More important than the win at Sharjah is the fact that Pakistan seems to have come out of the rebuilding phase
Even before Pakistan quite convincingly won the Khaleej Times Trophy 2001 at Sharjah, that shrewd lot, the bookmakers, had rated the team amongst the top three favourites to clinch the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. It was exactly the same rating that Pakistan was accorded before the 1999 version of the event.

While the Cup itself is a year and a bit away, the victory at Sharjah has lifted the pall of gloom that hung over Pakistan cricket. For too long had it remained without a win, nearly a year and a quarter to be precise after its first Asia Cup victory at Dhaka and the away Test rubber win against Sri Lanka in 2000. Twice this year they did make it to the last hurdle, and in style, only failing to crown it with a triumph. In that context, despite the rather tedious hullabaloo again over Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action, the win was a much welcome one for it broke a pattern.More important than the win itself is the fact that Pakistan seems to have come out of the rebuilding phase. Other than the opening pair, most other problem areas have been sorted out, and with its self-confidence restored, it looks all set to go places. Here are some of the reasons for the confidence that Pakistan is back to its winning ways.Waqar Younis’ earning his spurs as skipper:
When he took over the captaincy earlier this year, for the first time in his own right, Younis’ spot in the side was anything but guaranteed. He had a tentative start, but has gone from strength to strength since then. The turning point perhaps was the Old Trafford Test, in which more than his captaincy his spirit and his bowling turned the tide, saving Pakistan from the ignominy of losing their first series against England in England since 1982.

Subsequently, he bowled exceptionally well in the NatWest Trophy, in one of the games returning with a bag of half a dozen scalps. At Sharjah, he was as self-assured as they come. That is what success does – it breeds self-confidence and as a consequence further success.Getting the captaincy at the same age as Imran (at least on paper), and a big heart have given a new lease of life to Waqar’s career. Barring a mishap or injury, he is likely to lead Pakistan’s campaign for the 2003 World Cup with a side to reckon with.Wasim Akram’s sublime form:
It may well sound awkward, but Wasim Akram was the real surprise packet of the Sharjah event. This all-time great southpaw was alternately ridiculed and sympathised with since last winter’s England visit to Pakistan. Lack of success made him drop himself from the Karachi Test, which Pakistan lost giving the visitors their first rubber win in Pakistan in nearly four decades. On the return trip to England this summer, he grabbed just five wickets at almost double his usual average, and even against minnows Bangladesh, despite bowling well, remained wicketless.Right when he seemed to have lost his wicket-taking touch permanently, he literally bootstrapped himself up, giving a virtuoso performance in all the games that he played.

While he should be grateful, and he definitely is, as reflected in his brief appearance on satellite TV and statements to print media, to Waqar Younis for affording him the understanding and support which as skipper he himself had not accorded to his former bosom pal, one suspects his clinical psychologist wife too has had a hand in his mental makeover.Whatever, the end result is a Wasim Akram rejuvenated, both in body and spirit. His determination reflected not just in his bowling and body language. It oozed from his entire demeanor. He was never spendthrifty with runs. Now he was downright mean – much in the same mould as Curtly Ambrose, who by the way heaped praise on him the other day, counting him amongst the best of his generation.The return to sublime form of this most successful bowler in one-day cricket restores the depth, variety and lethalness of the Pakistan attack. All these attributes had contributed to much of Pakistan’s success in the ’90s.The magic of Saqlain Mushtaq:
Since his debut in 1995, he has been amongst the leading wicket-takers almost every year in limited-overs cricket, topping the list on two occasions. He was absent from the eleven when Pakistan won the trophy. This alone reflects the domination of the pace attack, with Shahid Afridi contributing with useful wickets.There cannot be a greater compliment than even the best of the best trying to emulate you. While some critics would like to point out that Saqlain may need to pick a trick or two from Muralitharan’s book while bowling in the longer version of the game, the Lankan maestro has already added the former’s ‘doosra’, the one that turns the other way, to his repertoire. Then Saqlain is not just lethal on his own; in the company of three genuine quicks and a fastish leg-spinner, he becomes a force multiplier.

