Akram offers to coach young Pakistan fast bowlers

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has offered his services to the PCB as a part-time bowling coach. Akram said he is 'ready to work for Pakistan', but would not be able to do it full-time because of family commitments.

"Coaching is a very demanding job," Akram told reporters at Lahore airport. "It requires a 24/7 [twenty four hours, seven days a week commitment] that I cannot afford while my personal life is a little unsettled. I have two kids to look after. But if they want my services, I am ready to work, but only in my free time."

In the past Akram has turned down the PCB's offers to coach, citing his responsibilities as a commentator. While he did state that he still doesn't have much free time, he said that whenever he is in Pakistan, he could juggle his routine to have time to coach fast bowlers.

"I have emphasised before that while I am free in Pakistan, give me about 10 to 15 young fast bowlers to coach for a month and I am ready to work. We have outstanding facilities at the National Cricket Academy. Send them to Karachi or I can come to Lahore as well."

When asked about the upcoming series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the UAE, Akram said Sri Lanka are a good side but not good enough to beat Pakistan. He pointed out that the bowling attack has struggled without Muttiah Muralitharan, who was responsible for 40 per cent of the team's wickets during his career.

"Sri Lanka is a good team but without Murali [Muralitharan] and [Lasith] Malinga they can't bowl out Pakistan twice in Test cricket," Akram said. "I don't see Pakistan losing unless they play very bad cricket.

"Pakistan has experience as Younis [Khan], Misbah [ul Haq] are there in the line-up and another veteran (Shoaib) Malik is back in the side. So with all this, we can understand that the team isn't lacking any talent. They just need support and need to play good cricket."

Pakistan will play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 International in the three Emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, as Pakistan are currently unable to host international cricket amid security concerns since the attack on the Sri Lanka team in 2009. Given the situation, Akram said the PCB should create an alternative home country for the team.

"The idea is to play as much cricket as they can," Akram said. "If teams aren't heading to Pakistan, come up with an alternative hub and a system for Pakistan's home series and give its team more cricket - that will help them to flourish."

Back to back centuries for Ali waqas ..

Ali waqas, a very talented batsman from sargodha has increased the batting strength of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited. Ali waqas scored a fantastic 175 from 310 balls till the end of first Innings. of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two First-Class match season 2011/12.

The match is being played between Karachi Whites and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited at National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, Karachi. At the end of 1st days play, SNGPL has managed to score 436  all out in 127.2 overs of play.Ali Waqas is the top scorer scoring 175, Usman Arshad 2nd on the list with 80. Naeemuddin scored a nice 50 and a useful contribution of 44 from the captian Umer Akmal.


Check the full Scorecard Below...

In the previous match played between SNGPL and Multan, Contrasting centuries from Umar Akmal and Ali Waqas put Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in command against Multan at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The pair built on a quick start from the openers, with Azeem Ghumman going on to make a brisk 77. Ghumman and Waqas put on 104 for the second wicket to take SNGPL to 156 for 2, but the worst was yet to come for Multan. Umar Akmal clobbered 21 fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 153 that came at better than a run-a-ball and took less than three hours. His pyrotechnics were in contrast to the sedate 104 from Waqas which required nearly five hours.

Ali waqas's brilliant performance is not only good for his own future but also has strengthen the batting lineup of SNGPL. Hope he gets going with the same positive frame of mind and snatch a lot of centuries and double centuries in his way.

Butt experiences tough day in court - Spot Fixing Scandal

Salman Butt, after experiencing his tenth and most difficult day of the alleged spot-fixing trial yet on Tuesday, was accused by the prosecution of lying to the jury after being forced to answer several awkward and uncomfortable questions.

Butt was in the witness box for over five hours and will have to take the stand again on Wednesday as Aftab Jafferjee QC for the prosecution has not yet even reached the three no-balls in question on which alone the jury have been ordered to base their verdict.

Butt was asked about his little blue book, which was found in the suitcase that police discovered in his hotel room on the night of the raids on the third evening of the Lord's Test. It contained all his scribblings about income, expenditure and money "still to be received" and Jafferjee used the contents of that pocket-sized notepad to grill Butt.

He was asked why it did not mention the £30,000 that Butt was due from an apparent bat sticker deal with Majeed's company Capital Cricket. "It's up to me about what to write and what not to write. It's my diary," Butt replied, becoming agitated many times by Jafferjee's probing. Often he turned to the female interpreter to convey his thoughts when things became very tense.

Jafferjee quizzed Butt on why he withdrew US$181,000 from his Bank Alfalah account in Lahore on the day of his police interview on September 3, days after the scandal had broken in the media. Butt has transferred the amount into his mother's account.

"It might have happened on the same day as my interview but it was not something that I aimed to happen on the same day," Butt answered. "I can't explain why (I withdrew it). You are trying to portray something else, but you don't know anything about the Muslim culture," Butt snapped as Jafferjee continued to poke at the topic.

He added: "We didn't know how long we were going to be here (in England)," Butt said. "We were being investigated by the police and we didn't know if we would be allowed to leave."

Jafferjee also questioned Butt on his relationship with Majeed and asked why he tolerated the agent, even though Butt has revealed to the court that Majeed would send him text messages that suggested Butt would help him fix matches. Butt had already told the jury on Monday that he confronted Majeed about these and the agent said he was testing him. But Jafferjee then raised further text messages that suggested Butt tolerated Majeed's behaviour and concluded they shared a "corrupt relationship".

Jafferjee also quizzed Butt on why he spent so much money on luxury watches. Butt admitted to buying a £12,500 Rolex, a £5,000 Bulgari watch, $6,000 on a Tag Heuer in India while playing in the Indian Premier League - that purchase despite a 40 per cent discount being given - $5,000 on an Omega watch from Dubai and $12,000 on a Breitling. Butt agreed that he liked to buy luxury goods but argued that they were investments because he would make money also when he eventually sold them.

Despite a player-agent relationship spanning about three years, the court heard that the only payment that came from Majeed via a cheque or bank transfer was for £9,600 deposited in Butt's Clydesdale Bank account two days before the Pakistanis arrived in England on June 24, 2010. All other payments would be in cash.

Jafferjee questioned Butt on whether he thought it strange that a global sportswear brand like Adidas would pay him just £800 per appearance yet Majeed was willing to pay him £30,000 for a bat sticker to advertise his company Capital Cricket in 2010, and also £5,000 "to cut a ribbon" - as Jafferjee phrased it - at an ice cream parlour.

Not convinced by Butt's answers, several times Jafferjee accused him of lying to the court, including the time when Butt could not answer why he was in team-mate Wahab Riaz's room after midnight with Kamran Akmal and Azhar Majeed, the brother and business partner of Mazhar.

Butt also accused the Pakistan team security manager Major Najam of lying in his statement, making fun of the official by calling him "007".

The former Pakistan captain and opening batsman Butt and his former team-mate Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following that Lord's Test last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.