Imran Khan sees 'foreign element' in cricket attack: AFP

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan believes a "foreign element" could be involved in this week's attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, according to an interview published Saturday.

"It could be India, Afghanistan, the Tamil Tigers," Khan was quoted as saying in an interview published online by The Times of London.

"The motive is to damage the state of Pakistan and end cricket here. The shocking thing is that there was so little security for the players," Khan said.

Khan said that he now feared that Pakistan would be treated as a pariah by the rest of the world and that it was already being described as a "failed state" and a breeding ground for terrorists.

"This attack was guaranteed front-page news everywhere in the world," Khan said.

"The perpetrators wanted to portray Pakistan as a chaotic state in the Dark Ages. Yesterday, the stock market took a nosedive. Pakistan is a resilient country but we have gone from crisis to crisis."

Khan's belief that foreigners may be involved in the cricket attack echoes Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik, who told reporters Friday that, "I cannot rule out (involvement of a) foreign hand in the incident."

Khan said that almost all the terrorism taking place in Pakistan since 2004, when its army was sent into the tribal areas, had been suicide attacks.

He said that last year there were over 100 suicide attacks "but they have a pattern. They are always in retaliation."

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Umps urged to cool criticism of Pakistani forces: The Age

INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council boss Haroon Lorgat claims Australian umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis need time "to be more rational" about the Lahore terrorist attack.

Taufel, Davis and English match referee Chris Broad have all been scathing of the Pakistani security forces after feeling they were left for dead in last Tuesday's ambush by heavily armed gunmen.

They felt deserted by the security escort as they lay stranded on the floor of their van with their driver shot dead and a colleague wounded as the Sri Lankan team bus ahead in their convoy drove away.

But ICC chief executive Lorgat, their boss, said they needed time to calm down and consider what had happened.

"I am mindful of the experience they have gone through and I think it is a difficult time for them," Lorgat said at a press conference in Sydney yesterday.

"I guess if you or I had gone through something we might have reacted in a similar fashion. We must just allow them to settle down and be more rational in their assessment of what has transpired."

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Umps urged to cool criticism of Pakistani forces: The Age

ICC chief defends security in Lahore: The Australian

INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat was satisfied with the security plan for the umpires and match officials who escaped being killed during a terrorist attack in Lahore last Tuesday.

Match referee Chris Broad claimed they were "sitting ducks" during the attack and his anger was matched by Australian umpires Steve Davis and Simon Taufel, who claimed "we were promised nine (out of 10 security) and got two out of 10".

"We were satisfied with the plan," Lorgat told The Australian yesterday. "I'm waiting for reports from that incident which will either substantiate what Chris Broad is saying or perhaps give us a different view on what has transpired.

"Initially, we had interchanged with the Pakistan Cricket Board on that plan. We shared it with the match officials.

"They had provided some input into it and we had signed off on the plan."

Six policemen and the match officials' bus driver were killed while five Sri Lankan players, an assistant coach and a reserve umpire were injured when a dozen heavily armed gunmen hijacked the convoy on its way to Gaddafi stadium.

Lorgat was speaking at picturesque North Sydney Oval yesterday while watching the women's World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand, which was a world away from the rising tide of terrorism across the subcontinent.

Before the match, he stood on the field with both teams and the match officials for a minute's silence to acknowledge those who suffered in the attack.

Lorgat is waiting on a report from the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit about the incident, which will be discussed at the ICC's next board meeting on April 16.

Broad may be invited to the meeting to give his account of the issue, along with security experts.

Not surprisingly, the ICC will review its security measures for match officials in future.

"It's certainly something we're going to have to look at very carefully," Lorgat said. "It might even include ensuring we've got close protection officers with match officials in certain if not all locations. We will have to change the way we deliver the security arrangements."

He would not comment on the outrageous attack that PCB president Ijaz Butt made on Broad last week, when Butt called Broad a liar over the failure of Pakistani security.

"I don't want to be emotional about it," Lorgat said. "At a time like this, it's a very difficult period for all those who are faced with it.

"We have to be cool, we have to be correct about what we say and I'd rather wait for that report to come through to see exactly what happened on that fateful morning."

Remarkably, he defended the ICC's attempt to try to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan last year.

Despite five countries, including Australia, refusing to attend on independent security advice, the ICC refused to move the event, which has now been postponed until later this year.

Lorgat claimed the ICC's security advice only changed early this year after the defeat of the Musharraf government at the general elections.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: ICC chief defends security in Lahore: The Australian

Pakistan achieve best ODI winning ratio during 2008: GEO SUPER

by Ghalib Mehmood Bajwa

Though India topped the One-day Internationals table during the year 2008 with most number of matches (29), Pakistan managed to make their presence felt by achieving the best winning percentage leaving behind all others in this competition.Pakistan, who spent a very wretched year with no Test match appearances, got an 85.71 winning percentage, more than the rest of the ICC member countries. World champions Australia remained runners-up in this race with a 76.47 winning ratio. South Africa and New Zealand both won their matches with identical percentage of 75.00.

Pakistan played three bilateral ODI series and two multinational tournaments during the just-ending year. Overall 26 bilateral ODI rubbers and six multinational events were competed among different countries during 2008.Pakistan won 18 out of the 21 ODI matches played during the last 12 months. The highlight of the season for Pakistan was winning the Kitply Cup by beating arch rivals India in the final. However, Pakistan could not maintain their winning sequence in the six-nation Asia Cup at home. They reached the last-four stage before being beaten by India.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan achieve best ODI winning ratio during 2008: GEO SUPER

Yousuf clinches second spot in ICC ranking: The News

DUBAI: Pakistani batsman Muhammad Yousuf clinched second place in latest Test ranking of International Cricket Council (ICC).

According to ICC ranking, West Indies' middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul stood grabbed first position.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Yousuf clinches second spot in ICC ranking: The News

ESPN bags rights for ICC events in Pak, Canada & US: ExpressCricket

AgenciesPosted: Dec 11, 2008 at 1734 hrs IST

Singapore: ESPN STAR Sports has announced its partnerships with three major broadcasters to make International Cricket Council (ICC) events exclusively available to cricket fans across Pakistan, Canada and the USA for 2009-2011.

The deal has extended ESPN STAR's broadcast distribution of the ICC events to more than 116 countries across the globe. Under these agreements, Pakistan Television Network (PTV) has acquired the terrestrial television rights for the ICC events while ATN, Canada's South Asian Broadcaster, and Willow TV, a leading portal for live internet streaming of international cricket events, have acquired multi-platform rights for television, internet and mobile to showcase all ICC events.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: ESPN bags rights for ICC events in Pak, Canada & US: ExpressCricket