Alec Stewart counts Pakistan favorite over England in UAE

Former England captain Alec Stewart says that Pakistan will be enjoying advantage against England as the UAE pitches will support them when both the teams face each other in the Test series beginning from 13 October. He said it will be hard as Pakistan’s record is good here. He noted he expects pitches would be full of spin and do not have any help for the pace bowlers so Pakistan will be starting as favorites and they are a good team.

 

He added no one can say with confidence how Pakistan team will perform but if suitable Pakistan team plays then they will be tough for England who are a developing side and one that is becoming better and better. Former England captain explained they are a young and talented team but they will have to work hard because there will be lot of spin and there will be need to judge who can play spin better, England or Pakistan.

 

He said it will be a good series and it would have become more interesting if Mohammad Amir had been playing. He added if he had been included and bowled how he had bowled when he appeared on the international scenario then he could have boosted the bowling of Pakistan side.

Pakistan recall Shoaib Malik for Tests against England

Pakistan includes leading all-rounder Shoaib Malik on Tuesday as the 16th member of Pakistan's squad for the forthcoming Test series against England in UAE. Malik earns a place in the Test squad after a number of consistent performances in the limited-over cricket and has an opportunity to join Pakistan's Test playing side for the first time after five years. The 33-year old last played his Test against the same opponents in August 2010.

 

Malik was included in the already announced 15-man squad after the Team Manager Intikhab Alam requested Chief Selector Haroon Rashid for the all-rounder's inclusion and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan gave his consent to the request.  Rashid was quoted as saying he consulted his fellow selectors following Intikhab Alam's request and they unanimously decided to retain Malik due to his current batting form and the off-spin bowling option that could be useful in important upcoming Test series against England.

Pakistan has an extra spin option with Malik's inclusion that is Pakistan’s preferred form of attack against England. Pakistan had an experienced batsman in the form of Malik to the limited-over sides upon his comeback in the home series against Zimbabwe. He smashed a century against Zimbabwe at the Gadaffi Stadium following strong performances in the series win against Sri Lanka.

 

He shone with an amazing 96 not-out in a controversial five-run loss to Zimbabwe more recently. Malik has scored 1606 runs at 33.45 in 32 Tests since his debut in 2001 and has been unable to find a permanent place in the side. The first Pakistan-England Test will start in Abu Dhabi on October 13.

ICC confirms Champions Trophy 2017 participants

International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed on Wednesday the top eight teams that will take part in the Champions Trophy 2017 to be held in England from 1 to 18 June. Pakistan secured number 8 position in the points table according to the ranking of the top teams announced by the ICC. ICC Champions Trophy is played by the top eight teams. So Pakistan just made it it to the teams that qualified for the 2017 tournament. Pakistan surpassed West Indies with 90 points who was unable to find place in the top eight in the ICC ODI team rankings on the cut-off date of 30 September.

 

Bangladesh secured ranking above Pakistan at number seven with 96 points making it to the tournament for the first time. The eight teams to play in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 are world champions Australia, current champions India, 1998 champions South Africa, 2000 winner New Zealand, 2002 co-winner Sri Lanka, host England, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Total 15 matches will be played in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where the teams will be divided into two groups of four and the top two teams in each group will play the semi-finals. ICC said it will announce the groups and the schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy shortly.

Australia announces squad against Bangladesh for Tests

Australia has included two uncapped players also in the 15-man squad for tour of Bangladesh. They are Cameron Bancroft who is Western Australia batsman and Andrew Fekete, a Tasmania fast bowler. The much-changed side of Australia will play under the captain-ship of Steve Smith who replaces former skipper Michael Clarke. Clarke and other five players took retirement after England defeated Australia 3-2 in Ashes while David Warner is injured. Both the bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood have been sen on rest because they played extensive Test cricket against England and West Indies.

 

Pace bowler Ryan Harris, wicket keeper Brad Haddin and batsman Chris Rogers have also taken retirement besides Clarke while all-rounder Shane Watson has finished Test career. Australia and Bangladesh will play the first Test on 9 October. National selector Rodney Marsh said that all the players going to Bangladesh have great opportunity although issues of injury, form and conditions as well as retirement of five players from the squad that played Ashes has changed the profile of visiting side from the one that visited England.

Australian squad: Steven Smith (captain), Adam Voges (vice-captain), Peter Nevill, Stephen O'Keefe, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Andrew Fekete, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon

PCB wants BCCI to clarify on India series in December

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written a letter to BCCI to clarify about the doubtful mutual series this December, hinting out that it was mentioned in memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two boards last year. The letter was written amidst growing political tension between Pakistan and India and BCCI suggested that bilateral cricket ties should be suspended under these circumstances.

The MOU was the basis of Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC’s organizational overhaul agreed during the ICC meeting last year and was signed for a total of six series between 2015 and 2023. Shaharyar wrote he hopes that the Indian government will give its approval for the series despite any usual border tension. He referred to the tour when Pakistan visited India in 1999 although political activists had created issues and as well as India visited Pakistan in return in 2003-2004 despite security issues, so holding of the series would help both the countries to reduce the tension.