ICC confirms Junaid as replacement for Tanvir in Pak squad

The International Cricket Council on Wednesday approved Junaid Khan as a replacement player for the injured Sohail Tanvir in the Pakistan squad for the World Cup starting later this month in the sub-continent. The ICC has conveyed the confirmation by Event Technical Committee of the Cricket World Cup 2011 to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), a statement said.

Junaid will replace Tanvir, who is suffering from a knee injury. The injured player was declared unfit by PCB which has sought seek a replacement for the entire event. Junaid, a 21-year-old left-arm pacer, has never before played international cricket.

Any injury-based replacement requires a written submission to the Event Technical Committee along with a diagnosis The eligibility of a replacement player is subject to approval by the ICC before that player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical Committee of the World Cup consists of David Richardson (ICC, chairman), Prof. Ratnakar Shetty (Tournament Director), Campbell Jamieson (IDI representative), Anil Kumble (host nominee), David Lloyd (independent nomination) and Sanjay Manjrekar (independent nomination).

Cricket-New Zealand coach optimistic despite team's poor form

Recent results suggest coach John Wright is being overly optimistic about his New Zealand side's chances at the cricket World Cup when he talks about reaching the quarter-finals. "You just have to get through the group phase," Wright told Reuters.

"We are playing teams that we have to beat, then we have got Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan and we have to try and get (results in) some of those games and that gets you to the next stage, then she's a one-off situation and that's exciting.

"Some of those teams have enormous pressure on them and if we put it together on the day, we can beat anyone."First, however, New Zealand must break a poor run of form. They have lost 14 of their last 17 one-day internationals, culminating in a 3-2 series loss to Pakistan that ended on Saturday.

New Zealand punched about their weight in previous World Cups, making the semi-finals three times in the last five tournaments. Last year, however, they lost three of five games in Sri Lanka in August, with one match washed out, were embarrassed 4-0 by Bangladesh in five matches in Dhaka in October, then lost 5-0 to India in December.

The Pakistan team who beat them this year were a competent, yet not world-beating, side who have been trying to put 12 months of internal bickering, personnel changes and a betting scandal behind them.

Cricket: One-day win offers hope for World Cup

The thick fog which had settled over New Zealand's one-day game has lifted, if just a shade. The 15-man squad is off to India tomorrow to prepare for the World Cup. In itself, the 57-run win over Pakistan at Eden Park on Saturday certainly does not mean they can march down the aisle of their flight chanting, football-style, "Here we go, here we go ..."

Pakistan still won the series 3-2, and deserved it, too. New Zealand have been in an ODI hole for the last six months, with two wins from the last 16 matches. Despite claims to the contrary one win, after all that's gone before, does not suddenly represent momentum ahead of the tournament.

But the win does allow the players to board the plane with a smile and feeling better about themselves than they did last Thursday night. That was when they sat in their changing room at Hamilton's Seddon Park for 90 minutes of straight talking after the Pakistan series was lost.

The mood was grim, the players out of sorts with themselves and the selectors, playing dumb cricket and looking about for something to grasp on to and haul themselves up.

"I'm not going talk about what was said in the meeting, but we wanted to improve on our performance on the field, and a few different things off it," stand-in captain Ross Taylor said.

"And I think the team went a long way to achieving how we want to play," he said of Saturday's win. "It's been a tough six months, but to finish on that note is very satisfying."

After a series in which cricket joined rugby in having "rotation" take on grim connotations in this country, New Zealand's plans are now in sharper outline.

The top four can be locked in, barring injuries or significant form slumps.

Martin Guptill will open with Brendon McCullum, with Jesse Ryder the new No 3 - and staying put after his blistering 107 at Eden Park - and Ross Taylor at No 4.

The middle order will comprise Scott Styris, James Franklin, Nathan McCullum and captain Dan Vettori, with Kyle Mills and Tim Southee to lead the new ball attack.

The swingers will be Jacob Oram, whose tight-fisted medium pace should get him a spot once fit again, energetic fast-medium bowler Hamish Bennett and, if they find a dustbowl somewhere on their travels, left arm spinner Luke Woodcock.

Jamie How and Kane Williamson will start the tournament on the bench.

For all that the selectors, Mark Greatbatch, Glenn Turner and Lance Cairns, fancied having a look at Brendon McCullum in the middle order - which didn't work for a range of reasons, and left the player distinctly toey - they'll still have a McCullum to provide impetus in the last 10 overs.

Older brother Nathan's bracing 65 on Saturday was his second half century in three innings and amply demonstrated how he can press the accelerator.

A strong middle-lower order has been a key to some of New Zealand's better ODI periods.

