ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (June 27, 2020):-The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday confirmed 20 players and 11 player support personnel will travel on a chartered flight to Manchester on Sunday morning for a three-Test and three T20I series to be played in August and September. Upon arrival in Manchester, the squad will be transported to Worcestershire where they will undergo the England and Wales Cricket Board testing before completing their 14-day isolation period, during which they will be allowed to train and practice. The side will move to Derbyshire on 13 July. It is pertinent to mention that all 18 players and 11 player support personnel, who had tested negative for Covid-19 in the first round of tests on Monday, have again returned negative in Thursday’s retests. Besides the 29 members, tests of fast bowler Musa Khan and Pakistan U19 captain and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir, along with three other reserve players, were also conducted on Thursday and they have also returned negative. Names of players: Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam (vice-captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmad, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, and Yasir Shah. Zafar Gohar, the left-arm spinner who played an ODI in 2015, will join the side from England and will only be involved in pre-match preparations. Player support personnel – Mansoor Rana (manager), Misbah-ul-Haq (head coach), Younis Khan (batting coach), Mushtaq Ahmed (spin bowling coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Talha Butt (team analyst), Yasir Malik (strength and conditioning coach), Dr Sohail Saleem (team doctor), Lt Col (Retd) Usman Riffat (security manager) and Raza Kitchlew (media and digital content manager). Cliffe Deacon and Waqar Younis will join the side directly from South Africa and Australia, respectively, while Shoaib Malik will be there July 24. Following advice from leading sports science experts and as per the UK government regulations, players who have tested positive during the PCB testing process will be unable to travel on Sunday. However, they will be sent to England as soon as their two tests return negative. Amongst the four reserves players, who were tested on Wednesday, only Imran Butt has tested positive, while the tests of Bilal Asif, Mohammad Nawaz and Musa Khan were negative. Out of the 10 players and one official, who had earlier tested positive during the PCB testing programme, six players have tested negative in the retests. They are: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz. Players who have again tested positive are: Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Kashif Bhatti and Imran Khan, along with Malang Ali (masseur). The six players who have now tested negative will undergo third round of testing at some stage next week and if their tests remain negative, then the PCB will make arrangements to send them to England. The five players and the masseur, who have are positive, have been advised by the PCB medical panel to observe strict quarantine to protect their families and friends from the contagion. As in the past, the PCB medical panel will provide them complete support and continue to monitor their progress. These players will undergo tests following the completion of the quarantine period and will be sent to England following two negative tests. PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan: “This was a challenging and unprecedented process that we have conducted and I am pleased that following a second round of testing, we are able to confirm 20 players and 11 player support personnel will travel to Manchester on Sunday. “Due to the increasing number of national cases and availability of testing labs in some players’ hometowns, I think the PCB medical panel have done a good job to get us through this process. Based on the national spread of players, there were always going to be some logistical challenges; we have taken a number of learnings from the process that we will take forward with us. “With the Test series being played first in August, Misbah is satisfied with the group of players that are traveling on Sunday as the focus will be on red-ball preparation. Misbah understands that flexibility and adaptability will be needed with his training and practice schedule while operating under various guidelines.’ “I want to reassure the players and the official left behind that the PCB will provide them best support and look after them during the quarantine period. It needs to be remembered that these players were asymptomatic, which means their chances of regaining complete fitness are higher and brighter than most. As soon as these players test negative twice through the PCB testing process they will be flown to England to join the squad. “I am aware Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz took personal tests outside of our process prior to the second PCB testing. While their results came up negative, as per the PCB testing programme, they are deemed to have one negative test following a positive test. Therefore, once they are retested and receive a second negative result under the PCB testing programme, they will be available to join the squad in England. “Lastly, on behalf of the PCB, I want to once again urge the Pakistan cricket fans and followers to support the government in their fight against coronavirus by strictly following its instructions. Only through taking personal responsibility can we begin to eradicate this virus.”

