KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani said on Sunday changes will be made to the board’s constitution to create a new chief executive position.

Mani said the change, when formally made, will enable the incoming managing director Wasim Khan to become the CEO of the board.

“The PCB is the only [cricket] board in the world which has no chief executive. We will bring changes in our constitution to create a new position and then the managing director will be called the chief executive officer, like it happens everywhere else,” Mani told reporters at the National Stadium.

Wasim, currently serving as the Leicestershire County Cricket Club chief executive, was announced as the new managing director of the PCB on Thursday.

“The responsibilities of a chairman are different from that of a CEO,” said Mani. “The managing director’s duty will be to run the day-to-day affairs of the board.”

Constitutionally, Mani will retain significant powers within the PCB hierarchy, but Wasim is expected to take a leading role in the board’s corporate governance framework, working with the PCB’s board-of-governors committees and also work for the improvement of domestic cricket.

Outgoing International Cricket Council head of media and communications Sami-ul-Hasan was also appointed at the same post by the PCB on Saturday. Mani said the appointment shows PCB’s intent to get more ‘professionalised’.

“If two people who had been working in good positions abroad are willing to come to Pakistan, it’s a great sign and the PCB deserves credit for it,” said the PCB chief.

Mani said the PCB was in talks with some cricket boards regarding the return of international cricket to Pakistan but the focus for now is the Pakistan Super League.”We are in talks with some boards but for now our focus is on the PSL. Karachi will host five matches including the final. I hope many foreign players will participate in those matches,” said Mani.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2018

https://www.dawn.com/news/1450449/pcb-constitution-will-be-altered-to-create-ceo-post

KARACHI: The embattled Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed wants his batsmen to take responsibility during the upcoming tough tour of South Africa.

Talking on the sidelines of a book launching of a senior sports journalist, Sarfraz said on Sunday: “We batted extremely poorly in the series against New Zealand and paid heavily for it. The batsmen have to take responsibility and play long innings in the South Africa series. This is one big issue that constantly troubled us in the 10 Test matches Pakistan have played since the retirement of Younis [Khan] and Misbah [-ul-Haq].”

The wicket-keeper/batsman said the tour of South Africa would be very demanding and that Pakistan have to improve their performance drastically to challenge the Proteas. “We did mistakes against New Zealand and they were lot of them. But on the upcoming tour we’ll try to avoid them and play positive cricket against South Africa.”

Sarfraz lamented that whenever Pakistan lost, the captain was held responsible for it. “When we win people usually say Pakistan played brilliantly but when the team loses the same people start blaming the captain. This mindset has got to change because in other countries they don’t press the panic button when they lose.”

Meanwhile, Sarfraz said the cricket board won’t waste much time in removing him as Test captain if Pakistan keep on losing. “The authorities [PCB} will remove me without further delay if the team lose because of me. It’s not just me the entire team has to step up and good cricket.”

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2018

https://www.dawn.com/news/1450451/batsmen-must-take-responsibility-says-sarfraz

BHUBANESWAR: Pakistan suffered a 5-1 defeat against the Netherlands but still sneaked into the knock-out stages of the Hockey World Cup as Germany beat Malaysia 5-3 to maintain their all-win record and seal a direct quarterfinal spot from Pool ‘D’ here on Sunday.

The Malaysians crashed out of the tournament as they finished at the bottom of the group with a mere one point. Pakistan finished ahead of the Malaysians on goal difference and will now face Belgium in the crossover match, while Netherlands will face Canada on Tuesday.

As per the format of the tournament, the top team from each of the four pools directly qualify for the quarter-finals while the second and third placed sides will play cross-over matches against teams of other pools for the remaining four last eight berths.

The Netherlands outplayed Pakistan with Thierry Brinkman, Valentin Verga, Bob de Voogd, Jorrit Croon and Mink Van Der Weeden scoring for them while Umar Bhutta scored for Pakistan.

“We played a very solid game,” Netherlands midfielder Robbert Kemperman said. “In the first two quarters Pakistan defended really well. It was difficult to find the gaps but we kept the pace high. I think we can be happy after this match.”

The Netherlands started on a bright note and Brinkman gave them a seventh-minute lead with a field strike But Pakistan bounced back strongly and earned three back-to-back penalty corners, from the last of which Bhutta scored off a rebound after Ali Mubashar’s flick was saved by Dutch goalie Pirmin Blaak in the ninth.

Three minutes from half-time, the Dutch restored their lead through Verga who scored a fine field goal after a brilliant one-two touch play with Seve van Ass.