Think back to Jeremy Coney, Richard Hadlee, Ian Smith and John Bracewell of 20-plus years ago. Chris Cairns, Adam Parore and Dion Nash were no slouches a decade back.

Styris, Franklin, who looked the part in India before Christmas, McCullum N. and Vettori, and perhaps Oram, is the latest incarnation.

Bennett topped the wicket takers against Pakistan, for both teams, with an impressive 11 at 20.9. He took the odd beating along the way, which should be put down as a timely early lesson in his development.

Mills re-emphasised that he remains the frontline new ball operator, and the fielding was consistently slick and accurate through the Pakistan series, the strongest part of the New Zealand operation.

So some encouraging signs but there can be no chance of New Zealand getting ahead of themselves just yet.

Three fitness question marks

New Zealand will set off for the World Cup with three fitness question marks among the squad of 15 players.

Captain Dan Vettori sat out the last two ODIs against Pakistan after straining a hamstring in the fourth game in Napier on Tuesday.

Then Jesse Ryder twinged a hamstring during his blockbusting 107 which set up New Zealand's 57-run win at Eden Park on Saturday.

Ryder batted with a runner from 78 onwards and while it limited his movements, he maintained he would be ready for the start of the Cup, with New Zealand's first game on February 20 against Kenya in Chennai.

"It's a slight twinge. I should be fine by the time we get there," Ryder said.

The third of the battling triumvirate, senior allrounder Jacob Oram, was yesterday cleared to travel by New Zealand Cricket's medical staff.

Oram was a late withdrawal from Saturday's game, having picked up inflammation in an ankle shortly before the start.

He had an MRI scan, an x-ray and independent medical assessment yesterday before being clear to leave with the squad tomorrow.

The diagnosis showed no tear or break.

"I developed ankle pain and although it didn't feel serious I wasn't able to bowl without discomfort," Oram said yesterday.

"I've worked hard over the last six months to get fully fit so it is extremely disappointing to pick up another niggle. However, I am confident it isn't too serious and am determined to do everything I can to be fully fit for the first match." Oram is expected to be available for the first of two one-day warmups, against Ireland, also in Chennai next Sunday.

New Zealand's win was just their second in the last 16 ODIs but a substantial step up from earlier in the series, which Pakistan won 3-2, and will be a morale-booster ahead of the cup.

"It's hard to be confident when you've lost so many games in a row," Nathan McCullum said. "But our boys went out and showed a lot of character, fought really hard and got a good result."

It came in no small part to McCullum's late-innings pyrotechnics, as he shared a bristling stand of 120 from only 84 deliveries for the sixth wicket with Scott Styris which propelled New Zealand to 311 for seven.

McCullum's 65 off 50 balls, was his second half-century of the series and amply demonstrated his value. Styris provided 58 not out off 44 deliveries as the pair took the hammer to Pakistan's bowlers, who leaked 72 from the last five overs.

Pakistan gave it a decent crack, with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal playing a classy, well-paced hand for 89 off 84 balls, but the loss of captain Shahid Afridi at 44 signalled the end.

Still, they'll go into the World Cup happier than they have been for a while. "We're pretty pleased," coach Waqar Younis said. "It's a while since Pakistan won anything. Now we've got some momentum going into the World Cup."

A right decision, finally

After taking ages, the reasons best known to the PCB and its selection body, the PCB finally announced that Shahid Khan Afridi would lead Pakistan in the cricket's most coveted trophy - the World Cup. Although the selection body plays role of a dummy in almost all the decisions, yet every sports lover in Pakistan is fully aware that all affairs in the PCB are run by one man and that is its Chairman Ijaz Butt.

All the nations who are taking part in this mega event, which is set to be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, (thanks to the powerful Indian lobby that deprived Pakistan of hosting World Cup matches on their soil for the so-called terror threat), have announced their captains well before the final countdown to this event, and the most surprising one is the name of Ricky Ponting, who has failed to perform both as captain and as player but was retained by the Australian Cricket Board. Despite having the most professional and disciplined history, the Australian Cricket Board has to compromise on sporting issues.

The exclusion of Steve Waugh from the 2007 World Cup squad is one such examples of their professionalism but they reposed confidence in Ponting but Pakistan is totally different from the rest of the world and here personal decisions are imposed in every field of the game despite having full knowledge that such decisions not only destroy the cricket in the country but also bring bad name to the entire team. No one can judge the abilities of a captain from one series or some matches, it is true Afridi at times failed to deliver the goods but no one can deny the fact he is a complete all-rounder and if he fails with the bat, he will make up for this loss with his bowling, breath-taking fielding and above all leading the side with sheer commitment and complete devotion. Afridi is the most talented and arguably the best captain after Imran Khan who had complete authority on and of the field.

