Shoaib vows memorable India tour

Shoaib Akhtar vowed on Saturday to make the upcoming tour of India memorable after the paceman was recalled to the team for the crucial series against the arch-rivals.

“I promise that I will do my best and give my full effort on the tour of India to help my team win both the one-dayer and Test series,” Akhtar said in an interview.

The 32-year-old Shoaib was recalled on Friday for possibly his last tour of India after he served a ban of 13 international matches, punishment primarily for hitting a teammate with a bat last month.

Shoaib was also fined 3.4 million rupees after he struck fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif on the thigh after team practice in Johannesburg ahead of the inaugural World Twenty20 championship.

He was placed on probation for two years, which means he could be banned for life if he again breaches the players’ code of conduct.

The punishment meant he missed Pakistan’s Test series and four one-day matches against South Africa. He has been named in the squad for the fifth and final one-dayer against the Proteas here tomorrow.

Shoaib vowed that his career was back on track after the mistake which he described as something he would rather forget.

“What I did was silly and happened in a fit of anger,” he said.

“I apologised to Asif, to the team players and to all my countrymen and now I hope that my career will not suffer again.

“I have missed a lot of cricket due to injuries and other reasons, but now I want to focus on my game and do my best for the country,” said Shoaib who played his last Test in South Africa in January this year.

Despite the intense rivalry between the two teams, Shoaib said he is respected in India and is looking forward to the tour.

“This may be my last tour so I must do something special for the fans in India so that they remember me in a good way,” he said.

His only complete tour of India was in 1999 when, as a newcomer to the Pakistan team, he took eight wickets in the Asian Test championship match at Kolkata — including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries.

“Those were the golden moments of my career and I still want to get Tendulkar and Dravid’s wickets because they are special players,” said Shoaib who missed Pakistan’s 2005 India tour due to injury.

His last tour to India ended in ignominy after he and fellow paceman Mohammad Asif were expelled after testing positive to the banned steroid nandrolone, two days before the start of the Champions Trophy.

Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one year before the bans were lifted on appeal.

Shoaib said both the one-day and Test series will be exciting.

“Since our pace attack is better than theirs I feel the balance is tilted towards Pakistan and if we bat well then we can return as winners.”

Pakistan leave for New Delhi on November 1 and will play the first of five One-day Internationals at Guwahati on November 5. It will be followed by three Tests in New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore.

No special Australian security for Muralitharan

Cricket Australia on Friday denied introducing special security measures to protect Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan from crowds Down Under, saying existing measures would catch any offenders.

Muralitharan arrived this week for his first full Australia Test tour in 12 years, braced for a chilly reception from fans as he bids to break local hero Shane Warne’s Test wicket record.

His arrival on Wednesday raised eyebrows when a federal police officer escorted him through the media throng in Adelaide, unusual in laid-back Australia, where England players last year often mingled freely with fans.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday that plainclothes security officers would be sent to sections of Australian grounds near Muralitharan’s fielding positions to swifty idenitfy and eject trouble-makers.

There are fears the Sri Lankan could receive unsportsmanlike treatment in Australia, where he has been called for “throwing” on two previous tours and subjected to constant crowd calls of “no ball.”

Sensitivities about crowd behaviour in Australia are particularly high after the recent one-day series in India, when the only black player in the Australian side, Andrew Symonds, was subjected to racist chants.

The Sri Lankan boycotted a 2004 tour to Australia because of constant crowd abuse about his bowling action — and Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s assertion that he was a “chucker”.

Cricket Australia said its existing crowd monitoring program, introduced after South African players were racially abused two years ago, would protect Muralitharan.

“There’s not a specific Muralitharan protection program,” Cricket Australia public affairs manager Peter Young told AFP.

“But we have a national program to ensure that we have a family friedly environment in cricket, and as part of that we do have plainclothes people in crowds.

“We (also) have closed circuit television and any spectator who subjects a player to inappropriate behaviour will be detected and ejected very, very quickly.”

‘Murali’ needs just nine wickets to overhaul Warne’s 708 Test scalps in the Test matches in Brisbane and Hobart starting on November 8 and 16.

