Shoaib Malik left out of World Cup probables

Pakistan have left out experienced allrounder and former captain Shoaib Malik from the list of 30 probables for the 2011 World Cup. Malik had been under the scanner of the PCB's integrity committee and ultimately appears to have failed to gain clearance for selection. Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, over whom there has been as much speculation, has, however, been selected. 

The pair, alongside legspinner Danish Kaneria, have been frozen out of recent Pakistan squads. The trio have not participated for Pakistan in any format since the summer tour to England; Kaneria was part of the Test squad for the South Africa series in the UAE but was prevented from travelling by the board at the very last minute. Though not an ODI regular, he also doesn't find a place in the 30.

The PCB hasn't said so publicly but the trio have been under suspicion in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked Pakistan's cricket. Akmal was the subject of an ACSU notice earlier this year but has since asked for and received a written clearance from the ICC. Kaneria's name featured in a separate spot-fixing scandal at Essex county. Malik has not been linked with any specific incident though he features regularly in the fevered speculation and gossip of Pakistan's cricket structure. 

As a result, over the last few weeks the players have appeared three times before the PCB's integrity committee and handed in various financial documents and statements. They last appeared before the committee last Thursday. The lack of clarity over Akmal and Malik in particular had forced the PCB to ask the ICC for more time in naming their probables. The world body extended the deadline for Pakistan from December 19 to January 5. 

Elsewhere there is little genuine surprise. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, provisionally suspended for their alleged role in the Lord's spot-fixing scandal, were never in the running for the squad. Mohammad Yousuf, the veteran batsman recently discarded from Pakistan's Test side, is in the running for a middle-order spot. There will be quibbling over the axing of Fawad Alam, who averages nearly 38 in the limited opportunities he gets, but at least one member of the selection committee has been against his inclusion as a matter of policy. Nasir Jamshed, the left-handed opener, is also included, in place of Imran Farhat. 

"We are satisfied that we have selected the best squad from amongst the available players," chief selector Mohsin Khan said. "There is a lot of speculation in the media regarding clearance or otherwise of players by integrity committee of PCB. The integrity committee has given its views on some players to the selection committee which has taken into consideration that input and has selected the 30 players for the World Cup."

The ODI squad for the series against New Zealand will be announced next week.

Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Taufiq Umar, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Naveed Yasin, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Ali

Pakistan trio's careers on the line

The hearings into the spot-fixing scandal involving three players from Pakistan will begin from Thursday in the unlikely setting of Doha, Qatar. At stake during the hearings is the playing future of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif  and  Mohammad Amir as well as the reputation of the ICC as a governing body able to deal with a problem that strikes at the very heart of the game.

Michael Beloff QC, the head of the independent tribunal and chairman of the ICC's code of conduct commission, addressed the media at the Qatar Financial Centre Civil and Commercial Court, where the hearing will also take place. The briefing was a formal one, merely outlining the procedure the hearing will follow.

Beloff outlined the history of the charges against the trio, stemming from a News of the World investigation into the Lord's Test between Pakistan and England in August last year, as well giving brief profiles of the other members of the tribunal, Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Sharad Rao from Kenya. 

The hearing will be held behind closed doors, with only the tribunal, the ICC's lawyers Jonathon Taylor and Ian Higgins, the players and their lawyers and witnesses present. The process, Beloff said, will begin with an opening statement from the ICC presenting its case against each of the three players. The players will each then be entitled to respond.

"Thereafter, the ICC will present all of the evidence that it has prepared in support of the charges it has brought," Beloff said. "That will take various forms and will include hearing from witnesses 'in person' and over the telephone." 

Witnesses from the ICC are set to include representatives from NOTW as well as teleconferences with Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan limited overs captain, and Waqar Younis, the team coach.

The players will then be expected to present their defence, and will be open to cross-examination by the ICC's lawyers and the tribunal, before closing statements are made. Though January 11 is the last working date of the hearing, a decision could conceivably be arrived at before that. Alternatively the judgment could also be reserved till after the final date.

The players arrived in Doha on Tuesday and as they have done all along, again protested their innocence. Butt, who was captain at the time of the Test and will be represented by London-based barrister Yasin Patel, told AFP, "I have always played the game for the love of it and have never been involved in any wrongdoing.

