecasting a warm summer by English standards and the flamboyant batsman said that could play into the hands of the home side.

The English seamers turned Australian batsmen's heads to mush and legs to lead in their shock 2-1 series win in 2005.

And Pietersen was only too happy to stir the pot before the series opener in Cardiff starts on Wednesday week.

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In the event, Pakistan had a luckier ride than most, entering the semifinals with only three wins, two of which were against associate nations and the third against New Zealand which although an authentic Test side, has traditionally been one of the weaker teams.

This welcome bit of good fortune masks the true scope of what Pakistan was really up against. The turbulence of the last three years had left the team disunited and demoralised, and the fans bitter and hurt. After the terror attacks of last march in Lahore, it appeared that Pakistan’s cricket isolation would be complete. The forces of world cricket had become hostile to Pakistan and the future was all doom and gloom.

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Pakistan will play two Tests and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia in England in July 2010.
Pakistan has been declared unsafe to host international cricket since gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's team bus at Lahore on March 3, killing six policemen and a van driver.
The England and Wales Cricket Board also announced Friday that England will host Pakistan for four Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in August and September next year.
Pakistan won the Twenty20 World Cup final at Lord's last weekend.

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West Indies captain Chris Gayle said he is looking forward to the upcoming four One-Day Internationals against India. The first match of the Digicel-sponsored Series is on Friday at Sabina Park, Jamaica followed by the second match at the same venue on Sunday. The third and fourth matches will be in St Lucia on Friday, July 3 and Sunday July 5.

“We have a big game on Friday against India. We’re all looking forward to it. India is always a good One-Day team and they will be looking to beat us based on their T20 disappointment,” Gayle said on Monday.

The West Indies will have their first training session on Wednesday followed by another session on Thursday ahead of the series opener. The Captain also said he was happy to get the full support of the team and looking ahead to leading team in the upcoming matches.

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PAKISTAN’S VICTORY over Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final at Lord’s on Sunday transcended mere sporting barriers in terms of its impact. Here was a side left to ramble the outposts of the cricketing world searching for venues to play home games after the terrorist assault on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore at the start of March.

A side written off after their opening defeat to England at the start of the tournament bounced back in spectacular style to see off Kumar Sangakkara’s side and make up for their defeat to India in the inaugural event two years ago.

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Younis Khan used cricket's grandest stage to announce his retirement from Twenty20 internationals, and make an impassioned plea for teams to once again tour his country. The Pakistan captain, speaking after Sunday's emphatic eight-wicket World Twenty20 victory over Sri Lanka, hoped the result would go far to saving cricket in his homeland, which is struggling to attract the interest of younger generations with no international matches being played within its borders.

Younis' final act in Twenty20 international cricket was to lift the trophy that so narrowly evaded Pakistan two years prior. No immediate announcement was made as to the identity of his successor as 20-over captain, but it is likely Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal will be the leading candidates.

"This is my last Twenty20 game," he said at the conclusion of his press conference. "I'm old now for this kind of cricket."

Younis will continue to play Test and ODI cricket, and hopes he will again have the opportunity to lead his national team on home soil. The deteriorating security situation in Pakistan - highlighted by the March terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus outside the Gadaffi Stadium - has prompted national boards and the ICC to push for Pakistan's home matches to be played in neutral venues. Accordingly, Younis' men now lead a virtually nomadic existence.Younis has previously warned that the absence of international cricket could kill the game in Pakistan and push impressionable youngsters into the clutches of terrorists. Speaking at Lord's on Sunday, he implored teams to return to Pakistan, and expressed hope that his side's World Twenty20 victory would help reinvigorate interest in cricket among his nation's youth.

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Hundreds of fans waiting for the return of the Twenty20 World Cup-winning Pakistan team at Lahore Airport were left disappointed in the early hours of Tuesday after security officials bypassed the well wishers and whisked the squad away from another terminal.
     
"We changed the (travel) plan due to security reasons and drove players and team officials in a bus to the National Cricket Academy," police official Umar Virk told Aaj Television, who did not mention any specific threat to the team.
     
Fans started to gather at the airport hours ahead of the 3:30 a.m. arrival time after watching Pakistan win the inaugural T20 World Cup by eight wickets over Sri Lanka in the final at Lord's on Monday.

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“World champions, we are the world champions,” the young woman in the green shirt said as she walked away from Lord’s cricket ground Sunday night. She said it again and again, her tone mixing proud assertion with disbelief after watching Pakistan’s cricket team complete its march to the World Twenty20 championship, defeating previously unbeaten Sri Lanka by the conclusive margin of 8 wickets.

Its victory exorcised two earlier defeats. Ten years ago, also at Lord’s, Pakistan lost miserably in a World Cup final against Australia. Two years ago, in the first World Twenty20 final, it suffered the peculiar agony of a narrow defeat to its fiercest rival, India.

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