Warne and Lara to light up Hong Kong Sixes

Cricketing superstars and former rivals Shane Warne, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath will team up this weekend, hoping to fire an all-star team to victory at the Hong Kong Sixes.

The tournament, first held in 1992, produces frenetic cricket in which six-a-side teams bat for only five overs each innings and every fielder has to bowl.

Batsmen retire when they reach 31 runs, and matches last no more than 45 minutes.

The all-star squad, which also includes Anil Kumble, Craig McMillan, Geraint Jones and Heath Streak, will compete against nine national sides over two days at the Kowloon Cricket Club, set amid Hong Kong’s towering skyscrapers.

Famous for its devil-may-care style and raucous crowds, the Hong Kong Sixes tournament has a record of attracting the world’s top players, with Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Flintoff all appearing in past tournaments.

Organisers hope the competition will grow further on the back of the recent success of the short-form Twenty20 game and the massive interest in cricket in south Asia.

Harsh Sabale, an Indian entrepreneur based in Hong Kong, recently bought the rights to the event for eight years and has big ambitions to boost its international appeal.

“The Sixes is a lot of fun and it seemed wrong for it not to have a much greater profile,” he said. “We hope to promote it as a major television event in the future.

“As cricket gets shorter, Sixes is well placed to deliver dramatic action that is above all fun to play and fun to watch. It produces fantastic entertainment, which is the most important thing.

“Obviously we are very gratified by the string of world-class players who have come to Hong Kong this year to play, and we are also delighted by the level of enthusiasm among the public.

“We sold all the tickets within days and the only problem that we have is coping with fans who are desperate to see the cricket but can’t get into the ground.”

Brian Lara, speaking at a kids’ cricket clinic ahead of the tournament, said: “It is going to be an exciting time playing alongside all the guys I have played against over the years.

“The Sixes is exciting stuff and since I retired, this is my first stint back on the cricket field, so I am looking forward to it.”

Taking on the all-stars in the hunt for the 100,000-dollar winners’ cheque will be teams from Australia, Bangladesh, England, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Last year’s tournament was won by outsiders South Africa, who beat favourites Pakistan in the final.

England must respect their county cricket

Shane Warne believes that England need to show more respect to county cricket, but feels that the new coach, Peter Moores, is taking the country in the right direction.

“Under Duncan Fletcher England didn’t pay enough respect to county cricket and I hope that changes under Peter Moores,” Warne, the Hampshire captain, told the London-based Sport magazine. “I think this last season with Hampshire has been the strongest one I’ve ever seen for county cricket and it’s seen young bowlers like Chris Tremlett, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson come through to the national team.”

Fletcher’s approach as England coach wasn’t overly sympathetic to releasing centrally-contracted players for their counties. His successor, Moores - a big advocate of the county system which nurtured him - has been more sympathetic.

He has also revived the international careers of players who had impressed for their county such as Graeme Swann and Ryan Sidebottom, both of Nottinghamshire.

It’s generally agreed that the county game is improving, particularly since the introduction of two tiers for the Championship. At last, the talent appears to be concentrating into the top of the first division, which the system was designed for.

Warne also had strong views on the decision to cut the number of overseas players allowed from two to one per county from next year. “I also think it’s important to have two overseas players per county,” he said. “It helps these young guys to play against the best and they definitely improve for it.”

It’s not just the English players who have benefitted from playing against the overseas players. Several Australian players who had county stints this summer have made a thumping start to their domestic season.

Cameron White, who played at Somerset, has continued his excellent batting form for Victoria. His team-mate David Hussey has eased from a successful season at Nottinghamshire straight into the runs for Victoria, via a useful Australia A tour in Pakistan.

White also praised county cricket recently - especially the effect it has had on Hussey. “I’ve no doubt county cricket has definitely helped his game,” he said.

“Over the last four winters he’s been [playing county cricket] he’s probably facing a couple of thousand balls out in the middle while everyone else who’s not playing cricket is hitting indoor bowling machine balls. There’s no doubt I think that makes you a better player over there, batting all that time.”