Shoaib Akhtar factor:
The medical evidence is so compelling that one feels positive that Shoaib Akhtar would ride out this latest storm on his action. More so, because there is already the precedence set by Muralitharan. With his many injuries and illnesses behind him, he bowled fast at Sharjah; his rhythm and penetration was back. He looked an awesome force, and augmented the pace department admirably. Such a super draw card, he has the charisma to attract fans for himself and followers for his team.Presence of genuine all-rounders:
Such a fundamental thing, in both forms of the game. Pakistan has at this point many quality all-rounders. Azhar Mahmood was back after a layoff, and in spite of fears that he had been put back into the squad too soon, he did reasonably well both with bat and ball. But for someone who made a century on Test debut, and added another two soon enough, he has been somewhat of an great under-achiever and it is high time he performs up to his potential.In contrast, Abdur Razzaq remains a steady customer, chipping in with runs and wickets. At Sharjah he was a tad expensive with the ball and since the upper order mostly delivered, he was not required to contribute too often with the bat. But the presence of these two genuine all-rounders, along with Wasim Akram and ‘keeper Rashid Latif, gives Pakistan’s batting and bowling a lot of depth. Combined, this quartet quite often makes up for the brittleness of the upper order.

Rediscovery of an outstanding ‘keeper:
Rashid Latif has had a checkered career, but in his latest comeback he has not put a foot wrong. At 32, eyebrows were raised when he was preferred over Moin Khan, his junior by three years. But unlike a fumbling Moin, who dropped a chance or two almost every game, Latif has not had a single lapse behind the stumps. And he has made extremely useful contributions in front too. Fully fit now, which he was not when he embarked on the plane to England, he is likely to last beyond the 2003 World Cup.Batting giving a robust look:
Despite the hara-kiri that an otherwise solid Younis Khan committed, gifting his wicket away in Muralitharan’s last over in the final, Pakistan’s batting looks to be in good shape. Inzamam seems to be getting better and better by the day, and his hunger for big scores remains undiminished. He is easily one of the best batsmen in the world today, and his genius and consistency reflect in the ratings: he is in the top five in all rankings in both Test as well as one-day cricket.Yousuf Youhana was promoted to one-drop, a key position which had seen makeshift arrangements since Ijaz Ahmed. It remains to be seen whether Youhana opts for this position on a permanents basis. If he does, it would give the upper order a much more solid look. Especially because the opening pair remains unsettled despite quite a few talented youngsters around, who have also given a good account of themselves.Naved Latif too seems to be a genuine article, but he essentially being a middle order batsman would be relegated down the order.To his credit, Shahid Afridi has learnt to be slightly more circumspect. He even played some delicate shots, perhaps for the first time in his career. A leg glance and a couple of late cuts off his blade, all fetching fours, must have driven the message home: runs could also be gathered and fast without bludgeoning the leather.Mudassar Nazar’s induction as coach:
For whatever reason, no high calibre foreign coach is willing to do duty with the Pakistan team. Despite their sounding out a number of Aussies and South Africans, with a fat paycheck in hand, all the PCB got was a ‘No’ for an answer. So they had to fall back on a Richard Pybus or Javed Miandad, whose knowledge of the game may be second to none but whose man management skills leave a tremendous lot to be desired. Anyway, the net result was that Pakistan lacked the stabilising influence and tactical support of a permanent coach.

Mudassar Nazar’s induction, who by the way is not just knowledgeable and canny but a qualified coach to boot, fills that vacuum. Whether he is allowed to continue in this position is a point of conjecture, for if he is the Board would have to find his replacement for the all-important position of the chief coach of the Academy.The flip side:
While so much seems to going for this Pakistan team, the only thing that this Pakistan team has to guard against is itself by somehow shedding its now infamous unpredictability. It also has to decide on a pair of openers, to go with Afridi.Saeed Anwar has been one of the greats that Pakistan produced in the ’90s, but of late, he seems to have lost quite a bit of his once glorious touch and concentration. That is why he has been inconsistent. He has also often been bogged down with injuries and health problems. All these have taken their toll. He is a fielder that a skipper cannot hide and with a substitute often filling in for him on the field, he still manages to miss the odd catch and giving away valuable runs.The selectors should by now be preparing themselves for the unpleasant duty of saying thank you to him. If they are not, they fail to do justice to their jobs. After all, the most difficult part of their duty is to take care of such serious problems while the bulk of the team mostly selects itself. You cannot select a player on past performances, or Allan Border and Mark Taylor would still be batting for Australia.