SPORTS DESK ISLAMBAD (June 27, 2020):-Kosmos Tennis and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have announced the 2020 Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals will be postponed until 2021. The Finals will now take place in Madrid in the week commencing 22 November 2021. The decision to postpone the event comes following a three-month review of the considerable logistical and regulatory challenges that have arisen as a result of the pandemic and all potential hosting scenarios with the health and safety of all involved of paramount importance. The Davis Cup Finals are the pinnacle of the largest men’s global team competition in tennis and were set to see the world’s best 18 national teams competing for the Davis Cup world championship title over one week in Madrid from 23 to 29 November 2020.  The event was due to host more than 90 athletes with significant support teams, as well as thousands of fans, officials, staff, partners and other stakeholders travelling from countries across the world, each at a different stage in dealing with the pandemic. The challenges in hosting a mass gathering of this size on an international scale at an indoor venue are considerable due to the pandemic, both in the current and the anticipated climate. Gerard Pique, Kosmos Tennis President said: “It’s a huge disappointment for all of us that the Davis Cup Finals will not be held in 2020. We don’t know how the situation will develop in each qualified nation, or if restrictions in Spain will remain sufficiently eased, as such it is impossible to predict the situation in November and guarantee the safety of those travelling to Madrid. This postponement has no long-term bearing on our collective ambitions for the Davis Cup. The ITF and Kosmos Tennis look forward to delivering an outstanding competition in 2021, when it is safe and feasible to do so.” David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “This is a tough decision to have to make, but delivering an international team event on this scale while guaranteeing the health and safety of all involved ultimately poses too great a risk. It is a complex undertaking and we have made the decision now to provide certainty for players, National Associations and fans. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Kosmos Tennis in order to deliver a fantastic competition next year”. Host partners, the City of Madrid and the Region of Madrid, have expressed their support for the decision to postpone until 2021. In addition, the ITF Board has announced that the 24 home-and-away World Group I and World Group II ties involving 48 national teams due to be played in September this year will be postponed until 2021, with ties to be played in either March or September. The 2020 regional Group III and IV events, in which 76 national teams are entered, are also postponed until 2021. The ITF will work with the hosts of these ties and events in order to ensure a safe environment in which they can be played next year. 

SPORT REPORT ISLAMABAD (June 26, 2020):-The Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday morning held their second meeting of the year, 58th overall, via a videoconference under the chairmanship of Ehsan Mani. The following are the key decisions taken by the PCB’s supreme body: 2020-21 budget The BoG approved a PKR7.76billion operating expenditure budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which is a 10 per cent reduction from the 2019-20 budget as part of the PCB’s austerity, robust financial management and belt-tightening exercise. Without compromising and reducing any activities from the 2019-20 activities, the PCB has allocated 71.2 per cent of the overall budget for cricket-related activities. This is to ensure that despite tough financial situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cricket remains unaffected and the PCB continues to invest in the future. The allocated 71.2 per cent cricket budget includes 25.2 per cent for domestic cricket (events and players/match officials/player support personnel contracts and High Performance Centre costs), 19.3 per cent for international cricket (home/away series and player contracts), 5.5 per cent for women’s cricket (home/away cricket and player contracts), 19.7 per cent for HBL PSL 2021 and 1.5 per cent for Medical and Sport Sciences. While forecasting shortfall in revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has left the fate of revenues from international events hanging in balance and may also affect PCB’s commercial programme, the BoG has agreed to continue investment on infrastructure development by approving a PKR1.22billion budget for capital expenditure, a reduction of approximately PKR800million from 2019-20. PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani: “We have followed a strict cost-benefit and value for money policy while preparing this budget taking into consideration the economic situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget caters for all critical business of cricket activities, while the nice-to-have activities have been set aside as part of our cost-cutting measures and to protect our reserves for the future. “I am also grateful to the BoG for approving the capital expenditure budget, which is aimed at enhancing and improving our infrastructure so that we can provide better experience and facilities to our fans and cricketers, and also develop and upgrade our high performance centres across the country. This will be an important investment as we have submitted an expression of interest for some ICC Events in the 2023-31 cycle and quality cricket infrastructure will be one of the key factors that will determine if we are successful in earning hosting rights of any of the events. “Over the next 12 months, we will continue to ensure strict financial management and controls, and I remain confident that we will deliver all our objectives