Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has warned Kevin Pietersen he faces a hostile reception when the first Test begins at Centurion on Wednesday

Cricinfo staff13-Dec-2009Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has warned Kevin Pietersen he faces a hostile reception when the first Test begins at Centurion on Wednesday.Pietersen was born in Pietermaritzburg and played first-class cricket for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa. He was given a tough time from the home crowds when he toured South Africa with England’s one-day side in 2004-05 but responded sensationally, smashing 454 runs in six innings.He is yet to play a Test in the country of his birth and while Smith insisted there was no hostility between Pietersen and the South African players, the South African public will not have forgotten the criticisms Pietersen made about their country’s cricket system.”He obviously gets a hostile reception from South African fans because he’s made a lot of remarks about the country that I don’t think he’s ever apologised for, Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek. It’s hard for people just to wash away those things and I think that’s why people still give him a hard time.”It creates a little bit of tension towards him. Our job is to play the game. From my perspective there’s certainly no tension going into the game.”It’s up to the players to get on with it. You want the game of cricket to be remembered for some fantastic cricket. That’s how I want cricket to be viewed by the fans and by the media.”We’ve all moved on and got on with our lives. He [Pietersen] has really performed well in his international career. There’s a cricket respect there.”Smith also maintained there was no tension between himself and Andrew Strauss, the England captain, despite their confrontation in the Champions Trophy match between the sides at Centurion earlier this year. Smith requested a runner towards the end of his 141 when he was struck down by cramp but Strauss refused, insisting that because cramp is a fitness problem and not an injury, it didn’t merit a runner.”There’s always going to be differences of opinion between two captains of opposite nations, but there’s very much a mutual respect. I’ve always said Andrew comes across as an intelligent guy, obviously captaincy is bringing out a different side to him. He’s performed well and he seems to be managing the side well. There’s no bad blood whatsoever.”

The DDCA was warned twice from different sources that the Kotla pitch needed a lot of attention before the fifth ODI

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Dec-2009Among the several alerts, official and otherwise, raised about the condition of the Kotla pitch is one from the very highest level: An ICC team inspecting the stadium in connection with the 2011 World Cup passed a scathing indictment of the pitch and said “a considerable improvement of the pitch block” would be required to “make the pitch more acceptable” for Sunday’s game.The chief executive of the ICC Haroon Lorgat, speaking in New Delhi on Monday, did not comment on whether this report would have any bearing on the investigation of Sunday’s fiasco but said it would be taken into consideration.”There is an ODI at this venue on 27th December 2009 and considerable improvement of the pitch block will be required by then to make the pitch provided more acceptable” said the report, a copy of which is with Cricinfo. The inspection was carried out on November 4, three days after third ODI of the India-Australia series.That game, and earlier games during the Champions League Twenty20 where batsmen struggled to counter the low and slow nature of the various pitches on the square, was noted in the November report. “During the Champions League and the India vs Australia ODI series, it was well documented that the performance and condition of the pitches at the stadium were a cause of concern for the players,” the report said.The problem with the Kotla pitch – which has already been relaid four times in the last five years under four different curators – stems from the decision, taken immediately after the second IPL was shifted to South Africa, to relay the entire square. During the Champions League Daljit Singh, till Sunday the head of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, said it would take about a year for the re-laid pitches to get seasoned. That point of view seems to have been overlooked with the Indian board deciding to stage at Kotla first the Australia ODI and, within two months, the game against Sri Lanka.The ICC’s inspectors, though, were never in doubt about the quality of the surface and their report offered some prescriptions for the longer term. “The pitch block was reconstructed recently and it is clear to see that there are some important issues with the present condition of the pitch surface that it is essential to address prior to CWC 2011.”As a remedial measure it suggested that the surface level across the entire square needed to be “readjusted in several areas” to help in growing the grass. The DDCA ground authorities, working with Daljit, had been experimenting with the grass, which resulted in the tufts of green spread across the pitch on which Sri Lanka batted.There has been much talk of differences between local and centralized pitch officials and this was clear to the ICC inspection team. “It was apparent when speaking with the local officials that they are reluctant to openly discuss the problems they are having with the pitch and that they are to some extent in variance with the BCCI Pitch Consultant (Daljit Singh) regarding how they are to move forward to resolve the problems with this surface.”According to the ICC team the DDCA were adamant on replanting the pitches with local grass, which they felt would take care of the problem. But that idea was fraught with dangers. “To simply replant without this major renovation of the surface would be a major miscalculation, and would result in inadequate pitches at a later date,” the report said.”The dead and the decaying grass and roots left in the soil profile will break down into organic matter and will contribute to the dilution of the clay content of the soil and contribute to the pitches produced in the future being slow in pace, spongy in texture, and would tend to generate slow and inconsistent bounce from the pitches in the future.”