The Canadian Cricket Association held its Annual General Meeting in TorontoNovember 24, 25 2001.Included in the Agenda were the Year End of the Finances and the electionsof President, 2nd Vice President and General Secretary.Finances are in horrible shape as a direct result of considerable lossesincurred in the ICC Trophy 2001 Event and the absence of any sponsorship for that event!Incumbent President, Dr. Geoff Edwards was returned as President.Errol Townshend, was elected 2nd Vice-President, and General SecretaryCalvin Clarke was returned by acclamation.A short verbal report on the ICC Trophy report was offered, with a writtenreport expected shortly. The ICC Trophy/Management/ Secretariat is alsoexpected to finalize finances in short order.

Left-handed batsmen are considered to be very elegant and over the yearslot of them have provided enormous pleasure to cricket fans all over theworld. Some consider watching a left-handed batsman caress a ball to theropes the ultimate spectacle. I would not disagree with that sentimentfor obvious reasons.

I have been tongue-tied when asked why left-handers look more elegantthan the right-handers. It has to be mentioned that not all left-handersare elegant as a rule, but the ones who are, become the people’sfavourite. David Gower, for one, made people throng to the grounds towatch him bat for he was elegance personified.Any side would like to have a left-hander in its ranks and it would be abonus if he happens to perform a dual role for his side a la AdamGilchrist. A left-right combination at the crease upsets a lot ofbowlers and frustrates captains too. Incidentally, the highest rungetter in Test cricket happens to be a southpaw in Allan Border.There is a concept that left-handers are at an advantage in relation toright-handers. Like everything else being a left-hander has itspositives and negatives. One advantage is that the bowlers are used tobowling to right-handers more often than not and hence may give scoringopportunities off the pads.Talking of the disadvantages, left-handers have to play at bowlersbowling more on their blind side. It is something similar to a bowlerbowling from round the wicket to a right-hander. Not many right-handersare comfortable when this ploy, starting right from the days of theinfamous Bodyline series, is employed.There are some exciting left-handed batsmen in world cricket these daysand they play a very important and indispensable role for theirrespective sides. Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya, toname a few, are batsmen who give nightmares to bowlers. All three ofthem play their shots and try to dominate the attack most of the time. Iam not suggesting that they lack the discipline or the technique togrind the attack. It is just that their extraordinary talent makes themthat much more positive and successful.Gilchrist performs the role of an all-rounder for his side and therebygives enough options to his captain. His versatility is tremendous as hecan open the innings in the one-dayers and bat in the lower order inTests. Such is his capability that he has produced innumerable matchwinning knocks in both positions.

Lara, the champion batsman that he is, has been in indifferent form inthe last couple of years. One got the impression that he was fightingwith himself rather than suffering a slump because of the issues widelypublicised all over the world. At one stage there was even a danger ofthe cricketing world losing this enigmatic champion. But the way hebatted in the recent series against Sri Lankans allayed all those fearsand he showed that he has what it takes to be a real class act. Hishunger was back and he became one of those rare batsmen who had thesatisfaction of taming Muttiah Muralitharan on the latter’s home tracks.The one remarkable aspect about Lara is that once he gets going, he getsbig hundreds and double hundreds. He is the only batsman capable ofwinning a Test match on his own as he did against the Australians a fewseasons ago. It is a pity that he is not getting enough support from hiscolleagues in the top order.

The current series between England and India will be a real challengefor the two seasoned elegant left-handers, Sourav Ganguly and GrahamThorpe. Both have their share of problems to contend with and it isimperative they get into top gear. While Ganguly has been off-colour inTests the whole of this year, Thorpe has not been consistent either.Ganguly, at the moment, has to be decisive about how he is going totackle the short-pitched deliveries. He is in a dilemma as to whether toplay the pull shot or not. He is capable of playing that shot well andhas scored enough runs in international cricket to allow himself to bebullied like a rookie.Thorpe, for his part, has not done full justice to his talent. He willbe a key player for England on the turning tracks in India. Both Thorpeand Ganguly have to get big scores – one has to do more for his side’ssake and the other for his own sake. Only time will tell how theseelegant left-handers handle the pressure but one thing is for sure -left-handers can really frustrate their fans if they are not in theirbest of form.

