South Africa Tours Pakistan 2007-08 ODI Test Series! All news Here! Official Thread!

PanjabiSher · #1 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

**vish111** · #2 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

i guess users arent allowed to make threads like this? so can you make a thread for india vs australia as well.....

**Cyborg** · #3 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by vish111

i guess users arent allowed to make threads like this? so can you make a thread for india vs australia as well.....

u can make it urself just make sure u add all news here, if u wana make one by al means go ahead.

**vish111** · #4 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyborg

u can make it urself just make sure u add all news here, if u wana make one by al means go ahead.

damn it....ps already made it..lol...

**vish111** · #5 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

merge taqueer's thread with this...he also made one saying south africa vs pak or something

**tauqeer007** · #6 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007

South Africa in Pakistan, 2007-08
Shoaib unlikely for South Africa Tests - Ashraf
Cricinfo staff
September 21, 2007

Shoaib Akhtar's dressing-room brawl could cost him the Test series as well © AFP

Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that Shoaib Akhtar is unlikely to be selected for the Tests against South Africa owing to the disciplinary hearing scheduled for next week. Shoaib was sent home from the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa following a dressing-room incident involving Mohammad Asif and before the tournament began.
"We will not interfere in the working of the disciplinary committee or the selectors," Ashraf told a press conference in Karachi. "This is a serious issue and will be investigated fully."
Ashraf said the three-member committee will question the other team members and also investigate how news of the incident was leaked to the media. The PCB had earlier gagged its players on speaking out on the issue and instructed them to concentrate on the tournament.
Ashraf was also hopeful of Mohammad Yousuf's return to the Test side, despite him having joined the ICL. Yousuf and three others - Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq and Inzamam-ul-Haq - signed up for the ICL after they were omitted from the ICC World Twenty20 and the board was particularly keen on bringing Yousuf back in the fold. He won the Test Player of the Year award in the ICC Awards in Johannesburg.
"He is a gentleman and I am confident we can convince him to withdraw from the contract and play for Pakistan," said Ashraf. "The selectors should prepare for the Tests with him in mind."
The first Test begins in Karachi on October 1.

http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/pakv...ry/311948.html

Source please! done for now!

**tauqeer007** · #7 (**permalink**) 09-22-2007

South Africa's tour of Pakistan, 2007-08
Pakistan promise high security to South Africa
Cricinfo staff
September 16, 2007
The two-man official team from South Africa visiting Pakistan to assess the level of security ahead of the Test and ODI series next month was promised full and foolproof security for the visiting team.
Goolam Raja and Sean Gallaher, the two officials, were at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Friday and visited National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday as part of their two-day trip, which was termed routine by both sets of officials. They were briefed by the home secretary of Sind province on the security situation in provincial capital Karachi.
"I have no doubts that Pakistan will provide us with the needed security and, God willing, everything will be alright," Raja said. "It is difficult to say about our final assessments now but we will submit a report to Cricket South Africa and hope everything will be in place for the tour."
Zakir Khan, the Pakistan board's director of cricket operations, said he was confident that the current situation will not affect the forthcoming tour. "A professional security plan has been put in place for the South Africans and they were briefed. We hope everything will take place accordingly and we hope to have a good cricket series."
The South Africans play a warm-up match in Karachi from September 27 while the first Test starts on October 1 in the same city.

http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/pakv...ry/311219.html

Link please! done for now!

**tauqeer007** · #8 (**permalink**) 09-25-2007

'The guys will have to adapt to the lifestyle changes'
South Africa resigned to being hotel-bound
Ken Borland
September 25, 2007

Graeme Smith: 'I've heard something like 6000 troops are on standby for us and I think we're going to be pretty much confined to our hotels' © Getty Images

The South African cricket team left for Pakistan on Tuesday night with an air of resignation that the next month will be spent chained to their hotels due to security concerns.
"Playing a subcontinental team on their home grounds is always a massive challenge," captain Graeme Smith said shortly before their departure. "Your patience levels have to be very high and the guys will have to adapt to the lifestyle changes and the amount of security that will be around us. I've heard something like 6000 troops are on standby for us and I think we're going to be pretty much confined to our hotels.

"It's a big challenge being stuck in a hotel all the time because you have nothing to take your mind off the cricket and the training, and it's easy to slip into boredom, get lackadaisical and lose that drive."

The four-week tour of Pakistan, comprising two Tests, five one-day internationals and two practice matches, kicks off a string of major tours South Africa will undertake in the next 18 months.

"In the next year-and-a-half, we have some wonderful tours coming up, going to Pakistan, India, Australia and the UK," Smith said. "We want to win away from home and we haven't won on the subcontinent for a while. I would love to win in Pakistan as much as in England or Australia."

