Peshawar Zalmi on Thursday announced its support for the family of Zubair Ahmed Mohmend, the aspiring cricketer who lost his life on August 14 after being struck by a ball twice while practising in nets at the Sir Nazim Cricket Academy, Mardan.

Peshawar Zalmi's owner Javed Afridi announced that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise would bear all expense pertaining to Zubair's younger brother Uzair’s cricket training and will help the young boy fulfill his elder brother’s dreams of pursuing a career in cricket.

The Zalmi management, while expressing sorrow on Zubair's untimely death, also announced that Uzair will travel with Peshawar Zalmi for the third season of PSL.

Zubair, a passionate cricketer from Katlang area of Mardan, was a student of intermediate and a regular visitor to Sir Nazim Cricket Academy, where he used to spend time doing training and net practice.

A brother to five sisters and two brothers, Zubair was working hard to become a shining star of cricket, said Academy Coach Bakht Mohammad.

“It was an off day in the academy due to 14th August. We had organised a ceremony to celebrate Independence Day at the academy where world-acclaimed cricketer Fakhar Zaman was invited," Mohammad had recalled.

He maintained that the staffers had asked Zubair not to play on an off day but the young cricket fan insisted to play in nets with other players and went inside.

Mohammad said that Ahmed was struck by a ball twice. “First the ball hit him near his ear and then the second ball hit near his neck due to which he collapsed,” he had said, adding that subsequently Ahmed was rushed to a hospital at Katlang where the doctors referred him to Mardan's hospital.

"Ahmed breathed his last on his way to Mardan," he had said.

The coach had said that the deceased cricketer was wearing all safety gears including helmet while he was practising.

The Pakistan Cricket Board took to Twitter to express grief and emphasise the importance of protective gears.

"(The) tragic death of Zubair Ahmed is another reminder that safety gear i.e. helmet must be worn at all times. Our sympathies with Zubair's family," reads a tweet by the PCB.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to flamboyant batsman Umar Akmal over a breach of the Code of Conduct after he levelled allegations of harsh behaviour and verbal abuse against head coach Mickey Arthur a day earlier.

The PCB gave Akmal seven days to file a reply to the notice.

Arthur responded to Akmal's allegations saying that although he had not abused the cricketer, he had stopped him from using the services of coaching staff.

A PCB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Dawn earlier that although Akmal was not a centrally-contracted player, being a domestic cricketer, he was still bound to PCB rules and regulations.

Akmal's allegations

The discarded 27-year-old batsman, in a press conference, claimed he went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Tuesday, where he and Arthur had a heated encounter.

Giving the background of his conversation and meeting with Arthur, Akmal said, “First, I met the trainer and other members of the foreign staff of the national team management who refused to work with me, saying they will only work with [PCB’s] centrally-contracted players. After this, I went to the head coach.”

According to Akmal, the head coach did not seem to be in a good mood and took him to Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq where NCA head coach Mushtaq Ahmed was also present.

“There he [Arthur] used abusive words for me in the presence of both Inzamam and Mushtaq which is really painful and highly embarrassing for me as a cricketer who has played for the national team,” Akmal said at the presser.

Akmal added, “Arthur also admonished me, asking who allowed me to enter the NCA. He told me that it was better that I play club cricket instead of practising at the NCA.

“As a national cricketer, it is my right to use the NCA to improve my form and fitness,” he asserted.

Akmal, who has played 16 Tests, 116 ODIs and 82 T20 Internationals for Pakistan, emphasised.

Akmal — who on various occasions in the past has made headlines for his antics off the field — claimed that he was not penalised during his career on a single occasion for any on-field breach of discipline, adding, “I never misbehaved with any coach in the past.”

Akmal maintained that although he had not received an appropriate response from Arthur on the occasion of the ICC Champions Trophy held in June this year, the treatment meted out to him on Tuesday at the NCA was even more heart-breaking.

While the Inzamam-led selection committee had picked Akmal for the Champions Trophy, Arthur sent him back after the batsman failed a fitness Test in England.

Earlier, Akmal, according to the PCB, had passed the fitness test held at the NCA. However, Arthur sent him back and replaced him with Haris Sohail for the elite eight-nation event.

According to Akmal, he fell to the ground during a fitness test in England, but the trainer suggested an operation on his knee injury without conducting any tests.

“But I got my knee fixed when a football physio worked on it. I myself paid all the expenses of my medical treatment in England,” the batsman added.