Pakistan Juniors scored a remarkable 37- run victory overPCB XI Monday at the Rawalpindi Stadium in a low-scoringmatch. The juniors, preparing for this month’s World Cup inNew Zealand , found the going tough and could only manage apaltry 134 after being put in. But they made up for the lowtotal with an impressive bowling and fielding display andbundled out PCB XI for 97, Arsalan Mir claiming four for 24.In the juniors’ innings, except for wicketkeeper AminurRehman who topscored with 39 and Junaid Zia’s 25 down theorder, no other batsman could do much. Paceman Waqas Ahmeddid most of the damage taking four for 46 while Jaffar Nazircaptured three.PCB XI batting crumbled in the face of fine bowling andtight fielding by the under-19s and the entire side wasdismissed in juts over 28 overs.Besides Arsalan’s four wickets, Umer Gul snapped up twowhile Junaid and Najaf Shah had one each.The junior side had earlier beaten the PCB XI in the firstmatch by four wickets.

Zimbabwe Under-19 captain Tatenda Taibu could find no excuses after his side’s six-wicket loss to New Zealand in the ICC Under-19 World Cup at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University today.New Zealand scored their target of 72 runs in 10.3 overs with the game being over before the scheduled lunch break.”Their bowlers bowled really well. They got two good early wickets and then their spinners came on and did a really good job,” Taibu said.”I can’t really say our batsmen got themselves out because they got good balls,” he said.”There was nothing wrong with the pitch. I was happy with it, there was a little bit of movement but not too much,” he said.Taibu had been impressed with New Zealand’s approach to the game and said it was good that despite the fact they were chasing such a small score the opening batsmen came out and attacked and kept on attacking.”We can still come back. We will take this game positively and try and beat Sri Lanka because our goal is to make the Super League side of the draw,” he said. The two sides meet on Thursday.

NSW will battle against a large slice of history tomorrow after being set 406 runs for victory in its Pura Cup cricket match against Western Australia at the WACA ground.The Blues dragged back 26 runs late in the day for no loss in the knowledge that they have never scored more than 281 in the fourth innings in a match at theWACA.And they have a woeful record in recent times in the four-day game in Perth having lost four of their last five matches outright.Blues openers Brad Haddin (14no) and Grant Lambert (8no) negotiated ten overs late in the day in fading light.The Warriors earlier declared their second innings closed at 6-158, an overall lead of 405 runs nearing stumps on the third day of the match.It came after Warriors pace duo Brad Williams (4-89) and Jo Angel (4-91) skittled the Blues out for 253 in reply to the Warriors’ first innings total of 7(dec)-500.Brad Hogg (17no) and Kade Harvey (13no) were the unbeaten batsmen when West Australian captain Simon Katich finally ended the innings.Scott Meuleman (0) was the first casualty caught behind off Stuart Clark’s (2-39) bowling without a run on the board.Katich (23) fell trying to pull Clark while Ryan Campbell (11) and Marcus North (9) had their stumps rattled by Don Nash (3-59) in the rush for quick runs.Opener Michael Hussey (60) continued his good form with an entertaining knock before he was Nash’s third victim while Chris Rogers (18) swept Higgs straight to Michael Clarke.Earlier Angel and Williams wrapped up the tail after lunch to secure first innings points after Graeme Rummans’ (55) defiant knock of just under four hours came to an end.The Blues batting lineup folded after Rummans was caught behind for Angel’s third scalp, losing their last five wickets for 48 runs.Mark Higgs (23) fell soon after with Hussey taking a sharp catch in slips off Williams’ bowling.Brett Van Deinsen, who batted with a runner after injuring his back bowling yesterday, made a quickfire 27 before he became the fourth victim of theCampbell-Angel combination of the innings.Williams then took a fine return catch to dismiss Nathan Bracken for a duck before Nash (9) was run out in a mix-up with Stuart Clark (6no).Williams’ earlier claimed the crucial wicket of Michael Bevan (66) while young WA quick Michael Clark (1-33) snared captain Shane Lee’s (18) wicket.An outright win for the Warriors will see them leapfrog South Australia into second place on the Pura Cup ladder while NSW will need a miracle to win and get off the bottom of the table.

