SPORTS Friday, 5 June, 2015
FoRMeR gReaTs coNgRaTuLaTe ZaheeR, sLaM seThI LAHore
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EST greats Javed Miandad and Sarfraz Nawaz congratulated former team-mate Zaheer Abbas for his nomination as ICC president by the Pakistan Cricket Board, while coming down hard on Najam Sethi who withdrew his candidature from the post. Miandad admitted that while it was an honour for Zaheer, famously known as the Asian Bradman, he questioned whether he was “the right man for the right job?” “I believe the ICC presidency was the best slot for Sethi as it was a ceremonial post which has nothing to do with the game,” Miandad said. “Zaheer is an icon of the game and must be in the PCB on a key
post as he can help produce cricketers. “I’ve congratulated Zaheer but what has happened here is that the PCB has sidelined him by giving him the post as only the chairman is all-powerful in the ICC. “We need to have Majid Khan or Zaheer as PCB chief but the situation is quite different here as non-technocrats are the decisionmakers.” Miandad added that he felt Pakistan cricket was struggling as the national team had fallen to ninth place in the ICC One-day International rankings. “This is because of non-technocrats running the PCB,” he said. “With the current system, cricket will deteriorate further. The PCB must utilise the services of our former greats instead of empowering non-technocrats to run the cricketing affairs.”
The former batsman said that there were two groups working in the PCB, one led by its chief Shaharyar Khan and the other by Sethi.
“Perhaps no one noted that Sethi’s group did not come to attend a dinner hosted by Shaharyar in honour of the Zimbabwe cricket team,” he
pointed out. “Although both Shaharyar and Sethi addressed a jointpress conference on Wednesday just to prove they are together, that is not true.” In a recent statement Shaharyar had clarified he had no differences with Sethi. Miandad suggested that the PCB should be decentralized with provincial bodies formed, whose chief executive is a former cricketer and the respective Chief Ministers being their patron-in-chief. “This way the PCB will need hardly 10-15 members to focus on international cricket,” he said. “The heavy staff employed by the PCB is a burden on the exchequer.” Miandad, who worked as PCB Director General during Ijaz Butt’s tenure at a salary of Rs1 million per month but left complaining he wasn’t given enough powers, added:
“The PCB should not be treated as a money-minting machine. It needs better management.” Former paceman Sarfraz, meanwhile, said Zaheer was a good choice to be ICC president and slammed Sethi for his lack of cricketing knowledge. He disclosed he had written a detailed letter to the ICC on May 29 informing the international body that Sethi was not a clean man. “I believe the ICC must’ve asked some questions from him [Sethi] and since he would’ve had no answers, he decided to withdraw his candidature,” Sarfraz said. “I appeal to the Prime Minister, Senate and National Assembly chairmen to remove Sethi from the PCB.” Sarfraz claimed that he had all evidences against Sethi’s wrongdoings and he was still fighting a legal case in the Lahore High Court (LHC) in that connection.
Time on the sidelines will shatter Ajmal’s confidence, says Miandad ISLAMABAD Agencies
Jonty Rhodes warns Pakistan
Former Pakistan captain and batting great Javed Miandad expressed shock over the exclusion of Saeed Ajmal from the tour of Sri Lanka, adding that the selectors would ‘shatter’ the confidence of the ace spinner by keeping him on the sidelines. In an interview on Thursday, Miandad pleaded Ajmal’s case and said Test matches were the ideal format for the 37-year-old to re-
COLOMBO: Former South African batsman, Jonty Rhodes, has warned Pakistan that Sri Lankan Cricket team is in tremendous form, and Jehan Mubarak is the most favorite player in the series on Thursday. He said that Lankan batsman, Jehan Mubarak, will prove to be the asset for Sri Lanka cricket in coming test series against Pakistan. It is worth mentioning here that Cricket Sri Lanka has acquired the services of Jonty Rhodes for ten days to help improve fielding of Sri Lankan team. Agencies
Rider killed in Isle of Man TT Race qualifying
Qatar claims ‘not a single worker has died’ on World Cup construction
SportS DeSk French motorbike racer Frank Petricola was killed in an accident during qualifying for the Isle of Man TT Race on Wednesday. The 32-year-old is the 141st rider to die at the event since it began in 1907. Petricola’s accident happened at 7.45pm at the Sulby Crossroads part of the course in the first timed session of the fortnight’s racing. It was his first appearance at the Isle of Man. He had been due to take part last year, but was left in a coma after a serious accident at the North West 200 a few weeks beforehand and had to pull out. He had made a full recovery, however, and raced in the North West 200 this year before heading to the Isle of Man to race for the Ice Valley Racing team. The coroner has been informed and an investigation is currently under way. Agencies
gain his rhythm. “I can’t understand why the selectors did not give Saeed Ajmal a chance in the upcoming tour. He has been the number one bowler in the ICC rankings. They will only shatter his confidence by keeping him out,” Miandad said. Ajmal, who has played 35 Test and 113 ODIs for Pakistan, picking up 178 and 184 wickets respectively, has played only two ODIs and one T20 since his return from the ICC ban on his bowling action. His returns in those games were less than favourable, leading to his omission from the Test series against Sri Lanka starting June 17. His domestic returns were not too impressive either but Ajmal has been signed on by Worcestershire, the English county’s captain Daryl Mitchell terming the Pakistani a “valuable asset”. “He knows how to bowl and where to bowl, and how to suss batsmen out,” Mitchell said. “I’m sure he will be a valuable asset in all forms again. “I’m looking forward to having Saeed in our team again. He is a great guy to have in our dressing room.” Ajmal will be available initially for seven T20 Blast appearances and three County Championship matches. Pakistan, meanwhile, open the series against Sri Lanka with the first Test in Galle which starts on June 17. The remaining two Tests will be in Colombo from June 25-29 and the third at Pallekele from July 3-7. Pakistan and Sri Lanka will also play five one-dayers and two Twenty20 internationals, for which squads will be announced later.
A report by the International Trade Union Confederation in March last year claimed that 1,200 workers had already died building the stadiums for the tournament, and predicted that up to 4,000 would die before the first match kicks off. Shortly after that report, a website posted a graph showing the number of construction deaths at other big sporting events compared to those in Qatar - where Nepali workers are said to be earning just over 50p per hour to work
in horrendous conditions. “These figures have absolutely no basis in fact. After almost 5 million man-hours of work, there have been no fatal industrial accidents on World Cup projects. Not one,” the email message read. “The figures have been calculated by taking the total annual mortality statistics for Indian and Nepalese migrants working in Qatar, multiplied by the years remaining between now and the 2022 World Cup a calculation which assumes that the death of every migrant worker in Qatar is work-related.
Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 79, Sector 24, Korangi Industrial Area Karachi.
CMYK
No training camp for players ahead of Lanka tour LAHORE: The Pakistani Cricket Team will depart for Sri Lanka on the 8th of June to play a three testmatch series. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided not to overburden the players and has not initiated a training camp ahead of the series. Players however are practicing individually and will gather in Lahore on the 7th to fly out the next day. The PCB did not initiate an official training camp ahead of the series citing that players have already been playing cricket in the days leading up to the series and therefore decided not to put undue pressure on the players. PCB says, players will try to get maximum benefit from practice match ahead of official test series. stAff RepoRt