Arthur's response

Head coach Mickey Arthur has brushed aside Akmal's allegations saying that

Following Umar’s press conference, he denied that he had abused the batsman, but the coach confirmed that he chastised Akmal for using facilities at the NCA.

“Umar wanted to use the services of [batting coach] Grant Flower for batting. I told him he must first earn the right to go and play club cricket since he is not under PCB [central] contract anymore,” Arthur said in an interview.

“He needs to prove himself before he uses our support staff,” the South Africa-born head coach added.

Arthur said he didn’t stop Umar from using NCA but only stopped him from using the services of coaching staff.

“I never stopped him [Umar] from using the academy, told him not to use services of our support staff until he earns the right,” Arthur revealed.

“Umar cannot expect that the support staff, who are for contracted players, are at his beck and call. Nobody there should be taken for granted,” he said.

LAHORE: Widely known for his flamboyant-and-capricious attitude, Umar Akmal has remained in the news, mostly for the wrong reasons.

And on Wednesday, the discarded 27-year-old batsman again hit the headlines, and this time the controversy involves none other than national team head coach: Mickey Arthur.

Umar, talking to media, levelled serious allegations — of harsh behaviour and verbal abuse — against Arthur.

Addressing a press conference here, Umar said he went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Tuesday and met Arthur.

According to Umar, the head coach did not seem to be in a good mood and took him to chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq where NCA head coach Mushtaq Ahmed was also present.

“There he [Arthur] used abusive words for me in the presence of both Inzamam and Mushtaq which is really painful and highly embarrassing for me as a cricketer who has played for the national team,” Umar said at the presser.

Umar added, “Arthur also admonished me as to who allowed me to enter the NCA. He told me that it was better for me to play club cricket instead of doing practice at the NCA.

“As a national cricketer, it is my right to use the NCA to improve my form and fitness,” Umar, who has played 16 Tests, 116 ODIs and 82 T20 Internationals for Pakistan, emphasised.

Giving the background of his conversation with Arthur, Umar said, “First, I met the trainer and other members of the foreign staff of national team management, who refused to work with me, saying they will only work with [PCB’s] centrally-contracted players. After this, I went to the head coach.”

Umar — who on various occasions in the past made headlines for his off-the-field antics blurring his name besides bringing a bad name to Pakistan cricket — claimed that he was not penalised during his career even on a single occasion for any on-the-field breach of discipline, adding “I never misbehaved with any coach in the past.”

Umar maintained that he did not receive appropriate response from Arthur on the occasion of the ICC Champions Trophy, held in June this year, but the treatment meted out to him on Tuesday at the NCA was even more heart-breaking for him.

It may be mentioned that though Inzamam-led selection committee had picked Umar for the Champions Trophy, Arthur sent him back after the batsman failed a fitness Test in England. Earlier, Umar, according to the PCB, had passed the fitness test held at the NCA. However, Arthur sent him back and replaced him with Haris Sohail for the elite eight-nation event.

According to Umar, during the fitness test in England he fell at the ground but the trainer without conducting any test suggested an operation on his knee injury. “But I got my knee fixed when a football physio worked on it. I myself paid all the expenses of my medical treatment in England,” added the batsman.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

BIRMINGHAM: Mark Stoneman will be the lone change to England’s side for the start of the historic day-night first Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston on Thursday, captain Joe Root announced.

Surrey opener Stoneman, 30, was all set for a Test debut the moment a 13-man squad was unveiled for the first game of the three-match series after England dropped his struggling former Durham team-mate Keaton Jennings following a recent 3-1 home Test series win over South Africa.

Stoneman apart, the team is the same that beat South Africa by 177 runs in the series-clinching fourth Test at Old Trafford earlier this month.

Warwickshire all-rounder Chris Woakes, only recently fit following a side injury, misses out on the chance to play in the first day/night Test in England, despite the match being played on his home ground.

And there was no place either for uncapped Hampshire leg-spinner Mason Crane.

The in-form Toby Roland-Jones kept his place as third seamer ahead of Woakes, with Stoneman the 12th man to partner Alastair Cook at the top of the order since former captain Andrew Strauss retired five years ago.

“Chris Woakes and Mason Crane are the two guys who will miss out,” Root told reporters at Edgbaston on Wednesday. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the rest of the guys to experience a pink ball Test match for the first time and we’re really excited.”

Turning his attentions to Stoneman, Root added: “He’s obviously got a huge amount of runs under his belt, this season in particular, and in previous seasons as well.”