SHARJAH-Relentless in their pursuit of another win to secure the second successive whitewash against the West Indies at home, Pakistan didn’t really have to over-exert themselves to march off with an emphatic 244-run triumph, and in four days to boot.Desperately seeking to improve their ranking, this series win would definitely help them not only in moving up the ladder but also add to the morale for the tougher challenges in the months to come. More than the victory over a hapless West Indies, a mere shadow of their glorious past, the most remarkable thing about this Pakistan team is the hunger, intensity and consistency.It was their sixth Test win on the trot, and also the sixth time that they scored well over 400 runs in the first innings of a match. Signs that this Pakistan team is getting its act together.Skipper Waqar Younis has reason to be proud of this winning streak; he indeed has led from the front and this shows, grabbing 4 for 44 to hasten the Windies demise. With a wicket at the top of the order which could easily have been two had the normally safe Shahid Afridi not floored a catch at third slip, he came back to mop up the tail, getting the last two wickets in the first over of the half-hour extension he had requested. Before that he broke the rather effervescent 47 run stand for the sixth wicket between an enterprising Ryan Hinds (topscorer with 46, 55 deliveries, 7 fours) and an adventurous Ridley Jacobs by removing Hinds, leg before for his 350th wicket. It is the third best aggregate by a Pakistani, behind only Wasim Akram (414) and Imran Khan (362).Another indicator that things are moving in the right direction for Pakistan was the fact that three relatively junior members of the side walked away with Man of the Match and Man of the Series Awards in the two test series, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan and Abdur Razzaq respectively.Waqar’s decision to bat again when he could have enforced the follow-on had perplexed many. With the wisdom of hindsight, one can safely say that he didn’t need to put his batsmen back in to make the effort of putting 225 for 5. The West Indies were blasted off for 189, again failing to reach 200 in the second innings to hurry up to their fifth consecutive defeat.The day didn’t start all that badly for the West Indies, as they had three Pakistani wickets down and restricted them to only 74 in the first session. But it only got worse after that.Dillon struck twice in two overs to account for Younis Khan, holing out to mid-off with Darren Ganga bringing off a good catch for the West Indies finally, and Taufeeq Umar was given out after an extended appeal by the bowler that seemingly made umpire Shakeel Khan change his mind and raise the finger. The replays showed that the umpire’s change in verdict – on a delivery that landed marginally outside leg and was headed outside off – was another of several mistakes made by umpires in this series. There was more to come.An out of sorts Inzamam hung in there before perishing to an airy-fairy shot, and Pakistan declared soon after lunch, once Youhana got his 50. There was nothing sporting about the declaration, for in their present form the West Indies had as little a chance of surviving the remaining five sessions as a snowball in Sharjah.On a pitch that again didn’t have much to offer the bowlers by way of support, the Pakistani attack showed its class. Waqar had Chris Gayle plumb in front, and almost had Wavell Hinds who prospered to 34 before he was smartly snapped up by stand-in ‘keeper Taufeeq off Saqlain Mushtaq. In between, Shoaib Akhtar had struck another blow, getting an ever-improving Darren Ganga, amazingly Darrel Hair ruling in the bowler’s favour when the direction was certainly down the leg side.Carl Hooper, whose defiant 84 in the first innings had taken the West Indies to the verge of avoiding the follow-on, fell leg before to Saqlain, another marginal decision. Razzaq accounted for Chanderpaul, and it seemed all over. But Hinds and Jacobs took the fight to the Pakistani bowlers, especially Hinds driving beautifully both to Waqar and Razzaq. But once Waqar sent Hinds back, it was all over bar the shouting. Ridley Jacobs remained not out for 35, but Waqar had once again blown the tail away.The West Indies definitely have to do a lot of soul-searching to survive the Pakistani onslaught in the one-dayers too, but that is a different ball game altogether, and the Pakistanis are known to give in to complacency. The other key area that the West Indies and Pakistan both need to look at is fielding and holding their catches. If indeed, the West Indies had held many of the catches dropped, this series may not have been so one-sided.Hooper and his young team, so far without much hope, must surely be hoping for better fortune in the 3 ODIs to follow.

