In its efforts to do better on foreign tours regularly, Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to provide challenging surfaces to its batsmen at home by laying as many as 90 bouncy pitches across the country by October this year. A PCB official said the project was aimed at preparing batsmen, wh

Issuing a gag order, the Pakistan cricket authorities have warned the players that they could face stiff penalties, including match bans, if they speak to the media without prior permission from the team management. A member of the Pakistan side said they had been told verbally by board off

In what could invite worldwide ridicule for their already tattered image, the Jamaican Police will finally announce next week that former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural cause, said the British media. According to 'Daily Mail', the Jamaican Police would hold a press confer

Senior Pakistani batsman Younis Khan will not be offered captaincy of the national team ever again in the future, PCB chief Naseem Ashraf said. Ashraf said though Younis would be considered as a player, he won't be offered to lead the Pakistan team ever. "As far as his playing for P

Former captain Inzamam ul Haq's fate hangs in balance as the Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the national selection committee to submit a shortlist of 30 players, 20 of whom will get the new central contracts by July 1. Chief operating officer of the board Shafqat Naqmi said Inzamam would get

The Cricket Board has promised to arrange special flights to cart the players around if the schedule is tight during the visit by Pakistan later this year, but maintained the venues of the matches would be decided by its own rotation system. "We have played in small centres in Pakista

ESPN Star Sports has bagged the telecast rights of Afro Asia cup after Nimbus bagged out of the deal citing absence of big names in the tournament. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has awarded the worldwide rights for telecasting the second edition of Afro Asia Cup to ESPN Star Sports, the compan

Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar is likely to be named as chairman of the 2011 World Cup organising committee when it is constituted formally next month. The board officials of the four Asian Test playing nations - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - are to meet i

Former squash world number one Peter Nicol started a three-day coaching clinic today in Mumbai with the goal to lift the physically demanding sport in India to bigger heights than at present. The Aberdeen-born Scot, world open champion in 1999, has joined the Mumbai-based World Squash Acad

Pakistan cricket authorities have trimmed down their shortlist of candidates for the post of national team coach to five foreign coaches. Dr Naseem Ashraf, the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that five candidates were under consideration but did not give their names. "

Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has rubbished allegations of ex-captain Inzamam ul Haq being a dictator during his tenure. Khan, who served as PCB Chairman from December 2003 to last October, was accused by a PCB appointed probe committee of pampering Inzamam and

The International Cricket Council will soon appoint an acting president in place of Percy Sonn, who died of complications from a colon operation. Sir John Anderson of New Zealand and Malaysian Prince Tunku Imran are said to be in the running for the post vacated after the demise of the 57-ye

Former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad is ready to give a serious thought to coaching the national team again if the Cricket Board offered him the job. Miandad, who has coached senior team on three separate terms but was removed acrimoniously on all occasions, said he had always k

International Cricket Council President Percy Sonn, who was critically ill for the past few days, died in Cape Town today. Sonn, 57, was admitted to the Durbanville clinic in Cape Town on Monday after developing complications from a colon surgery. A former president of the South African cr

The Pakistan Cricket Board is seriously considering ending the decades old structure of commercial departments and banks participating in its domestic cricket competition. PCB officials confirmed that serious consideration was being given to relegating departments and banks to only playing th

Former India cricket coach John Wright is all set to take over as the head coach of Australia's Centre of Excellence. According to a report in the 'Sydney Morning Herald', Wright is set to fill the post left vacant by Tim Nielson, who took over as Australia's coach after the World Cup. The

Dope-tainted Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar was today dropped from the Asian XI team for the Afro Asia Cricket Cup due to lack of fitness. Asian Cricket Council selection committee member Mohsin Khan said the express bowler was dropped as he had not recovered from his knee injury. "The P

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today squarely blamed public broadcaster Doordarshan for denying millions of Indian fans the chance of watching the ongoing Test series between India and Bangladesh. "Doordarshan is to be blamed for this. They should have prepared an underst

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam ul Haq was preceived as an "autocrat" by different players of his team, a member of the Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC) that probed Pakistan's failure at the cricket World Cup said. Various players, who had played with Inzamam, gave their feed

India have agreed to play a tri-series in Bangladesh with Pakistan as the third side in 2008 or 2009. The matter was discussed at a meeting between the BCCI top brass and their counterparts in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) here last night. "We have agreed to play the tri-series in

Jamaican Police Deputy commissioner Mark Shields has said Bob Woolmer had "no enemies" who could have harmed the Pakistan cricket coach but investigators were obliged to treat the death as a murder on the basis of pathology reports. Shields, who was in Cape Town for a week interv

The new look Pakistan cricket squad prepared to fly out to Abu Dhabi today to play a one-day series against Sri Lanka with new captain, Shoaib Malik exhorting his team to get back to winning ways. Malik also made it clear he was not under any pressure leading the side for the first time in a

Unwilling to lose momentum after clinching the series, Indian skipper Rahul David today stressed that his team will stick to the target of making a clean sweep of the three-match series to gear up for tougher challnges in the coming months. "We are very keen [to make it 3-0]. That was o

A suspect in Bob Woolmer's murder may be named after a high-level meeting between the officials of Jamaican Police and Scotland yard in London today, according to a newspaper report. The 'Jamaican Observer' said the highly complex case could come closer to conclusion after the meeting. &qu

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who defied cramps to fashion an Indian victory in the first of the three-match one day cricket series against Bangladesh, today termed his unbeaten 91 as one of the most memorable innings of his career. Dhoni fought a cramped right hamstring to take his team home with a

India and Pakistan are likely to lock horns in a one day international cricket match at the neutral venue of Glasgow in Scotland in the first week of July. A leading Asian broadcaster, which has earlier arranged India V Pakistan match in Canada, has been surveying location for the encounte

India will play South Africa in a three-match limited overs cricket series to be held in Ireland in late June and early July. "The Irish Cricket Union (ICU) is proud that two such great cricketing nations as India and South Africa are coming to Ireland to play each other and against I

Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar today said there was a need to change the culture of the Pakistan team's dressing room with a captain who is honest and supportive of his players. "My experience is that in the past instead of using me as a match winner some of the captains used

Glenn McGrath, who retired from international cricket after Australia's cricket World Cup win against Sri Lanka on Saturday, finished his career in fifth place in the all-time LG-ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. McGrath, who was named as Player of the Tournament after taking 26 wickets, is

Cricket skipper of Kenya, Steve Tikolo, will be vice-captain to the South African captain Graeme Smith in the Africa team for the second Afro-Asian cricket tournament to be held in India in June. According to the sources, Tikolo was one of four Kenyans in the squad that also feature pla