Sports

LAHORE - The Pakistan Squash Federation has selected five-member squad for the Junior World Team Championship and Asian Championship scheduled for next year, newly-appointed national coach Jansher Khan said.
In a meet-the-press talk with media at the Lahore Press Club, Jansher said Pakistan players will have to do a lot of hard work if they are to regain their status as a top squash nation in the world. Jansher bemoaned that youngsters were not willing to work hard.
He said

LAHORE - Pakistan's tour of New Zealand got off to the dismal start as Auckland defeated them by five wickets in a one-sided Twenty20 match at Colin Maiden Park in Auckland on Thursday.
Pakistan were undone by Auckland left-armer Michael Bates who claimed three wickets in his first two overs to reduce the tourists to seven for three. They never recovered and were skittled for 91 in the 18th over. Bates got four for 11 in three overs while left-arm spinner Roneel Hira claimed two

LAHORE - Pakistan coach Waqar Younis was unfazed by the team's five-wicket loss at the hands of the Auckland Aces in Thursday's Twent20 warm-up match at Colin Maiden Park.
Umar Akmal's 25 runs in the middle-order was as good as it got for the tourists' batting as they fell to 91 all out in 17.4 overs in the opening clash of their tour of New Zealand. The hosts reached their modest target with six overs and four balls to spare, with Martin Guptill weighing in with an unbeaten 28.

LAHORE: The International Cricket Council on Wednesday rejected Salman Butt's request to delay the spot fixing hearing after holding a teleconference with the lawyers of other suspended players Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
The hearing will take place from January 6 as scheduled. Butt had sought delay in the appeal
Salman's lawyer had pleaded that since the Scotland Yard was yet to announce its decision or level any charges in the spot-fixing scam, the hearing of the

LAHORE: Former captain and bowling great Wasim Akram has expressed disappointment that Pakistan cricketers are again likely to be left out of the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League. "From what we are hearing Pakistani players will again not be in the IPL and this is so disappointing because frankly speaking I personally feel without our players the IPL loses much of its charm and competitive edge," Wasim was quoted by PTI as saying. Wasim pointed out that if top players like

MELBOURNE: England's Kevin Pietersen Wednesday said Australia's current team could not out-sledge Test greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, dismissing a sharp rise in verbal clashes during the Ashes series.
Pietersen said he had faced some "pretty big verbal contests" during England's last tour of Australia, when the legendary bowlers were still playing, but had seen nothing unusual in this year's Tests. Both teams have acknowledged raised temperatures during the home team's

WELLINGTON: Uncapped wicketkeeper Reece Young was the only newcomer named Wednesday in New Zealand's team for the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan.
Young replaced Gareth Hopkins, who had been New Zealand's preferred keeper since Brendon McCullum relinquished the gloves to play as a specialist batsman. Young has been in strong form for Auckland province in New Zealand domestic competitions while Hopkins failed with the bat during New Zealand's recent three-Test series in

LONDON: There were few more thrilling sights in world cricket in 2010 than Mohammad Aamer bowling and there were few more controversial too. The teenage Pakistan left-arm quick's entrancing spell of swing bowling saw Australia dismissed for just 88 at Headingley in July. But Aamer and new-ball partner Mohammad Asif, together with Pakistan captain Salman Butt, soon found themselves facing 'spot-fixing' allegations.
Butt was accused by British tabloid The News of the World of

ZURICH: Roger Federer took the upper hand against Rafael Nadal on Tuesday with a two set to one win in a charity exhibition match in the Swiss city of Zurich. After losing the first set 4-6, Federer broke back against the world number one early in the second set to take a 6-3, 6-3 lead, watched by a capacity home crowd including Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, ski-ing champions Lindsey Vonn and Didier Cuche.
The 10,500 tickets for the "Match for Africa" were sold out

SYDNEY: Sidelined Australian opener Simon Katich says his Achilles injury is recovering quicker than expected, putting him on track for a possible surprise comeback in the final Ashes Test. Katich, 35, said he was "really happy" at how the partial tear was reacting to rehab and physio after he hobbled through the second Test in Adelaide and was ruled out for the rest of the series. "It's hard to say when I will come back but it's tracking quicker than we thought it would at this

LAHORE: Kinnaird College for Women Wednesday held a reception in honour of the college team which won the Lahore Region Inter-district Women Cricket Tournament.
The members of the winning team were awarded shields by Lahore City Cricket Association Secretary Main Javed Ali while Bushra Aitzaz was also present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, trials to select the Lahore district team also started at the KC ground. The selected team will represent Lahore district in the Regional

LAHORE: Guard Group/DP, Master Paints/Monnoo Foods and Adisseo won their matches on day two of the TREET Polo Cup here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Wednesday.
Master Paints/Monnoo Foods and Guard Group/DP won their matches by half-a-goal margins. Guard Group/DP beat Security 2000 by 5-4

MADRID: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola can extend his contract for as long as he wants and the club are hoping he will emulate long-serving Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, president Sandro Rosell said on Wednesday.
Guardiola, 39, has led the Spanish champions to eight trophies, including the 2009 Champions League, in his two and a half seasons in charge and while there is no indication he will leave he has yet to agree a contract extension beyond the end of the current

LAHORE: The death of a prominent first class cricketer, Aamir Bashir due to cancer on Tuesday led to a call from former Pakistan captains and players for the establishment of a players' association in the country. Former captains Ramiz Raja and Rashid Latif were joined by former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir in demanding that the Pakistan Cricket Board allow establishment of a players' association. "I think the way and the conditions in which Aamir Bashir passed away is sad and there are

LONDON: It is said that every dog has its day and for Lee Westwood's feisty caddie Billy Foster, a self-proclaimed golfing Jack Russell, that day is now. The straight-talking Yorkshireman has previously worked with Seve Ballesteros and Tiger Woods among others but it is only this year he has truly cashed in following fellow Briton Westwood's stunning rise to the top of the world rankings.
"If you had asked me two years ago whether I think he can be number one in the world, I'd

LAHORE: The lawyer of teenage pace bowler Mohammad Amir insists he has faith in the ICC-appointed tribunal which will decide the fate of his client and two other players implicated in the spot-fixing scandal.
Amir, along with Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, will face an ICC hearing in Doha starting on January 6. At present the trio has been barred from playing competitive cricket with the Pakistan Cricket Board suspending their central contracts.
The three cricketers face

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's cricketers will continue to miss out on the Indian Premier League bonanza after none of them were included in the auction for next year's money-spinning event, organisers said Tuesday.
No Pakistani featured in a list of 416 players whose services will be auctioned in Bangalore on January 8-9 for the fourth edition of the Twenty20 tournament, which is to be held in April and May.
Pakistani cricketers took part in the inaugural IPL in 2008, but were