as per our five-year strategy and within budget.” Domestic player contracts for 2020-21 PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan briefed the BoG on the new 12-month merit-based domestic player contracts for the 2020-21 season. The new contracts will come into effect from 1 August 2020. According to the new monthly retainer structure, the PCB will again offer 192 leading domestic players (32 from each of the six Cricket Associations) performance-based contracts, but instead of paying a flat monthly retainer of PKR50,000 to all players, this season slab-wise payments will be made. The new monthly retainer structure is: ·         Category A+ = 10 players, PKR150,000 per month ·         Category A = 38 players, PKR85,000 per month ·         Category B = 48 players, PKR75,000 per month ·         Category C = 72 players, PKR65,000 per month ·         Category D = 24 players, PKR40,000 per month Wasim Khan: “The PCB had repeatedly spoken about improving domestic retainers year-on-year which we are committed to doing and have backed up this year. We very much see this as the start. “Overall, we have increased our investment by 46 per cent in our domestic contract retainers, as compared to last year. We have also created a category based retainer system that will better reward and incentivise the high-performing cricketers. “The PCB is optimistic this model will further enhance competitiveness amongst the players, which, in turn, will contribute in the overall uplifting of our domestic cricket. “We are likely to have all the six Cricket Association sides in place by mid-August but will continue to keep an eye on the Covid-19 situation. We will only start our 2020-21 season when the Covid-19 curve of cases starts going in the downward direction and we have the necessary permissions and SOPs in place to ensure health and safety of all concerned.” PCB Code of Ethics In line with Article 44(d) of the PCB Constitution 2019 and with an aim to safeguard the integrity and the reputation of the PCB as the custodian of the game in Pakistan, the BoG approved the PCB Code of Ethics, which deals with matters such as conflict of interest, declaration of interests and confidentiality. All BoG Members, Committee Members and PCB Staff Members will now be bound and required to comply by the Code, which will also be enforced at the Cricket Association level. PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer: “The main objective of the PCB Code of Ethics is to establish highest ethical standards to govern the activities and regulate the conduct of key stakeholders in Pakistan cricket, strengthen PCB’s authority to deal with corruption and unethical behaviour and foster confidence in the PCB in line with its Strategic Plan.” HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 The BoG congratulated the PCB management for the successful staging of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 until it was postponed on 17 March due to Covid-19 pandemic. The 30 completed matches were played over four venues with more than 500,000 spectators crossing turnstiles to watch live action. The BoG was informed that the PCB was planning to stage the remaining four matches later in the year, while it plans to add a fifth venue in Peshawar for the 2021 edition, which is scheduled to be held in February and March 2021. The BoG approved to set-up a dedicated HBL PSL Department by separating it from the PCB’s Commercial Department. PSL Project Executive Shoaib Naveed will head the department as part of the PCB’s drive to improve stakeholder relationship and deliver top-quality event. There will also be an oversight group, which will comprise the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director Commercial. The PSL General Council meeting is scheduled in the first week of July with more details to follow in due course. Other matters The BoG approved the model constitution for Cricket Clubs, which is in line with the PCB Constitution 2019 and Model Constitutions for Cricket and City Cricket Associations, as well as the Club affiliation and operation rules, details of which will be released on Sunday morning. PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani briefed the BoG on matters relating to the ICC and the ACC. Mr Mani confirmed that he had been approached by some ICC Directors for the ICC Chairman’s role, but reiterated his commitment to Pakistan cricket. Mr Mani also said he has raised the visa issues for Pakistan cricket teams for the upcoming ICC Events in India. On the ACC, Mr Mani confirmed the PCB has offered Sri Lanka Cricket to swap the ACC T20 Cup, with the ACC Board expected to make the decision in due course. The PCB Chairman updated the BoG on his meeting with the PCB Patron, including discussions around legislation on criminalising corruption in sports. In this relation, Mr Mani submitted to the Patron a draft proposal, which provides a short background on the menace of corruption and its impact on the integrity of sports; reviews the existing legislation enacted within Pakistan whilst noting that the same fail to adequately target and address corruption/illegal manipulation in sports; recommends the inclusion of certain provisions which, specifically target criminalisation of corruption in sports pertaining to corruption, illegal manipulation, betting, match and spot-fixing as well as aiding and abetting such conduct; and proposes the penalties to be imposed on individuals found guilty of engaging in such offences. The BoG expressed satisfaction on the steps taken and processes followed prior to sending the Pakistan men’s national cricket team to England, but expressed concerns on the number of positive tests. On the basis the Covid-19 and cricket is likely to co-exist in the foreseeable future, the BoG advised the PCB to put in place stricter measures to ensure health and safety of all its elite cricketers.