Most England players’ experience of playing under lights with a pink ball extends to a single round of County Championship matches earlier this season.

“There are obviously different challenges it brings, different times of the day to what you would normally expect with Test cricket,” the 26-year-old Root said. “It’s ultimately still the same fundamentals of cricket and you just need to make sure when those difficult periods crop up we respond well. It will be interesting to see how the week pans out.”

England beat South Africa 3-1 in their first series of the summer and starts as firm favourites against the West Indies, who are No 8 in the Test rankings and have lost six straight series.

The tourists are also without key players, such as Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy, because of a previous dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board.

West Indies captain Jason Holder, meanwhile, believes his pacemen can help the ‘huge underdogs’ make life uncomfortable for England.

Leading British bookmaker William Hill have Root’s men as 1/5-on favourites to triumph in Birming­ham, with the West Indies 12/1 against.

The reason for the huge disparity in the odds is not hard to find — since 1997, excluding matches against the often struggling Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the West Indies have won just three out of 86 away Tests, losing 66 and drawing 17, while their last Test win on English soil was at Edgbaston back in 2000.

Holder believes an emerging pace attack can trouble an England top order where only Cook and Root are currently certain of their places.

“I think our bowling has really carried us throughout the last few Test matches,” said Holder. “Shannon Gabriel has had a pretty decent year; I haven’t been doing too badly, and we’ve got young Alzarri Joseph and Miguel Cummins.

“Kemar Roach is actually showing some very, very good form — so I’m really confident in our bowling.”

But while the West Indies’ original ‘fearsome foursome’ pace attack of the 1980s was backed up by batsmen like Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd, the present top order are still making their way in international cricket.

“It’s just for our batsmen to make some runs,” said Holder. “We’ve struggled in the past, primarily with our batting, but on this tour we’ve been doing well.”

Four West Indies batsmen score hundreds in their floodlit warm-up match against Derbyshire.

Teams:

ENGLAND: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, Tom Westley, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

WEST INDIES (probable): Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, Jason Holder (captain), Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel.

Umpires: Sundaram Ravi (India) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa).

TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand).

Match referee: David Boon (Australia).

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

LAHORE: A farewell was hosted in honour of the outgoing Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Mohammad Khan at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.

The newly-elected PCB chairman Najam Sethi and office bearers of the PCB welcomed the outgoing board chief and accorded him a standing ovation at the reception.

Talking to the audience, Sethi thanked Shaharyar for his illustrious contribution to Pakistan cricket. He shed light on the illustrious career of the former career diplomat and mentioned his personal experience working with Shaharyar.

Sethi recalled how he and Shaharyar had worked hard to bring forward the soft image of Pakistan cricket.

Shaharyar, in his speech, thanked Sethi and the PCB senior management for their support in the last three years. He highlighted how he and Sethi had worked together in his tenure to take Pakistan cricket to a respectable stature.

Shaharyar lauded his successor and credited him for the successful staging of the first two editions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well as the second edition’s final in Lahore this year.

The outgoing PCB chief further applauded the coaching staff performance as the selection committee who together wor­ked hard to enable Pakistan lift the ICC Champions Trophy.

Shaharyar praised Sethi and offered best wishes to the new chairman and hoped he would bring back international cricket to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

LONDON: Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of Champions League group stage place on Tuesday.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved an early penalty and James Milner’s shot was deflected into his own net by Havard Nordtveit for the English Premier League side’s second goal in an end-to-end play-off first-leg.

However, Hoffenheim pulled a goal back when replacement Mark Uth managed to beat the offside trap to score late on to give the Germans hope.

“It was a little dangerous in the first half, but as always when we play football, we found spaces in between and created wonderful chances,” said Livepool manager Juergen Klopp.

“The result is OK. The first half is done and if you said before the game we would win, I would take the result... Only the person who does not know about Hoffenheim can be surprised by this.”

An astonishing last-minute own goal by Young Boys defender Kasim Nuhu handed CSKA Moscow a 1-0 away win while Sporting were held to a goalless draw at home by FCSB, formerly Steaua Bucharest.

Elsewhere, APOEL Nicosia took a big step towards the group stages with a 2-0 win over Czech side Slavia Prague in Cyprus with Igor de Camargo and Efstathios Aloneftis scoring in the first ten minutes.

The Cypriot outfit were knocked out by FC Copenhagen at this stage last season, but the Danes are struggling this time, falling 1-0 in Azerbaijan by Qarabag FK after Mahir Madatov’s first-half goal.