Afridi has, once again, proved his critics wrong with his stylish batting when it was needed in the current Kiwi series and Pakistan managed to won the ODI series against them on their own soil after almost 17 long and hard years wait although the umpires have done all they can with their error-prone decisions to stop Pakistan from achieving this milestone.

Muhammad Hafiz, who has been given so many opportunities and is perhaps the only individual who has enjoyed all-out backing of the PCB, is still struggling with his performance that is far from satisfactory. He was included in the team as a specialist opener not as a part time off break bowler. Kamran Akmal and even Umar Akmal are taking things for granted and their off-the-field behaviour is not acceptable. It was hoped that after being dropped from Pakistan team, Kamran Akmal will make a strong comeback in the side and will not repeat the past mistakes, but it seems he has not learnt anything.

The way he dropped the catch of Nathan MaCcullam at a crucial stage of the fourth ODI and giving broad smile rather than being ashamed was by no way acceptable. No one is indispensable every body has to earn his place in the side rather taking things for granted.

Pakistan cricket trio brace for bombshell decision

Former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt has dismissed claims he will receive a life ban for his role in cricket's alleged spot-fixing scandal. Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and teenage quick Mohammad Aamer are all accused of conspiring in the bowling of deliberate no-balls on last year's tour of England -- claims they all deny.

Some reports have claimed that Butt and Asif could be banned for life while Aamer may be handed a five-year suspension by the anti-corruption tribunal which will announce its decision on Saturday. "I don't believe in what the media is saying," Butt told AFP, reacting to British media reports that he and Asif will be banned for life and Aamer for five years.

"My lawyer (Yasin Patel) terms the case as 50-50, so at the moment I don't want to say much. "Cricket has been my livelihood, so I want that to carry on and I hope every Pakistani fan prays for me."

Aamer's lawyer Shahid Karim refused to comment.

The tribunal met over six days in January, reading written and hearing audio testimony as well as seeing video evidence.

Despite almost 50 hours of deliberations, the three-man tribunal decided to delay a decision.

The tribunal learnt Thursday that they would be pre-empted by the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who will announce on Friday whether they face legal action in England following a separate investigation by London's Metropolitan Police.

A CPS spokeswoman told AFP there was no connection between the timing of their announcement and the ICC hearing in Doha, saying: "We make decisions when we are ready to make them."

The timing and severity of the Doha decision will be crucial with the World Cup in South Asia starting in two weeks' time and with the International Cricket Council (ICC) under pressure to clamp down on illegal bookmakers.

Butt, Asif and Aamer were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September 2010, with the world governing body's code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved.

The maximum punishment is life out of the game. The scandal came to light when Britain's News of the World claimed that seven Pakistani players, including Butt, Aamer and Asif, took money from agent Mazhar Majeed to obey orders at specific stages in the Lord's Test in August.

Scotland Yard detectives raided the team hotel in London, reportedly confiscating a huge amount of money from Butt's room. The three-man independent hearing was led by code of conduct commissioner and leading lawyer Michael Beloff of England, aided by Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Kenyan Sharad Rao.

All three players have serious legal heavyweights going in to bat for them with paceman Asif, 28, represented by Allan Cameron, brother of British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Butt, 26, is represented by British-based lawyer Yasin Patel, while 18-year-old fast bowler Aamer's legal team is headed by Shahid Karim from Pakistan.

While the ICC has made clear it will not be comment until a verdict is reached, chief executive Haroon Lorgat told the BBC recently he was confident of the case against the players.

"We need to send out a strong message and that is part of what we want to achieve," Lorgat said.

"We've worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand."

Beloff had said in January that the three-man tribunal needed more time to consider the issues against the Pakistan trio.

None of the players or their lawyers commented at the time although Aamer told reporters earlier that the six-day Qatar tribunal had been one of the hardest times of his life. "You can see my eyes are sore because I have not been able to sleep for the last few days," he said.

"I have been talking to my parents and they have tried to raise my confidence. I know a lot of people are praying for me because its a matter of my career."Former Pakistan players expressed disappointment that no verdict was reached.

"It's absurd," former captain Zaheer Abbas told AFP. "The International Cricket Council has kept the players hostage for the last five months and now they have deferred the decision, which is inexplicable."The scandal is seen as the worst in cricket since that of South Africa's Hansie Cronje.

A decade ago the former South Africa captain, who died in a mysterious plane crash in 2002, was revealed to have accepted money from bookmakers in a bid to influence the course of games as well as trying to corrupt his team-mates.

Imran Khan backs India to lift World Cup

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan feels India is the favourite to win the upcoming World Cup. Khan, who led Pakistan to a World Cup triumph in 1992, says “India stands the best chance” because of its depth in both batting and bowling.