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (June 21, 2020):-The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will hold online fitness assessment of Under-19 women cricketers from Monday. The assessment is designed to keep the up and coming cricketers focused and motivated during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has put a halt on outdoor physical activities. The players will take tests from 22-26 June in which their hand-eye coordination, body balance, core muscle and lower body strength along with upper body endurance will be gauged. The investment on this group of emerging players is in line with PCB’s strategy of enhancing the pool of women cricketers by creating an U19 pathway programme. These players were picked on the basis of their performances in the Skills2Shine U18 Women T20 Championship, a four-team tournament which was held in Lahore in November last year. Following the tournament, the players underwent a 14-day-long training camp at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi. Urooj Mumtaz, chair of the national women’s selection committee, said: “Physical fitness is one of the key elements for any cricketer in order to be successful and thrive in this day and age. It is important that the players are made aware of these requirements right from the moment they enter the system. “With the aim to create a fitness-centric environment, these players have been engaged in training programmes provided by the strength and conditioning coach over the past two months. The testing battery has been designed keeping in mind the challenges of training indoors in these unprecedented times. The basic purpose behind this assessment is to gauge the baseline fitness of this group along with keeping them involved and motivated. “The investment in women cricketers at the emerging and age group level is of great significance for the PCB as they are the future of the game and it is important that the board regularly engages with these players and assists them in understanding the essential attributes of modern day cricket. The PCB through its Skills2Shine and Cric4us initiatives has undertaken various programmes to broaden the pool of women cricketers.” List of players who will undergo fitness assessment: Anoosha Nasir (Karachi), Arijah Haseeb (Karachi), Fajar Naveed (Islamabad), Fatima Khan (Lahore), Gul Rukh (Lahore), Gul Uswa (Multan), Hamna Bilal (Islamabad), Hania Ahmar (Karachi), Khushbakht Waseem (Lahore), Laiba Fatima (Karachi), Laraib Malik (Lahore), Laveeza Munir (Lahore), Momina Riasat Khan (Abbottabad), Nazish Rafique (Lahore), Rida Aslam (Islamabad), Saima Malik (Quetta), Shawal Zulfiqar (Lahore), Yusra Amir (Karachi) and Zaib-un-Nisa (Charsadda).

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (June 20, 2020):-The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given special dispensation to Shoaib Malik by allowing him to join the men’s national cricket team in England on 24 July after spending time with his immediate family, whom he has not seen for nearly five months. According to media department of PCB, Shoaib’s wife, Sania Mirza, and one-year-old son, Izhaan Mirza Malik, have been in India, while Shoaib has been in Sialkot since the imposition of international travel ban due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to the travel ban, Shoaib was involved for Peshawar Zalmi in the HBL Pakistan Super League, which commenced on 20 February before it was suspended on 17 March. PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan: “Unlike the rest of us, Shoaib Malik has not seen his immediate family for nearly five months due to his commitments and the subsequent international travel bans following the Covid-19 pandemic. As travel restrictions are now slowly easing out and there is an opportunity for a family reunion, it is appropriate that at a human level we show compassion as part of our duty of care and respect Shoaib’s request. “We have spoken with the England and Wales Cricket Board who understand the situation and have agreed to make an exception by helping Shoaib enter the country on 24 July. Of course, Shoaib will follow the UK government’s policies on visitors entering the country before integrating with the side.” The team will depart on 28 June for Manchester, before driving to Derbyshire for their 14-day quarantine period during which they will be allowed to train and practice. Apart from training and practicing, there will be intra-squad matches to compensate for the lack of practice matches due to non-availability of local teams as the ECB is yet to commence its domestic season.