Twenty-two-year-old fast bowler Morne Morkel, the best of South Africa's attack during their doomed ICC World Twenty20 campaign, has earned a berth on the tour and Smith said he was excited about having him in the squad. "Morne's done incredibly well since coming into the side and he's proven he can cope with performing under pressure. He's an awesome prospect, but it will be a challenge knowing how to introduce him and use him.

"We will be introducing some new players on this tour because we don't know what the future of the senior players is, Shaun Pollock might retire soon. So we need to work out the succession and the process and the planning of that is important."

Jacques Kallis is one of those senior players, and his immediate future looks secure after he was controversially omitted from South Africa's squad for the ICC World Twenty20 and resigned as vice-captain in response.

He doesn't have any issue with the team, I think his issues are with those above us

Graeme Smith on Jacques Kallis

"Jacques and I talk a lot and he is a true professional," Smith said. "He doesn't have any issue with the team, I think his issues are with those above us. Representing his country is very important to him, but is he getting the credit he deserves for his performances?"
Smith added he was uncertain of what the Pakistan team held in store for South Africa after the Indian Cricket League had cut some experienced stars from their ranks. "No one knows what's happening with Mohammad Yousuf, and with Abdul Razzaq gone, will they play the extra allrounder? Maybe there'll be one or two guys we don't know."
The Pakistanis themselves won't know a couple of the fringe players South Africa are bringing with them, such as stylish left-hand batsman JP Duminy, left-arm spinner Paul Harris and fast bowler Dale Steyn.

But Pollock, who led the attack the last time South Africa were in Pakistan four years ago, is back as he looks to vault ever higher up the all-time list of Test wicket-takers (he is seventh at the moment). It will be a challenging tour for Pollock, who is now 34, and for Smith, whose troublesome knees will get a thorough workout in the heat and dust of Pakistan.

http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/pakv...ry/312563.html

Tauqeer please provide the source, i have done it for now!

PanjabiSher · #9 (**permalink**) 09-26-2007

any news on Pak squad for this series anyone?

**tauqeer007** · #10 (**permalink**) 09-27-2007

Batsman agrees to cancel ICL contract and will play for Pakistan
I am willing to do anything for Pakistan - Yousuf
Cricinfo staff
September 27, 2007

Mohammad Yousuf has agreed to cancel his contract with the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and opted instead to represent Pakistan after talks with Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
"I had a fruitful meeting with Yousuf today and he has signed a central contract with the PCB after agreeing not to play in the ICL," Ashraf said. "He is now available to represent Pakistan. He is the backbone of Pakistan's batting and we are happy that he is back."
Yousuf, together with Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq, signed on with the league over a month ago. Though it wasn't said at the time, the decision was thought to be a result of his axing from Pakistan's squad for the ICC World Twenty20. Razzaq, who was also axed, announced his retirement from international cricket, a decision he has yet to take back.
"Whatever I have achieved is because of my country and I am willing to do anything for Pakistan," Yousuf told Cricinfo. "I didn't know this clause in the ICL contract that priority had to be given to the league instead of Pakistan when international matches are happening simultaneously."
Yousuf was unwilling to say what the legal repercussions might be of opting out of the ICL contract, saying the board would handle all such issues.
However, the executive president of the ICL, Ashish Kaul, clarified to Cricinfo that the ICL would not object to Yousuf playing for Pakistan if matches clash. "We will not object. Our contract with Yousuf does not stop him from playing for Pakistan."
Kaul also said that the ICL has not received any intimation from Yousuf about cancellation of the contract. "As per the contract between Mohammad Yousuf and ICL, he will play for ICL as per mutually agreed terms and conditions. We have no information that states otherwise. As far as ICL is concerned, Yousuf is playing for ICL."
Though no similar moves have been made for the other three, the development represents a considerable coup for the Pakistan board, who have made no secret of their desire to lure Yousuf back. With the first Test against South Africa to begin on Monday, it means he is at least available to shore up a thin-looking middle order, which already has to fill the considerable gap left by Inzamam.
Yousuf was recently selected ICC's Test player of the year for an outstanding 2006, in which he scored a world record 1788 Test runs with nine hundreds.
© Cricinfo

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/paki...ry/312737.html

PanjabiSher · #11 (**permalink**) 09-28-2007

Afridi pulls out of South Africa Tests

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, has opted out of the Test series against South Africa, indicating he did not want to play while fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

"I asked the Pakistan board to allow me to skip the two Tests against South Africa because it would be difficult to fast and play in Ramadan," Afridi told AFP. The PCB is said to have accepted Afridi's request.

Afridi dismissed suggestions that he had withdrawn because of his poor show in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 against India. "We lost the final due to poor batting and I apologised to the fans for not doing my part in the final but that did not influence my decision of not playing Tests."

Afridi was named Player of the Tournament in South Africa with 91 runs at a strike rate of 197.82 and 12 wickets at an economy rate of 6.71.
Pakistan's squad for the first Test against South Africa is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Cricinfo