SPORTS Tuesday, 22 April, 2014
moin khan appointed pakiStan cricket chief Selector iSlaMabaD AGENCIES
oRMER captain and coach Moin Khan was appointed as chief selector by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday, and Zaheer Abbas as honorary adviser to the chairman. Khan was the coach and Abbas was the batting consultant of the teams which recently fell in the Asia Cup final and didn't advance to the semifinals of the World Twenty20.
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Khan will also be the team manager, with permission from his employer, Pakistan International Airlines, the PCB said in a statement. "I will make sure there's no compromise on merit," Khan told The Associated Press. "I am thankful to the PCB for posing confidence in me." Before the World Twenty20, the PCB announced another former captain, Rashid Latif, will take over as chief selector from April 1. However, soon after the tournament in Bangladesh, Latif declined to sign the contract, saying he did
PCB DIDN'T TRY TO CONVINCE LATIF FOR CHIEF SELECTOR POST
Karachi AGENCIES
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) didn't make an attempt to convince former test captain, Rashid Latif to change his mind about accepting the position of chief selector because of pressures from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). According to a report in "Dawn" newspaper, the PCB didn't want to annoy the ECB which was upset with the decision to appoint Rashid as chief selector in the first place in March. The report says that the ECB chief Giles Clarke had conveyed his annoyance to the PCB because Rashid had been supporting banned test leg-spinner, Danish Kaneria in the spot fixing case since last year. Rashid had raised his voice for Kaneria claiming the leg spinner didn't get fair treatment or justice from the ECB. The disciplinary committee of the ECB had banned Kaneria in 2012 for life from playing in the UK after finding him guilty of coaxing and encouraging his teammates at Essex county to spot fix in a championship game way back in Sep-
tember 2009. Kaneria's appeal was also rejected in 2013 by the ECB appellate tribunal and the leg-spinner who has also been ordered to pay costs of around 200,000 pounds has now entered an appeal against his ban and the costs in a commercial court in London which is expected to give a verdict this week. The ECB also pressed the commercial court to only hear Kaneria's appeal if he deposited a security of 20,000 pounds which eventually he did before the hearing held last week in London. The report said that PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi had tried to raise the issue of Kaneria at a recent ICC meeting where Giles Clarke strongly protested the move and even threatened to boycott the meeting. "PCB came under pressure because of the ECB stance and decided to give a cold shoulder treatment to Rashid after announcing his appoint as chief selector, a post he was to take charge of from April 1st. They knew well that given his temperament, Rashid would react to the cold shoulder treatment which he did and refused to accept the contract sent by the board," the report said.
not want to be part of controversy. Khan will also be on a three-man committee which will scrutinize applications for national team coaches that include head coach and fielding coach. PCB directors Intikhab Alam and Haroon Rasheed are the other committee members, and will give recommendations after the cut-off date for applications on May 5. Pakistan is also looking for a spin bowling consultant, strength and conditioning coach and sports physiotherapist.
AUSTRALIAN COACH TO BOOST AFGHANISTAN CRICKET Kabul AGENCIES
Afghanistan’s new cricket academy coach, Peter Anderson from Australia, has started work in Kabul, officials said on Monday, as the fast-developing team prepare for their debut at next year’s 50-over World Cup. Anderson coached Papua New Guinea for two years before joining Afghanistan, where cricket is a rare symbol of optimism in a country beset by war, corruption and poverty. “I am excited to be here,” Anderson, 52, said in a press release from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). “I hope I can make a contribution to the quality of cricket here. I will start slowly, watching, listening and learning.” Anderson played 56 firstclass matches for Queensland and South Australia as a wicketkeeper, scoring 1,399 runs at an average of 17.93. “We are pleased to be welcoming a person of Peter Anderson’s calibre to head our new Afghanistan Cricket Academy,” said Noor Mohammad Murad, head of the ACB. “He brings to us 35 years of cricketing experience both in Australia and internationally. His experience with Papua New Guinea Cricket, a developing cricket country, will fit him well for his work in Afghanistan.” Anderson will head the new academy, which will seek out and train players from youth level through to the full national squad. Afghanistan’s cricket team have taken big strides over the last decade, gaining one-day status in 2009. The side have featured in three World Twenty20 tournaments and qualified for the 2015 one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The International Cricket Council has given $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in funding to each of four World Cup qualifiers — Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland and Scotland — and has arranged training camps in Australia and New Zealand later this year. Afghanistan are in Group A along with Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Bangladesh, England and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan will also feature in this year’s Asian Games cricket tournament in Incheon, South Korea.
