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Waqar Younis’s spell as Pakistan’s bowling coach has ended before it even began. Waqar, who failed to reach an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over his desire for a long-term assignment, has lashed out at the board saying that they did not have the courtesy of informing him about their decision not to appoint him. He claimed that he came to know of the PCB decision only when the newsmen called him for his reaction.”I am disappointed that we could not strike a deal,” Waqar told the Press Trust of India. “I wanted to serve the country and I will certainly work in future if provided with an opportunity. But what has saddened me more is the attitude of the PCB. I never initiated the move of a bowling coach for the Pakistan team. It was the PCB that started it all and when they decided they didn’t want me, they did not have the courtesy to telephone me and inform me of their decision.”Waqar had earlier mentioned that he wanted the role in the long term as it would be a waste of time if it was only for the India series. But that cut no ice with the PCB, which rejected his suggestions, insisting that the appointment was for this series only.The board was keen on hiring Wagar for the National Cricket Academy. Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chief, told AFP: “We would still like Waqar as a bowling coach for the national academy on a long-term basis.”This isn’t the first time that the board has dumped a player halfway. Last year, Javed Miandad was sacked as the coach of the national team before the expiry of his two-year contract. Apart from him, Haroon Rashid was recently ousted from his managerial position, four months prior to his expiry.The PCB issued a press release explaining the position. It said that there had been concerns about a possible conflict of interests if Waqar was going to be a TV commentator, but that he had confirmed that he would not take up a commentary assignment if he was appointed as a coach. The PCB then claimed that Waqar rejected a contract just for the India series, and that “The chairman replied that PCB’s offer was for a short-term contract and if Waqar Younis insisted on a long-term appointment, the issue would need to be discussed again.” It was felt that a number of candidates should be evaluated for a long-term post.

Andy Bichel is set to return to the Queensland starting line-up for their ING Cup-Pura Cup double against South Australia in Adelaide this week. Bichel was 12th man for the tour match against the West Indians after the Queensland selectors opted to rest him, but he was named in both squads today.Three changes were made to the team that drew against the West Indians, with Matthew Hayden and Shane Watson on Test duty and the legspinner Ryan Le Loux overlooked. Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson and the allrounder Lachlan Stevens were picked in the Pura Cup squad for the match starting on Sunday.Nathan Reardon, the 20-year-old allrounder, was chosen for his second one-day game after he made his debut for the Bulls as a Super Sub in the opening loss to NSW at the Gabba two weeks ago. Queensland play South Australia in a day-night ING Cup match on Friday.Queensland ING Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), James Hopes, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon, Chris Hartley (wk), Nathan Hauritz, Andy Bichel, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Kasprowicz, Chris Simpson.Queensland Pura Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Clinton Perren, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Craig Philipson, James Hopes, Chris Hartley (wk), Chris Simpson, Andy Bichel, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Kasprowicz, Lachlan Stevens.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has taken a major step towards tackling the problem of illegal bowling actions, by giving the go-ahead for a new biomechanics laboratory to be set up in Lahore.Pakistan has been beset by allegations of chucking, from Shoaib Akhtar and his hyper-extensive elbow, to the spinner Shoaib Malik, whose action is currently being examined by the International Cricket Council. Now, the plan is for the PCB to tackle the problem in-house, with a laboratory – the fifth of its kind in the world – to be established at the National Cricket academy at the Gadaffi Stadium.Pakistan’s former captain, Fazal Mahmood, has been appointed as bowling advisor to the PCB’s Illegal Bowling Action Commission, with five others named as domestic bowling advisors: the former Test fast bowler, Aqib Javed; two international spinners in Farrukh Zaman and Iqbal Sikander; Khizar Hayat, a Pakistani umpire, and Dr Sohail Saleem, a medical commissioner.In the short term, the PCB plans to install Quintic 9.03, a biomechanical analysis software that enables 2D analysis of a bowler’s action, by filming the players in action and then reducing the video to a stick-figure animation. A specialist in biomechanics, Dr Paul Hurrion, is to fly out to Lahore to install the software and conduct a two-day seminar that aims to instruct and guide the members of the committee.

England v New ZealandEngland (possible) Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Geraint Jones (wk), Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Anthony McGrath, Ian Blackwell, Rikki Clarke, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.
New Zealand (possible) Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Gareth Hopkins(wk), Chris Harris, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Ian Butler.

Ian Butler, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been reduced to relying on medical advances in an attempt to revive his international career. Butler, 24, has suffered from a bulging disc in his lower back for the past 22 months and with surgery not an option, he has to wait for the discovery of a new treatment for the problem.Butler planned on having pain-killing injections in order to represent Northern Districts, but consultation with his coaching staff scrapped that idea. “There was no point having injections to mask the pain,” he told stuff.co.nz. “I didn’t want to risk it for later in life. It was worth it to wait. If something happens and medical procedures improve, I could be back again.”A nerve being damaged by compression added to Butler’s troubles, and while the bulging disc can be managed, he admitted life was tough. “Then daily life becomes hard. Even getting out of bed is hard,” he said. “I’m not throwing away all hope of bowling but I’ve just got to be sensible about it. I was almost kidding myself that it [the injections] was going to be of any benefit.”After being picked as a batsman in a Twenty20 tournament last weekend, Butler decided to try bowling slower. “I was just trying to cover other bowlers,” he said. “I was bowling very, very slow, it could almost be described as spin. James [Marshall] just asked me if I could do a job bowling with the keeper standing up.”Butler’s last Test and one-day international appearances were in late 2004.

