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[tag]Rana Naveed[/tag]-ul-Hasan is going to miss the first test between [tag]Pakistan[/tag] and [tag]Sri Lanka[/tag] as he is flying back home. Captain [tag]Inzamam[/tag]-ul-Haq declared this during his interview in [tag]Geo TV[/tag]’s programme, Captain’s Corner.

Rana Naveed, the front line bowler for Pakistan in absence of Sami and Shoaib Akhtar, is coming back as his wife is critically ill after a recent mis-carriage.

[tag]Karachi[/tag] Bulls clinched the Southern Zone final of the 8th [tag]Siemens[/tag] Inter-City Seniors Cricket Cup 2006, by defeating Karachi Lions by 22 runs in a close contest, here at the United Bank Limited ([tag]UBL[/tag]) Sports Complex Ground the other day.

By virtue of their victory, Karachi Bulls have qualified for the national final of the championship, which will be played against Lahore Whites at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Sunday.

Batting first, Karachi Bulls scored 245 runs while losing seven wickets. Ashraf Pakhali made 82 and Nadeem Moosa 66. Imran Afzal remained not out with 35 runs.

Openers Zaka Qureshi and Mohammad Kamran established an unbeaten partnership of 208 runs as Pakistan Deaf cricket team thrashed India by ten wickets in the second one-day match to take a 2-0 lead in seven match series, here at the National Stadium on Friday.

Man-of-the-match, Zaka blasted unconquered 108 runs off just 49 balls, which included 19 boundaries and two towering sixes. He also achieved the milestone when he completed his half-century in just 21 balls.

On the other hand, Kamran chipped in with unbeaten 84 from 55 deliveries which included 13 fours and two sixes, as the hosts achieved their target easily in just 17.1 overs to register a massive victory over their arch-rivals.

[tag]Pakistan[/tag]’s coach Bob [tag]Woolmer[/tag] believes it is unfair to only blame the International [tag]Cricket[/tag] Council ([tag]ICC[/tag]), for any fears of players being overburdened by the number of Test and international matches they are scheduled to play in the next six years.

“I don’t think the ICC should be blamed. Any programme finalised is not done independently by them. Member boards have a big say in it and I think it is time the boards thought about players facing a burnout due to excessive cricket,” he told ‘The News’ here on Friday.

[tag]Chaminda Vaas[/tag], [tag]Sri Lanka[/tag]’s leading pace bowler for well over a decade is planning to retire from international cricket after next year’s [tag]World Cup[/tag] in the West Indies.

Still only 32 years of age with 301 Test and 352 one-day wickets under his belt, Vaas said he wanted to quit cricket on a high note.

“I’m bowling as well as ever and I’ve enjoyed the game thoroughly and I want to go on a high note. Too often most sportsmen make the mistake of hanging on for too long not realising time has come for them to go with their heads held high,” he said in an interview. “I don’t want to repeat the same mistake. I want people to remember me as a guy who retired still at the height of his prowess,” he added.

In another attempt to increase conflict of interests and tension in the dressing room, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked team manager [tag]Zaheer Abbas[/tag] to also act as a sort of a batting trainer, a move that might further curtail the role of coach [tag]Bob Woolmer[/tag].

Zaheer, one of Pakistan’s most accomplished batsmen of all times, was appointed as the manager of the national team ahead of the tour of [tag]Sri Lanka[/tag] where the Pakistanis recently featured in a three-match One-day International (ODI) series and would be playing in a couple of Tests during over the next couple of weeks.

The decision of the International Cricket Council ([tag]ICC[/tag]) Executive Board to endorse the Future Tours Programme ([tag]FTP[/tag]) six-year cycle has led to growing concerns among the players about the heavy workload being imposed on them by the game’s world governing body.

Pakistan skipper [tag]Inzamam[/tag]-ul-Haq confirmed at the captain’s meeting held in [tag]Sydney[/tag] last year the general consensus had been to ask the ICC to make one team play a maximum of 25 to 30 One-day Internationals ([tag]ODI[/tag]s) in a calendar year.

Fast bowler Hafti Gulabid claimed the prized wicket of [tag]Mike Gatting[/tag] as an Afghanistan side won their first ever match against the Marylebone Cricket Club ([tag]MCC[/tag]) here on Thursday.

Gulabid, a 22-year-old from [tag]Jalalabad[/tag], induced an edge from the former England captain’s bat, and his brother Karim Khan Sadiq, 20, took the catch behind the stumps.

“I am so happy, he’s a senior player,” said the bowler. “I’m 22 — and he has probably been playing for longer than that.”

The formidable [tag]Faisalabad[/tag] Wolves lived up to their billing when they won the [tag]ABN AMRO[/tag] Cup National One-day Cricket Championship Gold League, beating [tag]Lahore[/tag] Eagles by seven wickets in the final here at National Stadium on Thursday.

The Faisalabad team have in fact regained their national limited overs title, which they had won for the first time in 2003-04 by bagging the season’s Quaid-e-Azam Cup. Lahore Eagles were one of the losing semifinalists last season.

Masood Salahuddin, the oldest living first-class cricketer in Indo-Pakistan, breathed his last on Tuesday night, after a brief illness in Lahore at the age of 90 years 88 days.

Masood Salahuddin, who was born in Meerut (Merath) in the Indian United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) on December 24, 1915, was a contemporary of the great Indian fast bowler Mohammed Nissar. Masood, in fact, was one of his understudies when he was just 20 years old.

After the creation of Pakistan, Masood continued to live in Lahore where he was employed with the Pakistan Railways in a senior position. He played first-class cricket until the end of the 1958-59 season, when he was already into his 40s.