Pakistan National News

[brod]

Kamran Akmal has been told by the ICC that he is clear to seek Pakistan selection. Kamran, Pakistan's first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman, has not played since the one-day series against England in September. He wasn't selected for the current series against South Africa, ostensibly because he wasn't fit when the squad was announced; he had undergone an appendicitis operation days before the announcement. But clouds of suspicion, the fall-out of the spot-fixing scandal, have swirled around his non-selection.

[brod]

Salman Butt, one of the three Pakistan players suspended following accusations of spot-fixing, has denied the allegations and said the money found in his room was legitimate - including payment for opening an ice-cream parlour - and accounted for.

"I have not done anything such as this in all my life or cricketing career," he said in an interview with Sky television, broadcast in the UK on Monday night.


An ice-cream palour..not your normal excuse

[brod]

Growing differences between Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif in the spot-fixing hearings in Doha, Qatar appear to have given rise to the acknowledgment that wrongdoing was committed during the Lord's Test last summer, but that complicity in the act and blame for it have not yet been settled.

The pair, along with Mohammad Amir, have pleaded not guilty to charges of bowling deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test against England, allegedly at the behest of player-agent Mazhar Majeed. But on day five of the hearing, during which Asif presented his defence and was then cross-examined by ICC lawyers, the explanations of why a no-ball was bowled suggest that it was the result of a direct or indirect instruction from Butt.

[brod]

Three Pakistani players will have to wait until February 5 to discover the eventual outcome of the spot-fixing charges laid on them by the ICC. A six-day hearing in Doha, Qatar failed to come up with a verdict on the various corruption charges that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir face over incidents in two Tests last summer against England.

[brod]

The ICC has written to the PCB asking for details into the appearance of Mohammad Amir in a friendly club match. Amir is currently provisionally suspended from all levels of cricket facing charges of spot-fixing placed by the governing body in the aftermath of the Lord's Test during Pakistan's tour of England in 2010.

Always something happening

[brod]

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been banned for 10, 7 and 5 years respectively after an ICC tribunal found them guilty of spot-fixing stemming from the Lord's Test against England last year. The sanctions against Butt and Asif have five and two years suspended, which means that the trio cannot play any official, sanctioned cricket, international or domestic, for a minimum of five years, until September 2015.

The suspended sentences on Butt and Asif have been made conditional on their making no further breaches of the code and participating in an anti-corruption education programme, under the auspices of the PCB.

[brod]

Strange that they will all be out of the game for five years, when they were charged with VERY different things

[brod]

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal do not figure in the latest list of PCB central contracts. Younis Khan, who was banned for disciplinary reasons following a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10 and was out of last year's list, has been awarded a Category A contract this time along with current captain Misbah-ul-Haq, allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, and fast bowler Umar Gul - the only player retained in the top category from last year's list.

List of contracted players
Category A
Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman
Category B
Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz, Taufeeq Umar
Category C
Junaid Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Hammad Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Adnan Akmal, Yasir Shah, Rameez Raja, Sharjeel Khan
Stipend Category
Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hassan, Mohammad Ayub Dogar

[Lightning McQueen]

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal do not figure in the latest list of PCB central contracts. Younis Khan, who was banned for disciplinary reasons following a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10 and was out of last year's list, has been awarded a Category A contract this time along with current captain Misbah-ul-Haq, allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, and fast bowler Umar Gul - the only player retained in the top category from last year's list.

List of contracted players
Category A
Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman
Category B
Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz, Taufeeq Umar
Category C
Junaid Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Hammad Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Adnan Akmal, Yasir Shah, Rameez Raja, Sharjeel Khan
Stipend Category
Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hassan, Mohammad Ayub Dogar

Every name contains the letter "a".

[brod]

Waqar Younis has resigned as Pakistan coach citing personal reasons that include his and his wife's health. The upcoming tour of Zimbabwe will be his last assignment with the national team.

"I have tendered my resignation to the [Pakistan Cricket] board last week and the tour to Zimbabwe will be my last," Waqar Younis said at a press conference in Karachi. "I have taken this decision on personal grounds, including medical grounds, and have no differences with anyone and my resignation has been accepted by the board.

"Had everything in my personal life -- that is, my wife's health and my own -- been all right, I would not have taken this decision. But I do not want to fail to do the job justice because of the personal problems on my mind.

[brod]

Shahid Afridi has withdrawn his international retirement and says he is available for selection for Pakistan in the limited-over formats. Afridi had announced a 'conditional' retirement from international cricket in May, after having been stripped of the ODI captaincy, saying he would return if there were changes in the PCB and the team management.

Since then, Waqar Younis has quit as coach of the national team and Ijaz Butt has been replaced as PCB chairman by Zaka Ashraf. Afridi said he had not really retired but had only said he wouldn't play under the previous (Ijaz Butt-led) board.


The off field stuff is just as entertaining as the on-field

[brod]

Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has been found guilty of two offences - conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat - while his team-mate, the fast bowler, Mohammad Asif, has been found guilty of conspiracy to cheat in the spot-fixing trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The decision was reached on the 20th day of the trial, and required 16 hours of deliberation from the 12-man jury. Verdicts were reached on three of the four charges, with a hung jury returned for the charge of Asif's acceptance of corrupt payments. The judge has sent the jury back out for further deliberations.

Butt faces up to seven years in prison for his role in the conspiracy that shook world cricket in August 2010, following a sting by the now-defunct newspaper News of the World.

[hottie]

Just watched Fox sports,where Border,Fleming and Julian were discussing the possibility of jail time and they all agreed it will be some sort of deterent in the future.I understand that the ICC really arent that strong,but to be honest if i was offered money i would say yes.

[The Dark Knight]

Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has been found guilty of two offences - conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat - while his team-mate, the fast bowler, Mohammad Asif, has been found guilty of conspiracy to cheat in the spot-fixing trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The decision was reached on the 20th day of the trial, and required 16 hours of deliberation from the 12-man jury. Verdicts were reached on three of the four charges, with a hung jury returned for the charge of Asif's acceptance of corrupt payments. The judge has sent the jury back out for further deliberations.

Butt faces up to seven years in prison for his role in the conspiracy that shook world cricket in August 2010, following a sting by the now-defunct newspaper News of the World.

Says in todays Advertiser that Butt was banned for 10 years, Asif for 7 and Mohammad Aamer for 5 years.

I can't believe Aamer is involved in all of this. I hope he represents Pakistan again, he's a great young talent and I really like him as a player, I hope he learns from his mistakes.