CSK CRUSH DAREDEVILS abu Dhabi AGENCIES
Chennai Super Kings crushed Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs in a thoroughly one-sided game in Abu Dhabi. Super Kings started steadily after choosing to bat, but Suresh Raina's busy fifty in the middle and a late surge catapulted them to 177. Their quicks tied Daredevils down with accurate swing bowling, and electric catching from Raina and Faf du Plessis made it harder. The middle order sank without a fight, and by the halfway stage of the chase, the match was as good as over. Brendon McCullum had said that with such a powerful line-up, Super Kings would go hard right from the start. But they stuck to their tested approach of starting steady, keeping wickets in hand and exploding at the death. Super Kings were 34 for 1 after the end of the Powerplay and 65 for 1 after ten overs. They took 58 off the last four overs with swift contributions from MS Dhoni, du Plessis and Mithun Manhas. Daredevils lost the services of Nathan Coulter-Nile three deliveries into the match, the fast bowler hobbling off after hurting his leg while sliding to stop a ball. To his credit, Dinesh Karthik still managed to keep Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Shami for the final four without suffering too much damage in the middle overs but led by Dhoni, Super Kings had too much firepower in store.
Saeed ajmal cricket academy launched Faisalabad: Saeed Ajmal International Cricket Academy (SAIC) has started its working for young players at University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) in Pakistan. The Divisional Commissioner Sardar Akram had done the inauguration of cricket academy at University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). Member of Provisional Assembly (MPA) Khalid Saeed, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noor-ul-Amin Mengal, City Police Officer (CPO) Dr. Haider Ashraf, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Mehr Shafqatullah Mushtaq and DO Sports Tariq Nazir were also present on the occasion. Saeed Ajmal said no admission fee would be charged from the cricket lovers who will join academy where skilled coach would impart them training. He appealed to philanthropists to donate generously for the establishment of an international academy at UAF. AGENCIES Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.
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Local media has speculated that Waqar Younis, a former assistant coach, could take over as head coach. Younis was one of the two coaches shortlisted by the previous coach-finding committee before Khan was given a two-month contract to cover the Asia Cup and World Twenty20. Pakistan has a test series against Sri Lanka in July-August, then takes on Australia in a one-off T20, three one-day internationals and two tests in the United Arab Emirates in october.
SCorEboArd Chennai 29 dr Smith b Nadeem 9 bb McCullum c sub (Wd Parnell) b Unadkat 56 SK raina c Vijay b Neesham 24 F du Plessis c Vijay b Mohammed Shami 32 MS dhoni*† c Agarwal b Unadkat 7 rA Jadeja c †Karthik b Unadkat 13 M Manhas not out 1 r Ashwin run out (Mohammed Shami) 0 bW Hilfenhaus not out 6 Extras (lb 3, w 3) 177 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) did not batMM Sharma, IC Pandey Fall of wickets 1-23 (McCullum, 3.2 ov), 2-77 (Smith, 10.6 ov), 3-108 (raina, 14.4 ov), 4-141 (du Plessis, 17.2 ov), 5-156 (dhoni, 18.4 ov), 6-162 (Jadeja, 18.6 ov), 7-173 (Ashwin, 19.5 ov) boWlING: JP duminy 4-0-26-0, Mohammed Shami 4-0-45-1, S Nadeem 3-0-29-1, Jd Unadkat 4-0-32-3, JdS Neesham 4-029-1, M Vijay 1-0-13-0 delhi T20 2 MA Agarwal c raina b Pandey 11 M Vijay c du Plessis b Sharma 21 Kd Karthik*† b Ashwin 0 MK Tiwary c du Plessis b Pandey 15 JP duminy lbw b Smith 6 lrPl Taylor c †dhoni b Hilfenhaus JdS Neesham c raina b Jadeja 22 3 S Nadeem c & b Jadeja 1 Mohammed Shami c McCullum b Ashwin 1 Jd Unadkat not out NM Coulter-Nile absent hurt 2 ExTrAS: (w 2) 84 ToTAl: (all out; 15.4 overs) Fall of wickets 1-8 (Agarwal, 2.1 ov), 2-15 (Vijay, 3.3 ov), 3-17 (Tiwary, 4.2 ov), 4-42 (duminy, 8.1 ov), 5-50 (Taylor, 9.2 ov), 6-74 (Karthik, 12.1 ov), 7-80 (Neesham, 13.5 ov), 8-82 (Mohammed Shami, 14.2 ov), 9-84 (Nadeem, 15.4 ov) boWlING: IC Pandey 4-0-23-2, bW Hilfenhaus 2-0-9-1, MM Sharma 3-0-17-1, dr Smith 2-0-14-1, rA Jadeja 2.4-0-18-2, r Ashwin 2-0-3-2 MATCH dETAIlS ToSS: Chennai T20, who chose to bat PlAyEr oF THE MATCH: SK raina (Chennai T20) UMPIrES: rK Illingworth (England) and C Shamshuddin (India) TV umpire - HdPK dharmasena (Sri lanka) Match referee - GF labrooy (Sri lanka) reserve umpire - K Srinath (India)