New Zealand utilised an adherence to basic disciplines to severely punish an Indian team that forget theirs to go 2-0 up with a 35-run win in the National Bank Series match at Napier today.India were all out in the 44th over, for 219, chasing New Zealand’s total of 254/9.Things couldn’t have gone much better for New Zealand, nor much worse for India.New Zealand won without having to use their fast bowler Shane Bond. All of their batsmen got time in the middle, although some of them didn’t use it as well as they might have in the perfect conditions for a One-Day International, their bowlers got a workout and they demonstrated yet again the virtues of being competitive in the field throughout their bowling effort.India, by comparison, produced a fielding so performance so poor that it is difficult to remember anything in recent history in this country that could compare. They also bowled their overs so slowly they were docked two overs in their chase, as well as losing 10% of their match fees.They did have the satisfaction of producing one batting performance of note.The pocket-sized Indian battleship, Virender Sehwag called into Napier last evening and gave a demonstration of the powerhouse qualities to his batting that have been unseen until this match on the tour of New Zealand. He was eventually run out for 108 when he lost a contest with Daryl Tuffey who sprinted through on his run through, dived and hit the wicket with his underarm lob.Nicknamed “Mini-Me”, a play on the Austin Powers character because of his likeness to Sachin Tendulkar, by the New Zealanders after they struck him at the start of his international career in Sri Lanka last year, Sehwag gave a great demonstration of his abilities in a hard-hitting display which resulted in his fourth ODI century, scored off 111 balls and which included eight fours and two sixes.It was an innings in which he refused to be dictated to by circumstances. He lost his captain Sourav Ganguly in the first over and then other batsmen at regular intervals. It was batting with a like-minded spirit in Mohammad Kaif that he was his most dangerous, but fortunately for New Zealand, Tuffey caught the edge of Kaif’s bat when he had taken only 24 runs out of the home attack.Then after Sanjay Bangar took advantage of a gap at first slip to take four runs off a ball from Jacob Oram, he tried to repeat the shot next ball, but he wasn’t quite as accurate in his placement and wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum took the edge to leave India struggling at 187 for six wickets and with the required run rate back up to 6.35.New Zealand’s innings was dominated by the 136-run stand between Nathan Astle and Mathew Sinclair. Apart from the fact that it offered runs of a quality, and a quantity, not seen this summer, it was just the sort of stand needed to bolster the New Zealanders after the frustrations that have visited both sides during the series.Astle was not quite his commanding self, but there were signs enough to suggest the Indians are going to be on the receiving end of an Astle special before too much longer in the series.There were not quite as many chances as he would have liked square of the wicket on the off side, although he did pierce the two gully field set for him with a lovely boundary all the way along the ground. But if unable to get as much away there as he wanted, he compensated for that with some lovely drives, none better than the lofted off drive for six runs from Bangar’s bowling.His 50, his 31st in ODIs, came up off 71 balls and he was out, attempting another big hit over the mid-wicket boundary which fell short of the intended target and into the hands of Zaheer Khan from Ganguly’s bowling.Sinclair weighed in with great support at the other end and hit the fourth ODI half century of his career while making 78. He had some hesitant moments while getting underway but started to hit the ball cleanly and his advance down the pitch to loft Harbhajan Singh for six runs over extra cover was clear evidence of his improving state of mind.But with Craig McMillan having come and gone so quickly, Lou Vincent used the quick singles option to get his innings going and to keep the momentum rolling for the side. But in the process, Sinclair loosened up and tried an unnecessary reverse sweep which he hit directly into Rahul Dravid’s gloves.Having lost some key support, it was the opportunity for Sinclair to take New Zealand through to the 50-over mark, but his choice of shot that led to his dismissal was symptomatic of some bad decisions made right through the latter part of the innings which could be an important lesson in the overall context of the season.Vincent’s running was a revelation and a timely reminder that offensive running can be invaluable in breaking up the efforts of the fielding side.The New Zealanders were a much more competitive unit in the field and their efforts were typified by McCullum with the gloves. He equalled the New Zealand record of five dismissals in an innings, set by Adam Parore against the West Indies at Goa in 1994/95.McCullum made four catches and a stumping for his haul.The bowlers were given a solid workout with Kyle Mills coming back from an early mauling to take three wickets while Tuffey completed another first over special and ended with two for 35.All in all, the sort of performance which while satisfying for its execution, had enough in it to demand even more effort in the next match in Christchurch on New Year’s Day.