In the absence of want-away playmaker Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool turned to an 18-year-old right back making his European debut for some set-piece magic.

Alexander-Arnold, who only made his Premier League debut in December, didn’t disappoint.

Talked up at Anfield as a potential star of the future, Alexander-Arnold curled in a free kick from 30 yards through a gap in the Hoffenheim wall 10 minutes before halftime as Liverpool survived a rocky start.

It could have been very different if Andrej Kramaric had converted a penalty for the Bundesliga side in the 12th minute but he saw a weak effort saved by Mignolet.

Liverpool had another let-off just before halftime when Mignolet saved from Kramaric and Wagner rolled the rebound wide of the post.

Hoffenheim, attempting to qualify for the group stage for the first time, had more possession but Liverpool were more threatening and went further ahead in the 77th minute.

Milner snapped up Roberto Firmino’s pass to the wing from a quickly taken free-kick. He fired home off his left boot on 75 minutes as the shot clipped Nordtveit and went into the net.

Uth netted Hoffenheim’s consolation goal to give his team a lifeline when he managed to hold off Alexander-Arnold to score on 87 minutes.

“We deserved to at least of had a draw,” said Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann. “We were brave, but we were a bit too open in the second half and risked too much. The way the game went, with the missed penalty, was unfortunate for us.”

CSKA benefited from a comical own goal in added time to close in on a fifth straight appearance in the group stage.

An aimless ball forward was headed into the air by Young Boys centre-back Nuhu, who compounded that clumsy touch by heading the ball for a second time, this time over goalkeeper David von Ballmoos and over the line. Van Ballmoos scrambled back and tried to claw the ball into play, but it was adjudged to have crossed the line.

FCSB, European champions in 1986 in their old guise as Steaua, held out fairly comfortably against an uninspired Sporting despite having Mihai Pintilii sent off with 10 minutes left for a second bookable offence.

The Romanians, runners-up in their league last season, could even have snatched a win as Gabriel Enache and Junior Morais both went close in the second half.

Qarabag moved closer to their first appearance in the group stage after Madatov scored the only goal of the night when he fired in a rebound after Dino Ndlovu’s shot hit the post after 25 minutes.

This is the fourth time Qarabag have made it into Champions League qualifying, though the team have never progressed beyond the third round. Copenhagen have advanced from two of their six appearances in the playoffs, in 2010 and last year.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

MASON (Ohio): In a week where most ATP stars are idled by injuries, the two men with multiple titles since Wimbledon — John Isner and Alexander Zverev — are on a collision course.

Isner fired 16 aces and needed only 56 minutes on Tuesday to dispatch fellow American Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-3 and reach the third round at the Western & Southern Open.

“I played a good match and I’m happy to get off the court in under an hour,” Isner said. “When I had break point, I got after it, put good returns on the court and played aggressively.”

World number 19 Isner, who won titles last month at Newport and Atlanta, could next face Zverev, who has taken titles the past two weeks at Montreal and Washington, although the 20-year-old German must get past US teen Frances Tiafoe.

Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal, the 15-time Grand Slam champion who returns to world number one next week after a three-year absence, was to face France’s Richard Gasquet in his opener on Wednesday after a bye.

World number 10 Milos Raonic of Canada withdrew on Tuesday with a left wrist injury, leaving only three of the top 10 in the men’s field.

Also among the missing are Roger Federer (back), British world number one Andy Murray (hip), Novak Djokovic (elbow), Stan Wawrinka (knee), Kei Nishikori (right wrist) and Marin Cilic (adductor).

That offers an enticing chance for those who have never won so large a title, even with Zverev and Nadal still in.

“It’s an opportunity for a lot of players,” Isner said. “I think [Zverev] recognizes that as well. I think he has looked at the draw and seen that Roger is out and Milos is out.

“So I think his eyes are kind of popped wide open again. He’s looking for another one.”

On the women’s side, Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza,and second-ranked Simona Halep cruised into the third round.

Romania’s Halep, hoping to overtake Czech Karolina Pliskova for the world number one ranking this week, downed US qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-1, while Spain’s sixth-ranked Muguruza ousted Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-0.

“I’m happy to be into the third round,” Muguruza said.

After trading four service breaks in the first six games, Halep took 11 of the last 12 to dispatch Townsend in 66 minutes.

US ninth seed Venus Williams downed compatriot Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0 to book a second-round match with Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty.

