**PCB selectors reject Woolmer’s request for Azhar **
By Abdul Mohi Shah
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee has rejected Bob Woolmer’s request to consider Test discard Azhar Mahmood as a back up for injured players, still in the South Africa waiting for the final verdict from specialists.
In an email message, Woolmer requested the committee to consider Azhar for selection in place of injured players. “We are facing injury problems and in case Shoaib Malik or Umar Gul get unfit to figure in the rest of the series, Azhar Mahmood who has got a vast experience of playing in South Africa should be considered for selection,” Woolmer’s mail to the committee said.
However, the selection committee refused to accept Woolmer’s proposal, saying that it was too late for Azhar to make a return to international cricket.
“We had accepted his inclusion request four years back when he was selected in the Pakistan team for the 2003 World Cup also held in South Africa. There his services were not used properly. Now it is time to look to the future,” the reply by the committee says.
A member of the selection committee who asked not to be named said Woolmer in fact wanted Azhar to be sent to SA. “We are in a process of raising a good combination for the World Cup and Azhar does not fit in our team,” he said.
The selector said he was selected in the 2003 World Cup team on the request of those who were with the team at that time. “There he did not play the role of genuine stand by player and it was apparent that team had the services of just 13 players. There are so many players waiting in the wings and we have no plan to go back to square one,” he said.
Azhar has so far performed brilliantly in domestic cricket and was the leading wicket-taker for Islamabad in the Quaid Trophy match against Abbottabad. “If Woolmer wants him, the selectors should have considered him for selection as he is in a good form,” an official of Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) said.
Meanwhile, reports reaching here suggest that the injuries to two key players, Shoaib Malik and Umar Gul are not serious and they could take the field again after the prescribed rest.
The Pakistan team officials accompanying the team communicated to the Board that they were waiting for the report on the players. “They were taken to a renowned sports medicine specialist who carried out more tests on the players. However, we are still waiting for the official results of these reports.”
However, according to a PCB source initial tests suggest that there are good chances of their recovery after the prescribed rest.
