Sports

LAHORE: The camp training of the New Zealand bound Pakistan cricket team ended here on Wednesday with injuries to Sohail Tanvir and Test captain Misbahul Haq.
The injury to Misbah was of minor nature but left-arm bowler Sohail Tanvir has been ruled out of the tour to New Zealand with a knee injury. Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam said: "He tried his best in the camp but is not fit enough to carry on. He requires time to recover." "The injury to Misbah is of minor nature and

LAHORE: Pakistan is likely to host Bangladesh in a full home series next year, it was learnt Wednesday. As part of the ground breaking for international teams return to Pakistan, Bangladesh would most likely send their junior team or A team to tour Pakistan first. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt met Bangladesh cricket officials in Dhaka on the sidelines of the ACC meeting and discussed the possibility of Bangladesh visiting Pakistan in 2011.
It has been learnt that

PERTH: Former captain Steve Waugh says a lack of stability within the side is contributing significantly to the current Australian cricket team's woes. Waugh, who lost just nine of his 57 Tests as Australian captain, believes the national selectors have made too many changes to the team over the last 18 months and not shown enough faith in young players.
"What the selectors have got to do, which they did back then, is have belief in the younger players they pick and say 'you are

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has put on hold the announcement of the team because of the delay in clearance of the two players from the International Cricket Council. The PCB has asked the ICC to clear Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal for selection in the New Zealand ODI series and the World Cup but till late, no reply was received and the board officials are further discussing the list.
An official of the board said: "A meeting of the selection committee was held on

KARACHI: Pakistani test bowler Mohammad Sami is under investigation after being accused of damaging hotel furniture while drunk, Karachi City Cricket Association president Siraj Bukhari said.
"We have been told that Sami fought with a teammate and damaged hotel property while allegedly under the influence of alcohol," he said. He added a detailed report had been summoned from the Karachi Blues team management on the incident that took place on Tuesday at the hotel in Rawalpindi,

LAHORE: Pakistan's suspended pacer Mohammad Asif has hired the services of British lawyer Alan Alexander Cameron to represent him in the spot-fixing allegations case.
Alexander is the elder brother of British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Reports said that Elizabeth Robertson, who was representing the pacer, had taken maternity leave and that forced the cricketer to look for another lawyer.
"Asif during his recent visit to London had many meetings with Robertson and

PERTH: Australian captain Ricky Ponting admitted on Wednesday his future is uncertain as he tries to avoid an unwanted piece of Ashes leadership history. With a buoyant England up 1-0 heading into the third Test at the WACA Ground, starting here on Thursday, Ponting is in line to become the first Australian skipper in 120 years to lose three Ashes series.
Ponting's wavering form with the bat - he is without a century in his last eight Tests and has managed just 461 runs at 35.46

CENTURION: India will be under pressure to justify their number one ranking by winning away from home when they play second-placed South Africa in a three-match Test series starting at Centurion on Thursday.
India have not lost a home series since going down 2-1 to Australia in 2004, but their away form has been less impressive and South Africa captain Graeme Smith said they were under pressure to show they could win in foreign conditions.
India have won just one of 12

LAHORE: Doctors Eleven and SPM Colts won their respective matches of the 4th SPM League Cricket Tournament here on Wednesday.
In the first match of the Professional Group, Doctors Eleven beat Lahore Gymkhana by six wickets.
Lahore Gymkhana scored 158 in 30 overs. Haider Bukhari (37), Saleem Malik (34) and Shaheryar Siddque (34) were the top scorers. Doctors' Kashif Nizami took three wickets while Hasnain Bashir, Aleem Butt and Umer Akbar shared two each.
In reply,

LAHORE: Pakistan's future hope Samir Iftikhar displayed top class tennis to oust experienced former national champion Rashid Malik in an exciting final to clinch the Servis Cup Punjab Tennis Tournament here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Courts on Wednesday.
Samir entertained a large crowd and tennis enthusiasts who especially came to the venue to witness the duel between experience and youth and in the end youth prevailed quite convincingly. Samir won 6-1, 6-4.
Playing in front of

PERTH: Having sent Australia crashing to the canvas in Adelaide, England will hope to land a knockout blow to their punch-drunk former tormentors when the third Ashes test gets underway in Perth on Thursday.
Victory at the WACA ground would see Andrew Strauss's team bring the Ashes home for the first time since the Mike Gatting-led triumph in 1986/87, while condemning Ricky Ponting to becoming the first Australian captain in 120 years to lose three Ashes series. Ponting said

NEW DELHI: Australia's struggles in the ongoing Ashes series show the team have yet to emerge from a transition phase, and India will face similar problems when several leading players retire, former Australia captain Bobby Simpson said.
Languishing in fourth place in the ICC Test rankings, Australia are a shadow of the dominant side that featured Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. Ricky Ponting's men trail England 1-0 in the Ashes series and the

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has filed a "comprehensive and hard-hitting" reply to the allegations of spot-fixing ahead of his International Cricket Council tribunal hearing in Doha, Qatar.
According to his lawyer, it was wrong to say that the beleaguered captain was handicapped by the composition of his legal team, which was suffering on account of there being 'too many cooks spoiling the broth'. The 26-year-old was provisionally suspended by the ICC along with

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought permission from the International Cricket Council for the selection of former captain Shoaib Malik and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal in the 2011 World Cup team and the likely chance is that the team's announcement would be delayed till the reply of the ICC.
It has been learnt that the PCB wants to include these two players in the World Cup as well as the ODI team for the New Zealand series and is waiting for the ICC response. Although

LAHORE: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis on Tuesday said he wanted to earn respect and admiration of his fellows like he did as a player.
A day before the close of the camp training of the team, Waqar said: "As a coach I am giving the same commitment I gave as a player. The intensity and hunger has not gone down."
Waqar, who was named head coach of the team in place of Intikhab Alam this year after a disastrous tour of Australia, was also confident that the present Pakistani team

PERTH: In-form seamer James Anderson is confident the English pace attack won't lose any of its potency in the third Ashes Test starting Thursday at the WACA Ground, despite a couple of untimely setbacks.
After their second Test triumph in Adelaide to take a 1-0 lead in the series, England can retain the Ashes with a win here, but will need to do so without fast bowler Stuart Broad, who has been ruled out of the rest of the tour with an abdominal strain.
And Anderson himself

PERTH: Recalled opener Phil Hughes has promised Australia the kind of brisk starts which Virender Sehwag so frequently provides for India. Replacing the injured Simon Katich for the third Ashes test starting on Thursday, Hughes insisted he would not be curbing his attacking instincts against the dangerous English bowlers.
"That's how I've always played. I've been quite aggressive especially the last few years," Hughes told reporters on Tuesday. "That's my natural game and