The Netherlands started from where they left after the change of ends and extended their lead in the 37th minute with a diving effort at the far post from de Voogd, who tapped in a pass from Jeroen Hertzberger.

The Dutch continued their onslaught and secured a couple of penalty corners in quick time and from one such chance Croon scored to make the scoreline 4-1 in the European side’s favour.

Van der Weerden then converted a penalty corner a minute from the final hooter to round off the scoreline and end Pakistan’s agony.

Earlier, Christopher Ruhr (14th, 18th minutes) and Timm Herzbruch (2nd, 59th) struck twice each for Germany while Marco Miltkau (39th) scored a field goal with an excellent finish off a fast, superbly orchestrated counter-attack.

All the Malaysian goals came from penalty corners. The veteran Razie Rahim (26th, 42nd) bagged a brace while Nabil Noor (28th) scored with a deflection after a clever penalty corner variation.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2018

https://www.dawn.com/news/1450452/pakistan-sneak-into-world-cup-crossover-round

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars on Sunday appointed all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez as captain for the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).Fakhar Zaman and Yasir Shah had also been considered, but Qalandars went with the more experienced captain.In the last three seasons, Lahore Qalandars went with the Pakistan Test batsman Azhar Ali as captain, followed by Brendon McCullum for the following two seasons. Azhar, their first captain, was removed from the job and never played again even though he was initially retained for the 2017 season, before being released.Since the first season, other teams retaining their local captains had left the Qalandars short on options. But for the upcoming fourth season, they had a wider pool of Pakistan players to pick a captain from, with Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi all in the draft. They went on to pick Hafeez as their platinum player last month, believing a local captain would bring better results.Both Yasir and Fakhar were considered for the top job, with the proposition never quite materialising. The release of Hafeez from the Peshawar Zalmi roster this year made Hafeez the favoured pick.Hafeez, 38, retired from Test cricket after the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand in UAE in a bid to focus on his limited-overs career. He has played 248 T20 matches, scoring 5244 runs at a strike rate of 122.35.He captained Pakistan in T20Is between 2012 and 2014 before stepping down just days after the team’s exit from the group stage of the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.During his stint as T20I captain, he led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/403963-lahore-qalandars-appoint-hafeez-as-captain

ADELAIDE: Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has revealed he reassured Shaun Marsh about his ability against off-spin after his first innings dismissal by R Ashwin, while being bullish about Australia’s chances entering the final day of the Adelaide Test.He declared that Marsh and Travis Head were well placed to be the “heroes” of a 323 chase, requiring 219 to win with six wickets in hand.In addition to his discussion with Marsh, Lyon said that the captain Tim Paine had invoked the memories of the great Dubai escape in October in a post-play address to the home side.“We just spoke about Dubai just then,” Lyon said.“We still believe we can win this, and that’s the best thing. We still believe we’re in this game, it’s just about coming out tomorrow, winning the first ball, first over, first hour, just breaking it down, very simple,” he said.“We need to not complicate things, enjoy ourselves, compete hard and fight our backsides off. It was actually Tim, just saying we’ve had that belief before when our backs have been against the wall, but we’ve got a massive sniff here, I believe anyway, in this Test match.”“I was speaking to him (Shaun) before; he’s got the belief he can come out and make a hero of him and Travis tomorrow. He spoke to me about playing offspin and I said ‘Shaun, you’ve just got to back yourself, you’re one of the best batters in the world and you’ve played me enough in the nets, you know how to play offspin’.”

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/403964-we-can-be-heroes-on-day-five-says-lyon