Conditions are also expected to help India, which plays five of its six league fixtures at home in the 14—nation tournament which begins on Feb. 19. India will co-host the tournament with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Cricket: Pakistan eyeing series victory

Pakistan can wrap up their ODI series against New Zealand with victory in Hamilton tomorrow after a topsy-turvy, two-wicket win in game four last night. Needing 263, Pakistan got there after some alarms along the way, courtesy of man of the match Misbah-ul-Haq's unbeaten 93 off 91 balls, with the final honours going to tailender Sohail Tanvir.

Pakistan wanted 14 off the last two overs, and he did it in just one, smearing Tim Southee to the fence three times. New Zealand had glimmers of hope along the way. But they batted poorly, worked hard with the ball but were always up against it and on balance didn't deserve the win which Pakistan occasionally threatened to hand back to them.

When Pakistan were 84 for three, things were intriguingly placed. However the veterans, Younis Khan and Misbah, reshaped the game and made batting look comfortable, putting on 89 untroubled runs before Younis was run out, sent back on a sharp single and slipping.

With 78 needed off the last 10 overs, Pakistan looked fidgety.

When Umar Akmal and the dangerous Shahid Afridi departed within three balls, the game seemed to have swung decisively New Zealand's way.

But Abdul Razzaq had other ideas. He bounced Southee off the seats at mid wicket and 17 came from the 44th over.

Misbah moved into the nineties with solid blows before Sohail finished the job.

New Zealand's batsmen need to take a hard look at themselves after falling headlong over a cliff earlier in the day. At 79 for five in the 21st over, they looked as good as buried.

That they managed to reach 262 for seven, and give their bowlers something to work with, was largely down to the efforts of James Franklin - who was only called in yesterday morning to replace Wellington provincial mate Jesse Ryder, who was ruled out by a finger injury - and Nathan McCullum.

Without their resourcefulness, plus a bright 37 from Brendon McCullum along with 33 extras, New Zealand would have been in a sorry state on what is the country's best batting pitch.

What made it worse was all five wickets were effectively gifted away.

Martin Guptill, Jamie How and Kane Williamson all unerringly found catchers at short mid wicket, deep square leg and long on respectively.

Taylor drove lavishly at left armer Wahab Riaz slanting the ball across him to be caught at slip while Styris' run out was dumb cricket. Williamson cut to backward point, Styris charged down the pitch, Williamson stayed and the veteran was run out by half a pitch.

Indeed, the running between the wickets throughout the New Zealand innings was distinctly hairy, and that's being kind.

"Unfortunately some guys got out to balls you really shouldn't get out to," captain Daniel Vettori said.

"Five for 80 at McLean Park is not acceptable. It's a great batting deck."

In that first hour, New Zealand looked as if they felt they needed 300-plus to feel confident.

Things began well but there was a suspicion some of the batsmen were looking to sprint before completing the preliminary jog on a ground where runmaking is often regarded as a doddle. Franklin was dropped at backward point on 23 but his 62 off 75 balls enhanced a strong recent record since being recalled for the ODI series in India before Christmas.

Nathan McCullum's unbeaten 53 was his first half-century and demonstrated his late-innings skills.

Had Pakistan bowled remotely consistently, New Zealand would not have reached 250. The bowlers gave up 19 wides and 12 no balls in a performance of seriously mixed quality.

PCB to name Pak captain for World Cup 2011 on February 4: Ijaz Butt

The Pakistan Cricket Board will announce the team captain for the forthcoming World Cup on February 4, a day before the final match of their ongoing one-day series against New Zealand. "We will announce the captain on February 4, that is decided now," the Daily Times quoted PCB chief Ijaz Butt, as telling Pakistani media persons in Napier.

Some former cricket greats are backing Pakistan's Test captain Misbahul Haq to replace incumbent limited-overs skipper Shahid Afridi as Pakistan's captain for the World Cup, which begins on February 19 and is to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Butt also disclosed that India were willing to play a short series against Pakistan in England sometime this year. "We have made good progress in talks with the Indian board to resume bilateral cricket ties, and they have indicated they are willing to resume ties," he said.

However, the PCB chief made it clear that any final decision on the resumption of bilateral cricket ties with India would rest completely with the decisions taken at the government level.

"Hopefully, decisions would be made at the government level on the series but the Indian board has shown its willingness to play, which is good news for us," he added.

Butt also admitted that it was important for Pakistan to have bilateral ties with India. "The financial aspect of playing India regularly in bilateral series is very important for us," he explained.

India has not played Pakistan in a bilateral series since late 2007. It had cancelled its Pakistan tour in early 2009 in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.