SPORTS REPORT ISLAMABAD (June 18, 2020):-President, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Brig (Retd.) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Secretary General PHF Mohammad Asif Bajwa, and the entire PHF family expressed their deepest sympathies on the sad demise of Chaudhry Hasnat Ahmed Kamboh father of Mohammad Arslan (IT & Digital Communication Manager PHF) and prayed that May the soul of the departed rest in eternal peace. Allah Almighty May give them and their family strength to bear this huge damage  

SPORT REPORT ISLAMABAD (June 18, 2020):-On Thursday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the contracts of all domestic players and coaches would be extended, expiring on 30 June, till 31 July before the new 12-month contracts will come into effect from 1 August. The decision has been made by the High Performance Department, which is presently busy carrying out a 360 degree appraisal of all its coaches. The process is expected to conclude early next month with the six Cricket Association sides to be confirmed by the end of July. In the 2019-20 season, the PCB had offered 192 contracts to the domestic cricketers of which 186 cricketers had accepted the contracts. Director – High Performance, Nadeem Khan: “As part of a comprehensive and extensive review process, we are conducting appraisals of all coaches, which is a three-phase process including self-assessment, interviews and feedback from players and fellow coaches. “This is the modern 360 degree way of appraising professionals as we remain committed to put in place the best available coaches who can provide best coaching and training to the players, which, in turn, will contribute to further enhance the quality of our domestic cricket. “Once the appraisal of the coaches is concluded, the six Cricket Association coaches will be involved in the team selection process. We hope to conclude the entire exercise by end July with 12-month contracts coming into effect from 1 August 2020. “It is premature to predict when we will be able to start our 2020-21 domestic cricket season due to the evolving Covid-19 situation. But, internally, we need to be ready to start the season at a short notice.”

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (June 18, 2020):-The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced on Thursday that ITF World Tennis Tour would be resumed in August 2020, as the women’s events would kick off from August 3 while the men’s events from August 17. The both fixtures will include singles qualifying, main draw singles and doubles rounds. The announcements was made by the ATP, WTA, USTA and FFT regarding the resumption of the tours and the staging of the US Open and Roland Garros. ITF is currently finalizing a provisional calendar of ITF World Tennis Tour events. ITF officials are keen to see as many tournaments scheduled as possible in order to maximize playing opportunities for athletes around the world, we want to ensure the health and safety of the athletes. The decision for an event to be held will remain at the discretion of individual tournaments to determine if it is feasible for their event to go ahead, and with the appropriate health, safety and integrity infrastructure in place. Tournaments will be played without spectators, unless local or national government regulations explicitly permit fans to attend sporting events. As with the ATP and WTA provisional calendars, the ITF World Tennis Tour calendar is subject to change. The ITF expects that approximately 80 per cent of ITF World Tennis Tour events that would normally have been scheduled during the August-September period will be played this year and anticipates that more nations will apply to host tournaments as restrictions ease in those countries. Ranking points have been frozen since 16 March 2020. The ITF continues to discuss with the ATP and WTA Tours the most appropriate and fair reintroduction of ranking points across World Tennis Tour events. At this stage, the planned resumption of international competition relates only to the men’s and women’s ITF World Tennis Tour. The ITF is mindful that players competing on the junior tennis, senior tennis, wheelchair tennis and beach tennis tours want to resume international competition as soon as possible, and further updates will be provided regarding these tours in due course. David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for our sport and, while acknowledging that there will still be challenges ahead, we are pleased that international tour competition will be able to resume in August. Restoring earning opportunities for athletes at the earliest possible opportunity – in a manner which protects the health and safety of all involved – has been a priority throughout this period. “The sport has come together to support players financially during the pandemic and we will continue to work with our partners from across the tennis world – the tours, the Grand Slams and our 210 member  National Associations – as we aim to safely resume international competition.” Stuart Miller, ITF Senior Executive Director for Integrity & Development, added: “While tennis can be played in a socially-distanced fashion, it is important that tournaments resume with the correct health, safety and integrity infrastructure. We will work with the National Associations that are hosting events, in order to ensure that they have the correct measures in place.”