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain, Bangladesh’s captain, is aiming to hold India to a draw in the upcoming first Test starting January 17 in Chittagong

Cricinfo staff15-Jan-2010Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain, is aiming to hold India to a draw in the upcoming first Test starting January 17 in Chittagong. Bangladesh have not played a Test since July and have been fed a steady diet of one-day matches since, but Shakib did not believe the team would be rusty ahead of what will be their toughest series since January of last year.”I think the battle between India and Bangladesh this time will be an interesting one because the opponents have a long batting line-up while we have a few quality bowlers. However, we don’t bother much about the result of the match,” he told reporters during a training session in Chittagong. “But a draw will be good for us. I am confident that we will have a good chance if we can score 700 runs in the two innings.”Bangladesh’s last Test assignment, against a severely depleted West Indies, saw them win their first overseas series. That contest was highlighted by good bowling, especially from the spinners. Since that series, Bangladesh have played only limited-overs cricket, which included a series win over Zimbabwe at home and a winless streak in the recent tri-series featuring India and Sri Lanka.”It is true we didn’t play a Test match for quite sometime, but hopefully that won’t pose any major problem for us to adapt to the Test mould,” said Shakib. “We batted well in the last ODIs of the tri-nation series and want to show improvement in our game in the field, not through words.”

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif and the Karachi city government have come together to launch, from next week, what might be the most lucrative club tournament to have been played in Pakistan

Osman Samiuddin02-Feb-2010Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif and the Karachi city government have come together to launch, from next week, what might be the most lucrative club tournament to have been played in Pakistan.The Karachi Champions League, a Twenty20 league, for the leading clubs of the city will begin next week with Rs 10 million (around USD 117,200) as the top prize for the winners. The tournament, a brainchild of Latif and the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) will feature a number of Karachi-based international players, as well as a host of domestic cricketers. Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Khalid Latif, Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor and Sarfraz Ahmed, among others, will be playing.”It was an old idea of mine, one that I had been working on,” Latif, who captained Pakistan as well, told Cricinfo. “I am a big follower of English football and I love the history of clubs over there, like Chelsea and Fulham. We have so many old clubs in Karachi and we need to revive that club culture once again here.”The idea was put into practice after Latif ran the idea by the city’s mayor Mustafa Kamal during what was supposed to be a five-minute meeting. “We ran the idea by him and he agreed after a minute,” Latif said. The prize money has been put up by Kamal’s city government; as well as the winning club getting Rs 10 million, the runners-up will receive Rs 5 million (around USD 58,900), the semi-finalists Rs 500,000 (around USD 5900) each and the quarter-finalists Rs 250,000 (around USD 2900). All told there is Rs 17 million (nearly USD 200,000) in prize money at stake, easily the most lucrative local tournament in the country’s history.The tournament is expected to last nearly a month and will be played at various grounds around the city that are supervised and run by the RLCA. Malir Gymkhana, North Nazimabad CC, Korangi Al-Fatah CC and Airport Gymkhana are some of the more renowned 16 clubs in the tournament and each will be allowed only one international player.The tournament will be televised on , a local sports channel and plans are already underway to make it a national league – the Pakistan Champions League. “Karachi is the financial centre of Pakistan and a lot of MNCs are based here,” Latif said. “The plan is to get them to sponsor a club each. Next season we will introduce player trading and hopefully in time, it can be pushed to a national league.”

Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team

Osman Samiuddin10-Feb-2010Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team. Chappell’s name had been floating around Pakistan cricket’s corridors of power as a possible alternative to Intikhab Alam, the incumbent, whose position is currently in limbo following Pakistan’s tour to Australia where they failed to win a single match.Chappell, a former Australian captain, coached India for two tumultuous years between 2005 and 2007. He is now working with Cricket Australia, a role which he is reluctant to leave and he confirmed that an approach had been made. “Wasim Bari [chief operating officer, PCB] rang me yesterday,” Chappell told Cricinfo. “I was honoured and flattered by the approach but I have declined the invitation.”I have no ambition to coach at the international level again and I am committed to my role with CA as Head Coach at the Centre of Excellence and Chairman of our National Youth Selection Panel.”The approach does at least confirm that the PCB is actively looking for a replacement for Intikhab, an issue over which there is considerable confusion still. Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told a TV channel a few days ago that Pakistan would have no problems in looking outside for a coach.It was then announced that Intikhab would not be accompanying Pakistan to Dubai where they take on England in two T20Is on February 19 and 20. Aaqib Javed, the assistant coach, is not travelling with the side either. Instead, Ijaz Ahmed, coach of the Pakistan Under-19 side that finished runners-up at the recent World Cup, will be with the team as a batting and fielding coach; he is already in the UAE with the Pakistan ‘A’ side.Bari played down the move, saying it wasn’t unusual for a coach to not travel with the side, especially on such a short tour. He refused to say definitively whether Intikhab, in his third stint as coach with the senior team, was being removed and also denied that contact had been made with Chappell.Cricinfo understands that the board, perhaps surprisingly, has yet to make any contact with Intikhab over the decision to not send him to Dubai, or over his future beyond that, a lack of communication those close to Intikhab say has disappointed him. Intikhab was appointed by the board in October 2008, as a replacement for Geoff Lawson, on a two-year contract. At the time the board was keen to go for a local option. He was at the helm as Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 in June last year, but has also seen Pakistan go through all of last year having failed to win a single ODI or Test series.He is due to appear before a board inquiry committee, headed by Bari, on February 13 to explain the reasons behind Pakistan’s performance in Australia. His tour report has already been handed in. The board insists that any final decision on the future of the coach, a new captain and any other appointments, will only be taken once the committee has presented its findings

Waqar Younis has signed on as the new coach of the Pakistan side, in the process becoming the fourth coach of the team in three years

Osman Samiuddin03-Mar-2010Waqar Younis has signed on as the new coach of the Pakistan side, in the process becoming the fourth coach of the team in three years. The former fast bowler has been in negotiations with the PCB over the last few days, but confirmed that he will now replace Intikhab Alam on a tenure that sees him through to December 2011.Waqar, who is based in Sydney currently, will arrive in Lahore next week to begin work, the first assignment of which will be to prepare Pakistan’s defense of the World Twenty20 crown in the Caribbean in April-May. “I’ve signed on and agreed to the contract,” Waqar told Cricinfo. “I’ll be arriving in Lahore from next week to begin work.”Though the PCB had talked of – and approached – at least one foreign option to replace Intikhab in the aftermath of the tour to Australia, Waqar emerged as a favourite to take over last week. He was sent a contract over the weekend and though there initially were a few sticking points, it is believed the chinks have been ironed out.”I’m absolutely honoured to take on the role and it is a very exciting challenge,” Waqar said. “Hopefully I can deliver on the role. Cricket has given me a lot over the years and I want to give something back to cricket and country now. I’ve always played my cricket with passion and aggression and I want the team to play like that.”This will be Waqar’s first official role as head coach at any competitive level, though he has worked with Pakistan twice previously as a bowling coach. The first was a stint under Bob Woolmer between March 2006 and January 2007, a successful stretch during which a number of bowlers prospered. The second time was on the recent Australian tour, where he was one of three coaches in a set-up headed by Intikhab and that appointment was for the series only.But Waqar believes his relative lack of experience in an expansive role will not be a hindrance, hinting that he would relish the broader sweep such a post would afford him. “I’ll probably have more control of various situations and have a say in more decisions. I really enjoyed my time as bowling coach, especially the first one under Bob.”The last one was a little more difficult but I’m confident I can deliver. I learnt a lot from Bob during his time and I’m hoping I can put that to good use.”