Waqar wants improved fielding

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has said the team will focus on fielding ahead of the upcoming series against South Africa in the UAE, which starts on October 26. The Pakistan squad will have a week-long preparatory camp ahead of the series.

"We have set up a six-day camp from October 17 before departing for the UAE on October 23," Waqar told the Express Tribune newspaper. "Although I am placing emphasis on the three departments of batting, bowling and fielding - fielding, once again is our highest priority as it has never been good."

Pakistan's catching during the recent tour of England was abysmal, with plenty of simple chances being put down. Waqar was also unhappy with the level of fielding in the Faysal Bank T-20 competition in Lahore this week. "I see weak fielding in the ongoing domestic Twenty20 championship as well, even though it is a vital aspect of the game, and if you start working on it at the lower levels it can help you at the top at the international level."

Already reeling from the spot-fixing crisis that has deprived them of three key players, Pakistan's build-up to the series had further trouble after Waqar and Shahid Afridi, the limited-overs captain, complained that the selection committee hadn't consulted them before picking the squad.

Pakistan's chief selector, Mohsin Khan, defended the decision by saying it was not in the PCB's constitution that the captain and coach needed to be consulted for the selection of the squad.

ICC warning a 'shame' for Pakistan - Imran

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has termed the ICC's warning to the PCB to clean up its act as a "shame", and reiterated his stance calling for an overhaul of the current administration. Imran also criticised the influence of politics on the affairs of the board.

Last week, the ICC, taking notice of the continuing decline of governance in Pakistan cricket, particularly since the spot-fixing controversy and the subsequent suspensions of three players, cautioned the board to fix its administration and introduce its own anti-corruption measures or face the consequences, potentially in the form of sanctions.

"For years now our players have been linked to corruption," Imran said. "When the spot-fixing allegations first came out against our players in theNews of the World newspaper, the PCB itself should have taken action against the players instead of waiting for the ICC to step in."

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Amir were provisionally suspended by the ICC for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the fourth Test against England at Lord's. "The ICC move to warn us and put us on notice is a shameful day for every Pakistani. It is a shame for Pakistan cricket and the reason is we don't have any cricket institution in Pakistan," Imran said.

Cricketing relations between Pakistan and England took a turn for the worse when Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, suggested some England players might have been involved in spot-fixing during the ODI series - an allegation he retracted and apologised for when threatened with legal action. Imran was highly critical of the board chief. "Ijaz Butt's governance has been a failure. He should have resigned the moment he apologised to the England board and withdraw his statement because they threatened him with legal action."

The patron-in-chief of the PCB is the president of Pakistan - currently Asif Ali Zardari - and Imran said the interference of politics in cricket was unacceptable. "Tell me in which country does the president appoint the chairman of the cricket board," he said.

"Today we face problems because the cricket board never took action against players accused of match-fixing. In order to save itself and to ensure we didn't lose key players the administrators were reluctant to carry out and complete investigations against such players."

Ijaz Butt was told to reform or be expelled

The prospect of expelling the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt as an ICC director was raised at the ICC board meeting in Dubai last week, underlining just how thin the ice is that the Pakistan board is currently skating on. Well-placed 

observers vary on the degree of the threat but some believe Butt was compelled to accept a series of wide-ranging measures to reform Pakistan cricket without protest because the alternative would have been to face expulsion.

The possibility is believed to have been raised by an individual member and not the ICC. It arose from members concerned about a specific potential conflict of interest in the spot-fixing scandal, in which three Pakistani players are allegedly involved. The Pakistan board and Mohammad Asif, one of the three players implicated, are using the same London-based lawyer which, according to the ICC code of ethics for directors, could be interpreted as a conflict of interest.

This particular spur, however, is merely part of a much broader canvas of the cricket world's discontent with Butt. ESPNcricinfo reported last month that thepossibility of suspending him had crossed the minds of officials who were unhappy with how Butt had reacted to the spot-fixing crisis and then acted with the ICC and other boards such as the ECB.

The focus of the two-day board meeting was on anti-corruption and, in particular, concerns over the health of the game in Pakistan; specifically three broad areas were up for discussion, including an update on the spot-fixing investigations, how the game tackles corruption globally and how Pakistan is to be helped. At its conclusion, the ICC set an ultimatum to the PCB to implement a series of effective anti-corruption measures in its domestic set-up within 30 days [from October 13].

