This guy needs to go back to the barracks. Why is he announcing this to the international media? Secondly, why did he give Akhtar “latitude”? There ought to be a set procedure for dealing with indiscpline and this panchayat system that Gen Zia has set up must go. Why does he decide on a case by case basis (more like player by player basis)?
I frankly don’t think that Wasim, Waqar and other seniors can be blamed for being so distraught at the way the board dealt with this moron. On one hand, we’re left with this guy who’s mental age is 12 and then there is Lee who does not drink, smoke or do anything that will hinder his abilities as a professional sportsman. I used to prefer Akhtar to Lee but now I’ve become a big admirer of Lee’s.
Even if Akhtar cleans up his act now, he can play for 5 more years easily and continue in the W’s tradition but the question is does he want to.
Akhtar told to watch his step
Shoaib Akhtar has been warned his international career could be over unless he improves his behaviour. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt General Tauqir Zia, used blunt language to indicate how important it was for the world’s quickest bowler to smarten up his act.
“Let me make this clear,” said Zia. “If Shoaib does not improve his behaviour and general discipline, he has no place in the team… his cricket is finished.”
The official was speaking as the selectors prepare to announce the squad for a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka.
Shoaib, 27, was the only one of eight players dropped after the World Cup to be brought back into a preliminary squad of 21 for Sri Lanka. During the World Cup, he revealed the excesses that have marked his career. He bowled one ball at Nick Knight in Cape Town in excess of 100mph before being reported for irresponsible behaviour and indiscipline.
Zia stressed there was no place in the Pakistan team for players not willing to give 100% commitment while adhering to strict discipline.
“Regardless of whatever the selectors might think or plan, in my book, if Shoaib can’t improve his attitude and become more focused on cricket, his career is over. The Board and myself have supported him all along and spent a lot of money on his welfare, even when match officials reported his action. He was allowed a lot of latitude because we thought he was a genuine match-winner. But he let the country down badly in the World Cup.”
Shoaib, who has been reported three times for throwing before it was discovered he has an abnormally flexible elbow, has a long history on clashes with team managers. In a stop-start international career, he has played 25 Tests, taking 88 wickets at 27.18 apiece.
they know nothing about cricket and are appointed chairmans or ceo’s of cricket or any other sport within pakistan .