DHAKA: Mushfiqur Rahim top scored with an unbeaten 55 as Bangladesh defeated West Indies by five wickets in the first One-day International in Dhaka on Sunday.Set a modest target after three wickets each from Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman helped Bangladesh restrict West Indies to 195-9, the hosts sailed to 196-5 in 35.1 overs for a comprehensive win to kick off the three-match series.Mushfiqur shared 57 runs with Shakib Al Hasan for the fourth wicket to steady Bangladesh’s innings after West Indies had reduced the home side to 89-3 on a slow pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.Rovman Powell dismissed Shakib for 30 to break the stand but Soumya Sarkar killed off the visitors’ hopes with a brief cameo of 19 from 13 balls, which included two fours and a six.Mushfiqur, who hit five boundaries in his patient knock, pushed Roston Chase for a single to complete his 31st fifty in ODIs before an outside edge to leg spinner Devendra flew to third man for two runs to wrap up the victory.Earlier, opener Liton Das scored 41 off 57 balls with five fours for the home side, but not before he was reprieved on five off a no-ball by Kemar Roach. West Indies owed their total to 43 off 59 balls by opener Shai Hope and contributions from lower order batsmen Roston Chase and Keemo Paul, who made 32 and 36 runs respectively.The visitors, who opted to bat first, had been restricted to 127-6 after 40 overs despite Hope’s effort, but Chase and Paul put on 51 runs for the seventh wicket to give their bowlers something to fight for.Paul hit two sixes and a four in his 28-ball innings before he was dismissed by Mustafizur in the final over.Left-arm pacer Mustafizur finished with 3-35 after fellow fast bowler Mashrafe grabbed 3-30 playing his 200th ODI — the first Bangladeshi to do so.Mashrafe was named man of the match for his effort.“The West Indies are very dangerous in this format but our bowlers were brilliant,” Mashrafe said after the match.West Indies’ Powell blamed his side’s batting for their defeat.“We just didn’t bat as well as we wanted to and that brought about our downfall. The players who got starts on such a hard wicket should have carried on,” he said.The second match of the series will be held at the same venue on Tuesday (tomorrow).West Indies won tossWest IndiesK Powell c Rubel b Shakib 10†S Hope c Mehidy b Mashrafe 43D Bravo c Tamim Iqbal b Mashrafe 19M Samuels c Liton b Rubel 25S Hetmyer b Mehidy 6*R Powell c Liton b Mashrafe 14R Chase c Mehidy b Mustafizur 32K Paul c Mehidy b Mustafizur 36K Roach not out 5D Bishoo c & b Mustafizur 0O Thomas not out 0Extras (lb 3, w 2) 5Total (5 wickets, 50 overs) 195Fall: 1-29, 2-65, 3-78, 4-93, 5-119, 6-127, 7-178, 8-194, 9-195Bowling: Mehidy 10-0-30-1; Shakib 10-0-36-1; Mustafizur 10-0-35-3; Mashrafe 10-0-30-3; Rubel 10-0-61-1BangladeshTamim Iqbal c Bishoo b Chase 12Liton Das b Paul 41Imrul Kayes b Thomas 4†Mushfiqur Rahim not out 55Shakib Al Hasan c Hope b R Powell 30Soumya Sarkar c R Powell b Chase 19Mahmudullah not out 14Extras (lb 6, nb 2, w 13) 21Total (5 wickets, 35.1 overs) 196Yet to bat: Mehidy Hasan Miraz, *Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel HossainFall: 1-37, 2-42, 3-89, 4-146, 5-175Bowling: K Roach 6-0-35-0; Chase 9-1-47-2; Thomas 5-0-34-1; Paul 8-0-37-1; Bishoo 6.1-0-30-0; R Powell 1-0-7-1Result: Bangladesh won by 5 wicketsMan of the Match: Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh)Umpires: Sharfuddoula (Bangladesh) and Ruchira Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka). TV Umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/403967-mushfiqur-steers-bd-to-easy-win-against-wi

JOHANNESBURG: Louis Oosthuizen ended a 33-month winless run by lifting the South African Open trophy for the first time Sunday after a six-shot victory at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg.The 2010 British Open champion last triumphed on the European Tour in 2016 when he won the Perth International in western Australia.The 36-year-old South African closed with a four-under-par 67, shrugging off a poor start to eagle 14 and finish well clear of runner-up Romain Langasque from France.“This is a very special victory for me as I become only the sixth golfer to win the two oldest national golf championships, the British Open and the South African Open.”Fellow South Africans Ernie Els, Bobby Locke and Gary Player, Swede Henrik Stenson and New Zealander Bob Charles previously achieved the ‘double’.“I did not start well today, scrambling a par at one and dropping shots at two and three before recovering with four birdies to turn two under for the round,” said Oosthuizen.Oosthuizen opened with a 62 for the first-round lead, but trailed fellow South African Charl Schwartzel by two shots at the halfway mark having carded a 70.A third-round 67 gave him a three-stroke advantage and the expected final-round challenges from Schwartzel and in-form Matt Wallace of England never materialised.Instead, Langasque, who trailed Oosthuizen by seven shots after three rounds, fired a five-under 66 that included an eagle and five birdies to surge into second spot.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/403975-oosthuizen-wins-south-african-open