Doug Bollinger and Phil Jaques may not have had the best of times at Worcestershire but, following the A tour, they are back on the money for New South Wales.

Shoaib Akhtar finds his way back into Pakistan squad

Pakistan on Friday recalled fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for next month’s one-day series in India, writes Khalid Hussain.

The national selectors have named a 16-man squad for the five-match ODI series which will begin on November 5 in the eastern Indian city of Guwahati.

Apart from bringing back Shoaib, the selectors also inducted young Karachi all-rounder Fawad Alam in the squad and also gave another lifeline to misfiring opener Imran Nazir.

“A fit and in-form Shoaib Akhtar is an asset for the Pakistan team,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told ‘The News’. “He adds another dimension to our bowling attack for what is an important series,” he added.

Shoaib, 32, is expected to make his comeback in the final one-dayer against South Africa in Lahore on Monday after having served a 13-match ban over misconduct.

Shoaib Malik will be leading Pakistan in India where the tourists will also play three Tests. Salahuddin said that the Test squad will be announced just before the conclusion of the ODI series.

Vice-captain Salman Butt managed to keep a place in the squad in spite of a series of unimpressive outings in recent times. There was, however, no room for fellow opener Mohammad Hafeez.

“This is the best possible squad,” said Salahuddin. “We have experienced batsmen in Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan and also some big-hitters like Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir.”

Salahuddin, a former Test cricketer, said that Pakistan have a lot of variety in their bowling attack with Shoaib adding fire to the pace attack that also has Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum. “Then we have four spin options in Abdul Rehman (left-arm spinner), Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Fawad Alam,” he said.

Salahuddin said that Fawad is a promising cricketer who can do really well on slow and spinning wickets in India. “He is good batsman against spin bowling and can also be used as a slow bowler.”

Pakistan are to leave for New Delhi where they play a warm-up game before flying to Guwahati for the first one-dayer.

Pakistan’s ODI squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul Haq, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Abdul Rehman.

Itinerary for the ODI series: Nov 5: First ODI, Guwahati. Nov 8: Second ODI, Mohali. Nov 11: Third ODI, Kanpur. Nov 15: Fourth ODI, Gwalior. Nov 18: Fifth ODI, Jaipu

Razzaq takes back retirement decision

Abdul Razzaq has taken back his decision to retire from international cricket and is available once again to represent Pakistan. The allrounder’s decision comes after discussions with his local club and long-time coach.

“I have reversed my decision and am available for Pakistan once again,” Razzaq told Cricinfo. “I have had many discussions with P&T Gymkhana and my coach, Azhar Zaidi, and we felt it was better if I took back my original decision. Maybe I made that in the heat of the moment.”

Razzaq announced his retirement from international cricket in August, in protest at being ignored by the selectors in the squad for the ICC World Twenty20. He accused the selection committee and the board of not treating him with enough respect and dropping him for matters other than his form. The selectors maintained that he was still in their plans for ODI and Test cricket, though his form in those formats has been unconvincing over the last year or so. In his last 15 ODIs, he averages 17.30 and has taken only 12 wickets.

Three fifties and 38 wickets in his last 15 Tests have also done nothing to help his cause, though injuries have hardly helped the process. He missed the Test series against South Africa late last year and the World Cup in the West Indies subsequently. In 2005, he also missed the home series against England with an elbow injury.

Razzaq now plans to take part in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam trophy for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL). The doors back to international cricket will not open immediately, however. Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector, said Razzaq would need to show that he was back to his bristling best. “Let him play first-class matches first and prove his form and fitness there. After that, the doors are always open for every first-class cricketer in the country,” Salahuddin told Cricinfo.

And further obstacles may exist in the form of the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Razzaq was one of four Pakistani players to sign up for the league and the Pakistan board still maintains that anyone who does turn out in the ICL will not represent Pakistan.

Mohammad Yousuf, another player to sign for the ICL, was convinced by the board to opt for Pakistan instead, though no similar efforts were made with Razzaq. The league has threatened legal action against Yousuf. Razzaq says, however, he will wait and see how matters develop before deciding on a course of action as far as his contract with the ICL is concerned.