July 24  
Shoaib Akhtar needs a break: Mudassar

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket coach Mudassar Nazar said on Monday that pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has taken a temporary break from international cricket to rest his weary bones. He said Shoaib had been playing continuous cricket for the past eight months and had now gone to England for rest. "He would be playing club cricket to keep himself fit," said Mudassar.

Former Test opener said he had a 45-minute conversation on telephone with Shoaib to know the exact reason for skipping the next month's tri-nation tournament at Tangiers, Morocco. "Shoaib said he wanted to spend sometime alone as well as to participate in some club and festival matches in England," Mudassar said. The Pakistani coach said the emergence of Imran Nazir and the return of veteran Saeed Anwar had more or less solved the problem of a reliable opening pair.

He said Wasim Akram was being played in selective matches so that he could be fully utilised in the World Cup next year. Mudassar also appreciated plans of the international cricket body ICC to introduce TV technology for leg before decisions. National selector Shafiq Ahmad Papa speaking on the occasion, said the PCB was giving special attention towards the fitness of players and in this regard had hired the services of veteran physio Dennis Waithe who had been with the West Indies team for the past several years.