Ex-Pak cricketers demand major overhaul in team, board following Lankan rout

October 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - In the wake of Pakistan's five-wicket rout against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy semi-final, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to start looking for a younger team. "I think it's high time that we should start looking for young batsmen who could play for 10 years.

September 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Sunday there were indications that the Tamil Tigers were involved in the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. Gilani told reporters that investigators have got indications to suggest that the Tamil Tigers had financed the attack in which a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers was fired at by gunmen near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

September 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was the mastermind behind the attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3. The Pakistan Prime Minister's statement was in complete contrast to what the Government had claimed before, that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was behind the attack.

September 4th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan captain Younis Khan is in the process of forming a players association for national cricketers and is in touch with the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA). Younis said in an interview Friday that he met FICA chief Tim May in London during the World Twenty20 championship in June to seek details about the formation of players association.

August 31st, 2009 KARACHI - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has assured Pakistan that it will directly deal with Indian authorities to ensure foolproof security arrangements for its cricket team for the 2011 World Cup matches in India. Sources said Monday that one of the most important clauses of the agreement signed between the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Dubai last week states that the game's governing body will directly deal with the security cover for the Pakistan team when it plays in India during the 2011 World Cup.

August 19th, 2009 LAHORE - In an apparent damage control move, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt is trying to garner the support of as many former cricketers as he can. Butt met several former Test cricketers including Mohsin Khan and Zaheer Abbas recently amid reports that the PCB is planning to engage former cricketers to build up a team of coaches for various levels.

August 12th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan's cricket management has done little to ensure that international teams return to the country in the aftermath of this March's terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to even prepare a comprehensive plan aimed at reviving international cricket in the country, it was reported by The News Wednesday.

August 8th, 2009 KARACHI - Following the Pakistan cricket team's dismal Sri Lankan tour, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is expected to overhaul the team management. The News quoted PCB sources, as saying that the team's manager and assistant manager are likely to be sacked, while the coach and captain will be asked for an explanation once the team returns home on August 13.

August 8th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australia's cricketers applauded the BCCI's stance this week to remove themselves from the World Anti Drug Agency's strict anti-doping code, and the Australian Cricketers' Association declared that it wanted an end to the controversial new code because it was too intrusive. Under the code, athletes must declare to WADA three months in advance where they will be for an hour each day.

July 15th, 2009 KARACHI - Former Pakistan cricketers have blamed poor team spirit for the team's defeat to Sri Lanka in the Colombo Test. The Pakistan batting order collapsed like a house of cards in the second innings of the second Test match on Tuesday resulting in a seven wicket loss.

June 30th, 2009 LAHORE - The bus driver of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Meher Mohammad Khalil, who by his presence of mind and prompt action saved the lives of the Lankan cricketers during the Lahore terror strike, has said that he would be praying for Pakistan's victory during the forthcoming Test and one-day series between both the countries. Khalil has been invited by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) to watch the series, but will not be able to visit Sri Lanka as he is going for a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

June 26th, 2009 DUBAI - The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Friday the 2011 World Cup cricket matches taken away from Pakistan would be held by other co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan's offer of holding the 14 matches at a neutral venue like the United Arab Emirates has thus been rejected by the ICC, which had stripped the strife-torn country of the hosting rights after the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.

June 17th, 2009 LAHORE - Police have arrested the mastermind of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus outside the Gaddafi Stadium, according to CCPO Lahore Pervaiz Rathore. Naik Muhammad alias Zubair is described as the mastermind behind the gruesome attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March which led to abandonment of all international cricket in Pakistan, including the 2011 World Cup.

June 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports has recommended criminal proceedings against all those security officials who showed incompetence and negligence when the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked outside the Gaddafi Stadium. The members also asked the Interior Ministry to speed up their investigations to arrest all those terrorists who were involved in the attack.

May 30th, 2009 LONDON - Security concerns have forced members of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara, to cancel their visit to Oxford University. Both the players along with team manager Brendon Kuruppu were scheduled to visit the Oxford Union debating society, but their visit was cancelled after a Times report claimed that over 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the final days of Sri Lanka's offensive against the Tamil Tigers, The News reports.