LAHORE, Jan 6: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to decide former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram’s appeal against the penalty recommended by Justice Malik Qayyum (retired) of the LHC.In his one-man inquiry commission report on match-fixing allegations (whose excerpts were released by the PCB in May 2000), Justice Qayyum had recommended that Wasim be fined Rs300,000 by the PCB and should not be appointed as captain of the Pakistan team in future.Justice M. Javed Buttar disposed of the appeal with the orders that the PCB should give an opportunity to Wasim by conducting a formal hearing of his appeal and decide the matter within one month.Najamul Hassan Kazmi, the counsel for the petitioner, argued before the court that Wasim’s appeal against the findings of the inquiry commission had been filed before the PCB some 18 months ago and had not been decided as yet for some unknown reasons.As argued by the petitioner, the PCB had no moral and legal grounds for delaying the hearing of the appeal since this delay could cost him his international fame and he wanted to get himself exonerated of match-fixing allegations at the earliest.It was submitted that the penalty pronounced by the inquiry commission was recommendatory in nature and was not binding on the PCB since that the commission did not enjoy the status of a court of law.The petitioner alleged through his counsel that this penalty had been recommended without giving him an ample opportunity to defend himself and subsequently, the PCB had further employed delaying tactics to hear his version in this regard.The court was requested to issue directions to the PCB for deciding Wasim’s appeal at the earliest. The petitioner submitted that in case the court did not deem it proper to issue directions to the PCB, it should conduct the hearing of his appeal itself.The court, however, observed that the PCB was the proper platform for hearing the appeal since it had already been moved by the petitioner and it should decide the matter accordingly.Meanwhile PCB has refusedto comment on the decision of the Lahore High Court, directing it to decide former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram’s appeal againstthe penalty recommended by former Justice Malik Qayyum.When contacted, a PCB spokesman said that the board did not receive the decision officially and any comment could be offered after getting it.

On the first match-free day of the World Cup, South Africans were yesterday left to contemplate the unthinkable – their team being on the verge of first-round elimination.Ironically, their chances of survival now depend on West Indies, whose victory over them in the tournament opener triggered the problem that was compounded by their loss to New Zealand on Sunday.Providing neither are upset in their remaining matches against lesser teams in the group, South Africa’s slim chance hinges on West Indies beating group leaders Sri Lanka at Newlands in Cape Town on February 28.Even then, they would have to follow up by beating the Sri Lankans in their final match in Durban three days later.It is a combination that prompted yesterday’s Cape Argus newspaper to suggest the South African crowd would be even more firmly behind West Indies than usual in the Sri Lankan match."Newlands fans backing West Indies is an unlikely scenario but desperate times require unusual methods," he wrote. "It would not be strange, then, to see the usually green-clad Newlands fans decked out in maroon."The South African Press yesterday highlighed the depression hanging over their team’s prospects, most using as a metaphor the weather that meant Sunday’s match against New Zealand had to be decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method.Gloomy Forecast ran the front page banner headline in the Joahnnesburg Star, superimposed on a picture of the rain clouds banking over the floodlit Wanderers ground."South Africa’s dream of winning the World Cup is being held together by sticky tape and prayers," wrote Kevin McCallum in The Star.Quoting South African captain Shaun Pollock’s comment: "We’ve got to hope, we need a lifeline", McCallum added: "There will be 40 million South Africans clinging on to that same hope and looking for that lifeline over the next couple of weeks."Writing in the Cape Times, Michael Owen-Smith offered some cheer. He noted that, at present, South Africa’s net run rate was superior to the rest and that "teams that have barely scraped through the first round have tended to go on to win the tournament".He cited 1992 when Pakistan made it into the second round only because rain gained them a share of the points against England and yet went on to win the Cup and 1999 when Australia lost two of their first-round matches before taking the championship.The form of Alan Donald, their greatest, but aging, fast bowler, and the overall quality of bowling that has conceded totals of 278 for five off 50 overs against West Indies and 229 for one off 36.5 overs against New Zealand are also under the microscope.