The remit of the ICC's task force on Pakistan has also been broadened to look at ways of improving the structure of governance in Pakistan, "to carry out any reforms," according to the ICC, "which may be deemed necessary to restore confidence in the administration of the game."

It is understood that the actions of the Pakistan board through the year brought matters to a head. The revoking of punishments handed out after the Australia tour inquiry, in which the PCB found players guilty of deliberately underperforming, worried member boards.

The handling of the spot-fixing crisis - in particular its refusal to suspend players - and a spate of statements made in the aftermath by Butt and others have exacerbated matters. The feeling in the cricket world before this meeting, one source said, was that "Pakistan cricket was in denial." The measures "lay down a path for how that can be dealt with."

The reconstituted task force is expected to sit down this week to begin carving out terms of reference for its operation; at some point ECB chairman Giles Clarke, who is head of the force, is likely to visit Pakistan. There are expected to be "discussions" and "recommendations" in whatever areas Pakistan needs help but the basic governance of the game is likely to feature heavily. "There will be greater scrutiny and monitoring of the way the game is governed in Pakistan now," an official familiar with the brief said.

But first the task force will report on the PCB's efforts in putting into place those anti-corruption measures. They have to be completed within the 30-day deadline - and there is a full series with South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to organize in that time - failing which, theoretically, a range of sanctions are available. Action can be taken against Butt's position on the ICC board and financial sanctions can also be applied; withholding prize money from ICC tournaments, for example. The worst-case scenario, "the last resort," as one official put it, would be to suspend Pakistan's membership. It is understood that sanctions are likely be against the member and not an individual.

The signs, according to an ICC-watcher, are not good even given the ICC's slow approach to such decisions. "Usually there are various stages to go through when suspension becomes an issue, as was the case with Zimbabwe," he told ESPNcricinfo. "Task forces do their work, there is much discussion, fact-finding trips are made and so on. But in this case, such is the situation and the concern over Pakistan that things could move quickly. You need a 75% majority to suspend a member so where is the support for the PCB? The threat of suspension is very real."

Lahore Lions take title after runfest

A vintage Abdul Razzaq onslaught muscled Lahore Lions to the second highest total of the tournament, which proved too much even for Karachi Dolphins' powerful batting line-up in the final of the Faysal Bank T-20 Cup at a 

packed Gaddafi Stadium. Lahore's openers, Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad, also made major contributions to leave Karachi without a trophy despite four trips to the final of the domestic Twenty20 competition.

Shehzad, an 18-year-old who played one match during Pakistan's run to the World Twenty20 title last year, did the early damage cracking four fours and a six in fast bowler Mohammad Sami's first two overs. He fell for 43 in the seventh over, by when Jamshed had shrugged off his slow start. Even the dismissal of Umar Akmal, perhaps Lahore's most dangerous batsman, did not slow Jamshed, who brought up his second half-century of the tournament.

Shehzad finished as the second highest run-getter in the competition and Jamshed the third, but the batsman who made the most impact on the final was Razzaq. He started the 18th over on 28 off 15 deliveries, and clubbed four sixes and three fours in the final three overs to finish on 71 off 29. Lahore looted 57 in that spell to amass 221 against a Karachi side that had easily hunted down 210 in the semi-finals.

Karachi made a spirited start to the chase, with two sixes in the first over showing their intent. They sprinted to 53 for 1 in the fifth over before losing Shahzaib Hasan, the tournament's most successful batsman and another youngster who came into prominence during last year's World Twenty20. Still, Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi, who played crucial roles in the semi-final win on Friday, remained and they powered Karachi to 88 for 3 in nine overs.

Fast bowler Wahab Riaz, who recently took five wickets on Test debut at The Oval, then provided the breakthrough, removing Alam in an over which cost only two runs. Much depended on Afridi now, a man who bludgeoned runs at a strike-rate of 216 through the competition. He wasn't giving up - even with the asking rate beyond 14 - and blasted two sixes and three fours in a two-over spell that yielded 42 runs and had Karachi hoping again.

The match was effectively finished in the 16th over when a slower ball from Waqas Ahmed bowled Afridi. From 151 from 7, and all their main batsmen dismissed, Karachi's chances evaporated and they were finally bowled out for 184, handing Lahore their first Twenty20 title.