A report in the Birmingham Post claims that Warwickshire are in talks with the city council regarding the feasibility of them building a new stadium in conjunction with Birmingham City FC.Warwickshire have made no secret of their frustration with restrictions on development at Edgbaston, particular the repeated refusal of applications to install permanent floodlights on the ground. All previous attempts have been thwarted by local residents.A move away from Edgbaston would free them of such restrictions, and by entering into a ground-share arrangement they would be able to build a far better stadium that were they to try and finance it on their own.The Birmingham Post article says that the talks, which are at an advanced stage, involve selling St Andrews (Birmingham City’s home) and Edgbaston and building a new, 60,000 seater stadium in central Birmingham (the Eastside district), which would benefit from a roof and (moveable) athletics track. The idea is to host the Commonwealth games as well as national and international cricket all year round.Dennis Amiss, Warwickshire’s chief executive, admitted that the county had contributed to the feasibility study, but downplayed the likelihood of the plans coming to fruition. “We thought that it was only right to ensure that we looked at the possibility in a responsible manner. But the city council are talking about a multi-sport arena with a capacity of around 60,000 and which could cost £150 million.”I don’t think it would be sensible to play county cricket in a stadium of that size. If it is going to be a multi-sport venue, with football as the main sport, it would be difficult to marry that up with county cricket. I think that, realistically, the only cricket that could be played at the stadium is international cricket. We would not own the stadium and we would have to rent the stadium to stage international matches there."

Ridley Jacobs, who did much to save West Indies’ bacon in the epic first Test at Harare, spoke out after the match about his relief at being able to stave off defeat. Jacobs, who made 60 not out, and No. 11 Fidel Edwards survived the last 11.5 overs, in gathering gloom, with the Zimbabwean fielders crowded around the bat, searching for a rare victory after losing their last 11 Tests.”That was the toughest time,” said Jacobs of his last-ditch stand. “When you look on the scoreboard and you see there are more than 11 overs to go and you’re batting with the last man, you start getting worried. But I told him to play straight and stay strong, and we got the job done.”Jacobs told the BBC that Andy Blignaut, the Zimbabwean allrounder, had been the toughest to face. “It’s been a long time since I faced that kind of pace. I was just telling myself to hold on, take the blows and bat it out.”And he admitted: “Everybody at home probably thought we would play much better than we did. But we have an opportunity now to play another Test match and to perform better. We need to go back to the drawing board to revisit everything we need to do to win a Test.”The home hero was Raymond Price, the left-arm spinner, who became only the third Zimbabwean (after Paul Strang and Adam Huckle) to take ten wickets in a Test. But, he admitted afterwards, “I would have given all ten of those wickets to get that last one.”Price went on: “Our goal is to get up from the bottom. We’ve had enough of being in the same category as Bangladesh. We’ve had enough of being called minnows. We hate to lose, and we don’t like drawing – you should see our guys play tiddlywinks.”The second Test of this short series starts at Bulawayo on Wednesday (Nov 12).

The Tasmanian selectors have today named the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Redbacks in their first Pura Cup match of the season to be played at Bellerive Oval on Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th November 2003.

Former players and cricket officials from Karachi have voiced disappointment about the city not being allocated a Test match against India, and have vowed to lodge a protest over the decision.The final itinerary was announced on Saturday, and Karachi and Peshawar will only host one-day matches for security reasons.Hanif Mohammad, the former Pakistan captain, said he was saddened by the decision. “I am disappointed – the Indians should have been bold enough to play in Karachi which is the premier centre of the country.”Sirajul Islam Bukhari, the secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association, told the AFP agency that, “The PCB had knelt down before India and by not including Karachi as the Test venue have taken dictation from the BCCI.” But the Indian Board said that the decision to drop Karachi and Peshawar over security fears was taken on the Indian government’s advice, following a visit by a three-member delegation which assessed security in Pakistan last week.A suicide-bomb blast outside their team hotel, which killed 12 people, forced New Zealand to abandon their tour in May 2002. Bangladesh played a Test and a one-day game in Karachi and one Test in Peshawar last year, but South Africa and New Zealand refused to play at both venues because of security concerns.Bukhari said that his association’s officials will meet the provincial governor to lodge a protest, but he ruled out a boycott of the one-day game scheduled for Karachi on March 13. “Boycott would be a drastic decision,” he admitted, “and in the best interest of the country we would not boycott the only match given to Karachi.”

In glorious summer sunshine, Hampshire Hawks lost their first ECB National League Division II clash for 5 games when they were defeated in the last over by Nottinghamshire Outlaws. Failure to post a decent score after being asked to bat first was the crux of the situation on a slow wicket at The Rose Bowl.Robin Smith missed the match after pulling a hamstring the previous Sunday, but the Hawks welcomed back Chris Tremlett after a month off injured, with Ed Giddins being left out of the side.Hampshire struggled early on, using the same strip that three days earlier had been used for the NWS One-Day International, their first run off the bat came in the fourth over. Kenway and Katich toiled against the acurate seam of Smith and Logan, before the former edged to wicket-keeper Read.Hamblin sent in as pinch-hitter managed just 4 in 14 balls. Skipper Crawley joined the Australian in a 61 run partnership, but both fell in quick succession. John Francis was joined by Nic Pothas as they upped the tempo,Francis hitting a hugh six off New Zealander Daniel Vettori, before the bowler gained his revenge next ball by bowling him. Pothas batted throughout the remainder of the innings for a run a ball 45, but the total of 208 seemed woefully short.A 51 opening stand set the tone for the outlaws, and despite a mid innings mini collapse, they seemed to be always in charge, and a flurry at the end by Chris Cairns and Chris Read saw the visitors home with two balls to spare.Chris Tremlett proved how much Hampshire had missed him recently, bowling economically in his 9 overs spell. Prittipaul and Udal took two wickets apiece.