French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia was ousted by Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-2 while Russian lucky loser Natalia Vikhlyantseva beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to book a matchup with Czech women’s world number one Karolina Pliskova.

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, hit 17 aces in defeating Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 while Japan’s Yuichi Sugita took advantage of 43 unforced errors by Jack Sock to oust the US 13th seed 7-5, 6-4.

Those results left Bulgaria’s 11th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov as the only seed in his quarter of the draw.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

KARACHI: Former Sindh champion Mohammad Faizan created a sensation when he humbled Islamabad-based eighth seed Shahram Changezi in the ninth National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Cup at the bank’s sports complex on Wednesday.

Faizan, 30, demonstrated awesome form to whip Changezi 4-1 in group H match. He was home 75-35, 21-57, 60-25, 51-28, 82-54;

Playing his second match in the last session of the day, Faizan again came to upset former national champion Mohammad Bilal by stretching him to limits but in the end lost the battle 3-4. Bilal won the duel 59-33, 29-59, 19-59, 64-22, 14-78, 59-25, 60-36.

In another minor upset, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa champion Sharjeel Mehmood sent international and 10th seed Babar Masih packing 4-2 the scores being 86-20, 54-65, 16-77, 61-24, 63-9, 81-8.

Meanwhile, two more century breaks, one each by Mohammad Asif and Abu Sain, were registered on the second day.

The former piled up a break of 111 against Punjab’s Umer Farooq in te second frame while winning the battle straight 112-7, 115-0, 89-29, 74-42. Saim also came up with a break of 101 in the sixth frame by getting the better of Farooq 4-2 (78-1, 42-66, 53-56, 62-30, 109-14, 102-30).

Results:

Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Munawwar Khaliq (Islamabad) 4-0 (72-18, 85-17, 81-13, 57-22); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (61-53, 113-12, 64-43, 64-23); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (70-60, 43-92, 84-1, 81-28, 7-76, 72-42); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-0 (112-7, 115-0, 89-29, 74-42); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (50-60, 77-34, 65-47, 68-18, 76-17); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-1 (75-35, 21-57, 60-25, 51-28, 82-54); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (54-21, 68-20, 65-39, 71-23); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-1 (66-24, 56-42, 25-74, 49-28, 65-47);

Shahid Shafiq (Punjab) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (14-73, 66-38, 112-4, 19-49, 76-17, 56-18); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (76-45, 95-22, 66-23, 109-19); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-2 (78-1, 42-66, 53-56, 62-30, 109-14, 102-30); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (86-20, 54-65, 16-77, 61-24, 63-9, 81-8); Zulfiqar A.Qadir (Sindh) bt Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (69-36, 53-43, 87-18, 84-25). Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (59-33, 29-59, 19-59, 64-22, 14-78, 59-25, 60-36)Thursday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) vAgha Bilawal (Sindh); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) v Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) vAmir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) vShahid Shafiq (Punjab).

At 12noon: Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) vMunawwar Khaliq (Islamabad); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) vHaris Tahir (Punjab); Nadir Mirran (Punjab) vMohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 2pm: Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vSultan Mohammad (Sindh); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) vMohammad Saqib (Punjab); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) vAbu Saim (Punjab); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vUmer Farooq (Punjab).

At 4pm: Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) vMohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) vZulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) vShaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017

LAHORE: Pakistan team head coach Mickey Arthur has brushed aside the allegations levelled against him by middle-order batsman Umar Akmal.

Following Umar’s press conference on Wednesday, Arthur denied that he abused the batsman, but the coach confirmed that he chastised him for using facilities at the NCA.

“Umar wanted to use services of [batting coach] Grant Flower for batting. I told him he must first earn the right to go and play club cricket since he is not under PCB [central] contract anymore,” Arthur said in an interview.

“He needs to prove himself before he uses our support staff,” the South Africa-born head coach added.

Arthur said he didn’t stop Umar from using NCA but only stopped him from using the services of coaching staff.

“I never stopped him [Umar] from using the academy, told him not to use services of our support staff until he earns the right,” Arthur revealed. “Umar cannot expect that the support staff, who are for contracted players, are at his beck and call. Nobody there should be taken for granted,” he said.

Meanwhile, a PCB official on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the Board would issue a show-cause notice to Umar for levelling serious allegations against Arthur.

“Though Umar is not a centrally-contracted player, as a domestic cricketer he has to follow PCB rules and regulations,” added the official while also denying the allegations levelled on the head coach by Umar.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017