SPORTS REPORT ISLAMABAD (June 15, 2020):-With the vision of becoming one of the top-performing and most credible cricket boards in the world, the Pakistan Cricket board today released its five-year strategic plan, which has been approved by the Board of Governors. Captioned under Five-Year Plan to Inspire and Unify Our Nation, the document lays down strategic and corporate objectives, sets a straightforward course of action for the progress and enhancement of the national men’s, women’s and age-group teams and presents a clear pathway and structure for grassroots development. Underpinning the objectives will be a tracking system that will ensure that progress is robustly monitored on a monthly basis throughout the duration of the plan.    The work on the strategy commenced last year and already a number of significant strides have been made against the objectives set out. e strategy has been put together with a key focus on the stakeholders of the game and bringing the fans closer to the game, with accountability, transparency, ethics and professionalism remaining at its core. The six salient features of the strategy are: ·         Sustainable Corporate Governance – will be underpinned by timely and effective planning and allocation of resources. ·         Deliver World Class International Teams - ongoing investment into a merit-based domestic system and a focus on excellence in High-Performance Centres will help transform our international teams into consistent top class performers. ·         Grassroots and Pathways Framework - providing opportunities and supporting the   seamless transition of young and aspiring cricketers into the mainstream game. ·         Inspire Generations Through our Women’s Game - we will maintain a key focus on diversity and invest in our future cricketers to develop cricket champions across the nation. ·         Grow and Diversify Commercial Revenue Streams - we will set strategic, innovative and targeted commercial plans that will support the sustainability of the PCB and the Cricket Associations. ·         Enhance the Global Image of Pakistan - we will showcase Pakistan through the promotion of the HBL Pakistan Super League, sustainable home international cricket and by maintaining ongoing and close dialogue with other cricket boards around the world. Each of the aforementioned strategies is divided into clear objectives and tactics.  A senior manager will own one of the six strategic priorities and will be responsible for its execution, while a robust monitoring system with clear delivery timelines will track monthly progress. Unveiling the strategy, PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “We developed the five-year plan in 2019 and awaited sign-off by the Board of Governors. We are delighted that we received official sign-off in February this year and are now in a position to formally announce it. Delivery against key priorities for the 2019-2023 plan began last year and I am delighted to see the progress that we have already made across a number of areas. “It was highly important that we developed a clear, exciting and achievable roadmap that provided   clarity on our direction of travel, not only for all PCB staff but also the fans and its stakeholders. “Strategic plans on paper achieve little unless individuals buy-into the vision, take ownership of the strategy and are held accountable for delivering.  Our robust monitoring system will track progress in a timely way so as to ensure we remain focused on what we want to achieve. “From 2019, the PCB has embarked on a thought through reform and transformation programme both on and off the field. Having clarity of purpose and being bold in your decision making are necessary in any change programme and we firmly believe that the strategic plan has already provided us with the impetus to move Pakistan cricket forward. “The PCB has the potential and drive to be amongst the very top cricket boards in the world. This aspiration, with a commitment to action, will drive us on so that we can become consistently successful on the field and highly competent off it. It is exciting to think where we can be as a cricketing nation when we deliver this; over the last 12 months significant progress has already been made from where we started.” Some key achievements since February 2019: ·         Implementation of PCB Constitution 2019; development of Cricket Associations and City Cricket Associations constitutions and their subsequent approvals by the Board of Governors ·         Restructuring of the domestic structure ·         Appointment of high-quality experts and coaches with the Pakistan national men’s team ·         Whole of the HBL PSL in Pakistan, MCC tour to Pakistan after 48 years and the return of Test cricket after 10 years ·         Development of high performance system and restructuring of the PCB departments ·         Appointment of Ehsan Mani as Chairman of the ICC’s influential F&CA, Wasim Khan as member of the ICC Women’s Committee, Salman Naseer as member of the ICC Safeguarding Panel, Sana Mir as member of the ICC Women’s Committee