"I am confident that I will soon be playing for my country. I have been practising all through this difficult phase of my life so that whenever I am cleared I am able to play."

Amir, who along with Asif is alleged to have bowled the deliberate, pre-planned no-balls, said, "This is the toughest phase of my life. My elders tell me that such phases come in the life of a professional, so I am bravely facing this situation and will hopefully come out of it to play for Pakistan."

Shahid Karim, Amir's lawyer, said the incident had affected Amir emotionally. "One of the mitigating factors is age and the other mitigating factor is Amir's previously unblemished record," he told AFP.

"Emotionally he is drained, he's been affected badly by it, but he's coping as best he can and above all he is very confident that he will come out of this clean."

The hearing is taking place in Doha because the third player, Asif, is not allowed to enter the UAE after he was deported from Dubai in 2008 because of a drug-related offence.

The three were provisionally suspended by the ICC soon after the scandal emerged and though Butt and Amir contested that decision, their appeals were rejected. If found guilty, they could be banned for anywhere from five years to life.

This is the first time such a case is taking place with the ICC effectively the prosecutors. Past offenders, such as Salim Malik and Hansie Cronje, were punished by their own boards.

Suspended trio head to Qatar for hearings

Suspended Pakistan trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have flown out to Qatar to attend a hearing of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Tribunal. The three-member tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC will hold a six-day long session starting Thursday before delivering its verdict on the three players.

The players were suspended by the ICC in September following spot-fixing allegations against them during the Lord's Test against England a month earlier. The allegations were raised after a sting operation by Britain's News of the World tabloid claiming that several Pakistani players took money from a bookmaker to bowl deliberate no-balls.

"My lawyer has prepared the case extensively and I hope that I will be cleared," Amir told reporters at Lahore airport. "This is the toughest period of my life but I am confident that it will be over and I will be playing for Pakistan soon."

Salman is being represented by British-based lawyer Yasin Patel, Asif by Allan Cameron, brother of British Prime Minister David Cameron, while Aamer's lawyer is Shahid Karim from Pakistan.

The ICC's three-man tribunal includes Beloff, Justice Albie Sachs of South Africa and Sharad Rao of Kenya. Beloff, the ICC's code of conduct commissioner, had chaired the hearings into the appeals of Amir and Butt against their suspensions in Dubai, and had upheldthe ICC's decision.

Pakistan better suited for ODI cricket - Afridi

Pakistan's one-day captain Shahid Afridi has said Pakistan will be a surprise package in the World Cup later this year, despite the problems plaguing the team's recent campaigns, due to them being better suited to the 50-over format.

"No matter what people say and believe, I'm confident that Pakistan will do really well in the World Cup," Afridi told the News after returning from New Zealand following the three-match Twenty20 series there which his side lost 1-2. "I won't make any predictions but would make it clear that Pakistan will take their best shot for the World Cup title."

With under 50 days left for the event, Pakistan are yet to finalise their 30-man preliminary squad. Three of their key players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir -- have been provisionally suspended following the spot-fixing controversy and their fates will be decided in Doha, later this week. There are doubts over the futures of two other players - Shoiab Malik and Kamran Akmal - who will appear before the board's integrity committee prior to the announcement of the preliminary list.

"It's certainly not an ideal situation," Afridi said of the side's controversy-ridden build-up to the World Cup. "But it's our history that we give our best under pressure."

Pakistan have performed reasonably well in their recent one-day campaigns, taking five-match series against England and South Africa to the final games. Afridi said Pakistan's one-day side was more likely to succeed than their outfits for the other formats.

"I would agree that a lot of work has to be done before we start doing well in Tests consistently," he said. "Even our Twenty20 team needs a world of improvement. But when it comes to one-day cricket, we are close to achieving an ideal combination. Most of the players in our Twenty20 team are better suited to the one-day format."

Afridi hinted he had given up on the option of opening the innings following his failures at the top in the New Zealand Twenty20s. "The idea behind my decision to open was to help give the team some fast and useful starts," he said. "But it didn't work out. Now I've decided to stick to No.6 spot both for Twenty20s and ODIs in the future."