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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is trying to bring back legendary former pacer Wasim Akram for a brief training camp for upcoming fast bowlers in Lahore next month.

A PCB official told ‘The News’ on Monday that the Board is talking with Akram to confirm his presence at the camp for pacers that is tentatively scheduled to get underway at the National Cricket Academy from May 26.

“Wasim Akram is one of our greatest fast bowlers and we are sure that his input (in the camp) would be highly beneficial for our promising young pacers,” said Zakir Khan, PCB’s Director of Cricket Operations.

Darrell Hair will make his return to top-level international umpiring in the second Test between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford on May 23.

It will be the first Test he has stood in since the 2006 match between England and Pakistan at The Oval. That became the first game in history to be forfeited after Pakistan refused to take the field following Hair’s ruling that they had tampered with the ball.

Hair was subsequently stood down from any matches involved full-member nations, although never officially removed from the Elite panel, but continued to stand in associate games. He took the ICC to court claiming racial discrimination, but withdrew his claims seven days into a tribunal in London last October.

Shoaib Akhtar is a strange specie. I am wondering and secretly grinning at the plight of those politicians who had rallied behind the “innocent” Shoaib Akhtar violently and aggressively through all these weeks.

Shoaib Akhtar raised all kinds of hell. He not only violated the code of conduct of Pakistan Cricket Board, but he also slung mud on the chairman of PCB Dr. Nasim Ashraf and some of the senior players like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan. He was also questioned by the ICC anti-betting squad.

The Chennai Super Kings overcame two adverse situations, the first with the bat and then with the ball, to extend their unbeaten streak in the IPL to four matches, defeating the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 13 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Chennai were struggling for momentum during their innings, having scored only 102 for 3 off 15 overs before Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who struck a blistering 65, and Michael Hussey clouted 76 off the last five overs. Their bowlers were under pressure as Bangalore, chasing 179, cruised to 102 for 2 in 11 overs but Chennai’s medium-pace attack persevered and the hosts’ middle order panicked towards the business-end of the chase. Bangalore were dismissed for 165, falling to their third straight defeat at home.

The BCCI’s investigation into Harbhajan Singh’s spat on Friday with Sreesanth, his India team-mate, will examine the background of the incident to find out whether the offspinner was instigated in any manner, the Indian board’s probe commissioner has told Cricinfo.

Sudhir Nanavati, the BCCI’s appointee to conduct a “preliminary inquiry”, said he would take note of the match referee’s report which “says that one of the umpires, Amiesh Saheba, had warned Sreesanth for his behaviour after the dismissal of a rival player in that match”. A senior lawyer from Ahmedabad, Nanavati is also vice-president of the Gujarat Cricket Association and chairman of the BCCI’s finance committee.