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (June 12, 2020):-Haider Ali, the Pakistan Under-19 batsman and one of the players to watch-out for, has been named in a 29-player squad for three Tests and three T20Is against England to be played in August-September. An extended squad, including white-ball specialists, is being sent to England as the players, in accordance with series SOPs in the wake of Covid-19, will remain in England from start to finish. Haider had an outstanding 2019-20 season, following which he earned an emerging contract for the 2020-21 season. He was Pakistan U19’s second most successful batsman with 317 runs against South Africa U19 in June, fifth leading run-getter with 218 runs in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh, aggregated 645 runs – including a century in the final –  at just under 50 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, finished as Pakistan’s third-best batsman with 107 runs in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 before contributing 239 runs in nine matches at a strike-rate of over 158 for Peshawar Zalmi in the unfinished HBL Pakistan Super League 2020. Besides Haider, Sindh’s Kashif Bhatti is the other uncapped player in the side. Kashif was in the Test squad against Australia and Sri Lanka but did not play and was also named in the probables for the Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh. Returning to the national colours is fast bowler Sohail Khan, whose ninth and last Test for Pakistan was the 2016 Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20, he took 22 wickets in nine matches, while he grabbed seven wickets in eight HBL PSL 2020 matches for Quetta Gladiators. Apart from Haider, Kashif, Sohail and the other centrally contracted players, excluding Haris Sohail, the selectors have named Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imran Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz. The selectors have also named four reserves in Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Musa Khan and Mohammad Nawaz as a cover in case any of the players fail pre-tour Covid-19 testing, which will be carried out on 20 and 25 June. Fast bowlers Hasan Ali and Mohammad Amir, and middle-order batsman Haris were not available for selection. Hasan is suffering from a back injury, Amir withdrew so that he can be at the birth of his second child in August while Haris took the option of pulling out of the tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The breakdown of the 29-player squad is: Openers (4) – Abid Ali (Sindh, Lahore Qalandars), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore Qalandars), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan, Peshawar Zalmi) and Shan Masood (Southern Punjab, Multan Sultans) Middle-order batsmen (9) – Azhar Ali (captain) (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (Test vice-captain and T20I captain) (Central Punjab, Karachi Kings), Asad Shafiq (Sindh, Multan Sultans), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Haider Ali (Northern, Peshawar Zalmi), Iftikhar Ahmad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi Kings), Khushdil Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Multan Sultans), Mohammad Hafeez (Southern Punjab, Lahore Qalandars), and Shoaib Malik (Southern Punjab, Peshawar Zalmi) Wicketkeepers (2) - Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi Kings) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators) Fast bowlers (10) – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab, Islamabad United), Haris Rauf (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Imran Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab, Quetta Gladiators), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Northern, Lahore Qalandars), Sohail Khan (Sindh, Quetta Gladiators), Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore Qalandars) and Wahab Riaz (Southern Punjab, Peshawar Zalmi) Spinners (4) – Imad Wasim (Northern, Karachi Kings), Kashif Bhatti (Sindh), Shadab Khan (Northern, Islamabad United) and Yasir Shah (Balochistan, Peshawar Zalmi). Commenting on the squad, chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said: “The selectors have picked a squad which gives us the best chance of success in England. It was a challenging process as the players have not played for an extended period of time, but nevertheless, with the month that we will have in England and the intense training we will undergo, we are confident we will get the players up to the mark to be ready for the three Tests. “But the main focus of the selectors has been red-ball cricket, which we will play for nearly two months with the T20Is to be played at the backend of the ICC World Test Championship fixtures. “The series against England will be challenging as our players have not played any competitive cricket since March, while the home team will come following a series against the West Indies. This means we will have to hit the ground running as soon as we land in England and make the best use of the training sessions and match practice before we enter the first Test. “The players have also been selected with one eye on the future. I want these players to acquire as much cricket knowledge as possible from the additional backroom staff of Mushtaq Ahmed and Younis Khan that can help them post the England tour. “Sohail Khan has been recalled to further strengthen our fast bowling department. He had two five-fors when he last played in England in 2016. The selectors also felt he bowled much better in the 2019-20 domestic season than his figures reflected.” Officials: Misbah-ul-Haq (Head Coach), Shahid Aslam (Assistant to Head Coach), Waqar Younis (Bowling Coach), Abdul Majeed (Fielding Coach), Yasir Malik (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Talha Butt (Team Analyst), Cliffe Deacon (Physiotherapist), Malang Ali (Masseur), Mansoor Rana (Team Manager), Col (Retd) Usman Riffat Anwari (Team Security Manager), Raza Rashid (Team Media Manager) Additional team management: Younis Khan (Batting Coach), Mushtaq Ahmed (Spin bowling coach), Dr Sohail Saleem (Team Doctor).