Cricket is not Cricket without Shahid Afridi

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has offered its director-general and former Test captain Javed Miandad additional responsibilities of batting and fielding consultant of the national side for the upcoming tour of New Zealand, starting from Dec 26. When contacted, PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar confirmed to Dawn that the PCB had asked Miandad to coach the players in batting and fielding departments. Nadeem said the terms and conditions of the assignment could only be finalised after Miandad’s return to the country from China. Miandad, who is also a member of the PCB’s Governing Board, is in China as cricket ambassador of Pakistan to see cricket matches in the ongoing Asian Games. “It is just an offer and if Miandad accepts it, the PCB will be in a position to make further comments on the subject,” Nadeem said. Critics and experts had been demanding a batting coach for the national squad and its importance was felt on the previous important tours of Australia and England. As Miandad

Virat Kohli : 0* Gambhir    : 23 9.4 overs 

Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook gave England the ideal platform in their bid to salvage the opening Test as they added an unbroken 135 on the fourth morning at Brisbane. Strauss led the way with a captain's innings full off attractive strokes but also sturdy concentration, while Cook continued his productive match with another determined half-century to leave Australia's attack toiling much as England's did for two sessions yesterday. And the luck changed direction as Strauss was handed a crucial life on 69 when Mitchell Johnson, in the midst of a torrid match, dropped a chance at mid-off when Strauss tried to loft Xavier Doherty down the ground. The opening pair became England's most prolific in Test cricket, although the record was diluted somewhat as they had played more than twice as many innings as the Jack Hobbs-Herbert Sutcliffe pairing they overtook. But that was a minor point in the bigger picture of England trying to claw their way back into the match, which

Sri Lanka mopped up the remaining five West Indies wickets in less than two hours on the final afternoon at the Premadasa Stadium, but not before a composed half-century from Carlton Baugh took the visitors well past the follow-on target, thereby removing any chance of a result in the rain-ridden second Test. West Indies resumed their first innings on 165 for 5 after rain washed out five consecutive sessions of play in Colombo and were bowled out for 243, still 144 runs shy of Sri Lanka's first-innings total. There was drama almost as soon as play began on day five, as Ajantha Mendis' first delivery spun back sharply to strike Carlton Baugh on the pads in front of the stumps. The batsman was given out lbw, but a review - taken almost immediately by Baugh, showed the legbreak to be pitching outside leg stump and the standing umpire's decision was overturned for the first time in the series. Mendis threatened throughout his opening spell, often causing problems for the batsme

Right now, somewhere in the UAE, Younis Khan is sitting back in a chair enjoying a chilled glass of freshly-made lassi. The lassi itself isn’t all that good, mind you, the Arabs not being all too proficient in concocting the famed yoghurt-based drink. Rather, Younis’s enjoyment of the drink derives from the smug satisfaction of a man completely at ease with everything around him knowing that he is finally back where he belongs. There was no need for a dramatic statement to reinforce how much the team needed him. However, just to be on the safe side, Younis provided several anyway. His 17th Test century. Pakistan’s highest partnership in Tests against South Africa. Our highest fourth innings total. Ever. The numbers, as they say, don’t lie. And these ones testify to the gospel truth. There was one moment though that stood out amidst the excellence, which perhaps best revealed the value of the man to the team. It occurred in the 93rd over of the fourth innings bowled by Morne Morkel. Mor

Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin struck magnificent hundreds during a monumental sixth-wicket partnership of 293, a new record for any wicket at the Gabba, as Australia took full control on the third day. The pair needed some significant fortune to survive the new ball, but then prospered in commanding style against a frustrated and tiring England team to build a commanding lead of 176. Hussey brought up his 12th Test century off 197 balls with a cover drive against Stuart Broad and celebrated with a huge release of raw emotion. It meant consecutive Ashes hundreds after his futile 121 at The Oval in 2009, but this one has given his team a huge advantage and has put to bed any debate about his place in the team. Haddin's innings was his finest at Test level because of the way he adjusted his game to weather the early barrage before blossoming towards a 222-ball hundred, which he reached with a straight six off Graeme Swann. As the second session wore on England, who had been outstanding

England's coach, Andy Flower has hit back at suggestions that Kevin Pietersen is "an outcast" in the England team, a choice of words used by Shane Warne in a newspaper interview on Monday, in which he blamed the selectors for sacking Pietersen as captain in January 2009 and in so doing damaging his previously impenetrable ego. "The way they have treated him is ordinary and he has been made to feel as if he is a bit of an outcast," said Warne in the Courier-Mail. "KP might be the walking ego with the way he struts around, and sometimes he is unpopular with his own team-mates, and he can rub people up the wrong way. But he has to be made to feel important and like he is the man. If he feels like that, he will give you everything." Flower gave Warne's theory short shrift when informed of it during a press conference on Monday morning. "He's anything but an outcast," said Flower. "He's a good guy to have around in the dressing ro

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead. Darren Bravo was assured as he notched up his second half-century in as many innings in Tests, even as his more illustrious team-mates struggled to come to terms with the skill and variation of the Sri Lankan attack. The visitors looked good to end the day just three down as the gloom set in over Premadasa Stadium, but a double-strike from Tillakaratne Dilshan minutes before stumps meant Sri Lanka were still well in the hunt for a win and the visitors were left to ponder how they might save the Test. Darren Bravo was difficult to tie down in his 129-ball stay, happy to settle into a steady rhythm of singles for the majority of the afternoon, but taking the attack to the spinners and forcing Kumar Sangakkara to adjust the field when it became too tight for his liking. He hit four sixes and they may as well have all been carbon copies of each othe

England 260 Australia 220/5 (80.0 ov) Australia trail by 40 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings The Ashes contest lived up to its billing of being too close to call on a fluctuating day at the Gabba. England's bowlers staged a spirited fightback before being quelled by a resurgent Michael Hussey, whose unbeaten 81 gave Australia the edge when bad light ended play. The hosts lost four wickets during the afternoon session as James Anderson and Steven Finn produced fiery spells, but Hussey was joined by Brad Haddin and the sixth-wicket pair added 77 to leave Australia sensing a vital lead. We'll never know what the Australia selectors would have done if Hussey had failed in the second innings of the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria last week, where he struck a hundred after an 18-ball duck in the first innings. His first ball today was inches short of reaching second slip but that was about his only alarm during an assured display, where his attacking approach