KARACHI: Holland thrashed Pakistan 5-1 in their last Pool D match of Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, on Sunday.Pakistan will now play against Belgium in a crossover match on Tuesday (tomorrow). The Netherlands will be up against Canada in another crossover match the same day. Had Netherlands beaten Pakistan by a nine-goal difference, Malaysia would have qualified for the crossover match.Pakistan’s last match proved a one-sided affair as the Dutchmen bundled out the Green-shirts easily. The Green-shirts offered some resistance to Holland in the first two quarters, but in the last two, they succumbed to the pressure exerted by World No 4 Holland.Holland started the game at a fast pace and took lead in the seventh minute when Thierry Brinkman scored the easiest of goals — tapped the ball into an open net. Through counter attack, Pakistan got three penalty corners one after another and finally equalised in the ninth minute when on a rebound of the third PC, Umar Bhutta pushed the ball into the goal, beating the goalkeeper.The Dutch appealed for a referral but the TV umpire ruled in favour of Pakistan. In the second quarter, a Pakistani defender committed a grave mistake when he passed the ball to his teammate towards Pakistan’s goal, where there were already two Dutch forwards. Seve van Ass and Valentin Verga made a combined move dodging all the defenders of Pakistan. Verga netted the second goal easily, making it 2-1 in the 27th minute.In the last two quarters, Holland played outstandingly and scored three more goals. In the third quarter, Jeroen Hertzberger found Bob De Voogd unmarked at the far post of the goal and the Dutch scored their third goal in the 37th minute.The fourth quarter, too, was dominated by the Dutchmen. They got two penalty corners, and struck through Jorrit Croon (47th minute) and Mink van der Weerden (59th minute). Seve van Ass was declared the player of the match. Holland had 34 circle entries, 12 shots on the goal and nine PCs. Pakistan had 10 circle entries and as many shots on goal besides earning four PCs.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/403960-holland-thrash-pakistan-5-1-in-last-pool-match

BHUBANESWAR: Pakistan were no match for the Dutchmen who dominated the entire contest to show their well-oiled machine.Thierry Brinkman, Valentin Verga, Bob de Voogd, Jorrit Croon and Mink van der Weerden scored a goal each for the winners while Umar Bhutta scored Pakistan’s consolation goal. “We are good spirits. The best thing about today’s game was that we maintained the pace for the longer duration of the game,” Netherlands coach Max Caldas said.There were no upsets and the better ranked teams progressed with Germany gaining a direct qualification to the quarterfinals by topping Pool D with nine points, following their 5-3 victory over Malaysia, who got eliminated on Sunday.The Netherlands then crushed Pakistan 5-1 in the final league match of the World Cup to finish second and will take on Canada on Tuesday the winner of which will face hosts India, who are waiting in the last-8. Pakistan also managed to enter the crossovers, where they will face Belgium, by finishing third due to a better goal difference over Malaysia after both finished with a point each. Twice champions Germany entered the quarters but their victory was far from convincing. They were made to work hard, eventually only scraping through after a thriller at the Kalinga Stadium here.For Germany, Timm Herzbruch (2nd and 59th) and Marco Miltkau (18th and 39th) were on the mark twice each with Christopher Ruhr (14th) scoring once. For world No 12 Malaysia, Razie Rahim (26th and 42nd) scored a brace with Nabil Noor (28th) scoring one goal. From the high of a 4-1 victory over three-time champions Netherlands, Germany put up a scrappy performance and got past the Asian outfit by the skin of their teeth. “I am happy that we topped the group winning all games. But I’m still disappointed as the team didn’t perform as per expectations in this match. But going with nine points into the quarter-finals will add to our confidence,” said Germany coach Stefan Kermas.The Martin Haner-led Germany got as many as nine penalty corners but converted only one. Malaysia looked under pressure at the start with Germany scoring two goals in the first quarter. Milktau made it 3-0 in the second quarter with a brilliant field goal.But Malaysia then discovered their touch to maintain possession, constantly trying to penetrate into the striking circle. They got two back-to-back penalty corners, both of which they converted just before half-time to come straight back into the contest. However, Miltkau once again gave Germany a two-goal cushion in the third quarter (4-2) but another straight drag-flick by Rahim put Malaysia back in contention (4-3).The last quarter saw some excellent action between the two teams. Germany did not want to give away the lead while Malaysia were desperate for a goal. This resulted in rough play and two Malaysia players were shown cards (green and yellow), reducing them to nine men at one stage. Despite that Malaysia managed to get yet another penalty corner with two minutes to go. It was fended off by Germany’s defence, and they in typical European style of counterattack, pounced upon their chance. With an empty Malaysian half, Herzbruch, who had scored the opening goal, deflected a superb pass to ensure the final victory margin for Germany.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/404022-germany-topple-malaysia-to-emerge-group-leaders-holland-thrash-pakistan-in-hockey-world-cup