ISLAMABAD – Umar Amin, one of the brightest talents of Pakistan cricket, attributed his exit from the national team to his mistakes and poor performance.
In an exclusive interview with TheNation on Saturday, Umar said that, "I have no problem to accept that Pakistan Cricket Board has given me many opportunities but I failed to utilise them." He discussed his entry in the first class cricket in 2006 from PCB school hunt cricket where he represented City School despite being the student of Foundation School. The school did not have its own team so he decided to appear from City School platform.
After playing a season in school cricket, Umar was selected for national Under-19 team in 2007. He toured Australia in April and then England in July. Then Australia toured Pakistan. He also played a series against Bangladesh. In January 2008, Umar was selected to tour Sri Lanka for a tri-series involving England and home nation.
Soon after that series Umar went to Malaysia with Pakistan Under-19 team to play Under-19 World Cup. Umar also hold the record of being the third highest scorer after Ahmad Shahzad and Hassan Raza in Under-19 World Cup, but both Shahzad and Hassan Raza played more matches than Umar. After consistent performances he was selected for Sri Lanka home series in January 2009, but he was not selected in the playing XI. Umar finally gets his chance in the senior side in June 2009 in Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka.
After so many eye-catching performances, Umar was selected for Pakistan's home Test series against Australia at the neutral venue in UK, as the Australians were unwilling to come to Pakistan sighting so-called security concerns. Umar played two Tests against Australia and then the same number of Tests against hosts England. He accepted whole-heartedly, he doesn't perform well in those matches and accepted selectors were right in dropping him, this is unique as a player had never accepted his fault in past and always blamed selectors for their exclusion. He is determined to win back his place in the national side and training hard in the nets and playing maximum side matches to get back in to rhythm and overcome his shortcomings.

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KARACHI: Danish Atlas Khan, Nasir Iqbal and Salman Mohib will lead Pakistani interests in the WSF Men’s World Junior Squash Championship in Belgium next month.

Danish Atlas Khan and Nasir Iqbal, both 17-year-olds from Peshawar, are third and fourth seeds in the prestigious tournament.

Meanwhile, Salman Mohib will play as an unseeded player in the event, which is scheduled to run from 13th to 17th July in Herentals.

Danish will take on Indian player Vrishab Kotian of India. Nasir Iqbal will face Kuwaiti Yousif Ali while Salman will face up with German Valentin Rapp for a place in the second round.

Egypt’s Amr Khaled Khalifa is set to become only the third man in history to win the title twice when he defends his crown. The 18-year-old from Cairo is named as the top seed in the 2011 championship.

Players from 19 nations will compete in the 18th staging of the WSF championships.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey selection committee announced an 18-member squad for the European tour on Tuesday here at the Naseer Bunda stadium.

During the European tour, the National Hockey team will participate in UCD 4-Nation Hockey Tournament in Dublin from June 20-25 and 4-Nation Rabo Tournament at Amsterdam from June 28 to July 2, play two matches each against New Zealand at Belgium form July 10-11 and against Netherlands form July 15-16 (two matches).

The National Selection Committee comprising Abdul Hanif Khan Chairman, Arshad Ali Chowdhry and Khalid Bashir, announced the following team:

Players: Muhammad Imran (Captain), Salman Akbar (Goal-Keeper), Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Muhammad Tousiq, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, Muhammad Waqas Sharif, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Rizwan Senior, Muhammad Zubair, Waqas Akbar, Syed Kashif Shah, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi (Vice-Captain), Shafqat Rasool and Imran Shah (Goal-keeper).

Team officials: K. M. Junaid (Manager), Michel van dan Heuvel (Head coach), Shahid Ali Khan (Assistant coach), Ajmal Khan Lodhi (Assistant coach) Faiz-ur-Rehman (Physiotherapist) and M. Nadeem Khan Lodhi (Video-analyst).

MIAMI: Demar Phillips scored twice in the second half to lift Jamaica to a 2-0 victory over 10-man Guatemala on Friday, a victory that secured Jamaica's spot in the Gold Cup quarter-finals.

In the night's second Group B match, Carlos Costly scored three times and Jerry Bengston twice as Honduras rallied from an early deficit to thump Grenada 7-1 and boost their chances of advancing.

Honduras now have four points and are second to Jamaica in the group. A point would be enough for them to reach the knockout stage, but Honduras could win the group with a victory over leaders Jamaica on Monday.

In a game featuring little in the way of offensive fireworks, Phillips
broke through for Jamaica in the 65th minute, collecting a ball from Keammar Daley and dribbling toward the left side of the penalty area.

He beat defender Jonathan Lopez then slotted a shot past Guatemalan keeper Ricard Jerez.

Phillips added the insurance goal in the 78th minute. By then, Guatemala had been reduced to 10 men when Cristian Noriega received a second yellow card for a foul on Dane Richards in the 70th minute.

The victory gave Jamaica a maximum six points from their first two matches in the North and Central America and Caribbean regional championship.

The winners of the tournament earn a spot in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

The second match of the night was, in contrast, a goal festival.

Clive Murray gave Grenada their first ever Gold Cup goal as he put the
Spice Boys ahead in the 19th minute.

Honduras soon took control, however, as Costly and Bengston combined for three goals in 10 minutes to put them 3-1 up.

Bengston equalised in the 26th minute and Costly put Honduras ahead a minute later. Bengston's second goal made it 3-1 in the 36th.

Costly struck again in the 66th and 71st, Walter Martinez scored with three minutes remaining and Alfredo Mejia scored Honduras' final goal in the 90th minute.

For Honduras, it was a welcome show of attacking power after a 0-0 draw with Guatemala.

The tournament continues on Saturday with Group C action in Tampa, Florida.

The United States will take on Panama, both going into the contest with three points, and Canada will face Guadeloupe.

While Mexico have booked their quarter-final berth in Group A with two convincing wins, the team remained in turmoil on Friday, a day after Mexican football authorities provisionally suspended five players who tested positive for banned drug clenbuterol in a May 21 test during a pre-tournament training camp.

LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board has asked the Surrey Cricket Board to assist with its investigation into the banned Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir’s appearance for a village side.

The 19-year-old was suspended for five years by the International Cricket Council in February after being found guilty of deliberately bowling no-balls in the spot-fixing scandal against England last year.

The ban states that Amir must not take part in any cricket-related activity but he confirmed on Wednesday that he had played for Addington 1743 on Saturday in the Surrey Cricket League, with the club website stating that he took four wickets in seven overs and made 60 runs against St Luke’s. Amir said that he had checked with the club if the match fell under the auspices of the ECB, but was told that it was a friendly.

The ECB’s acknowledgement of the incident increases the likelihood that Amir will now face sanctions from the ICC for breaching the terms of the five-year ban that he incurred earlier this year, following his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal which erupted during the Lord’s Test between Pakistan and England last August.

The ICC launched an investigation into the reports, with the ECB following suit, and the latter has asked the Surrey Cricket Board to help it look into the matter.

An ECB statement said: “The ECB today announced that it has requested the Surrey Cricket Board to assist it in its investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Pakistan cricketer Mohammed [sic] Amir’s appearance for Addington 1743 CC in a Surrey Cricket League Division One match last weekend.

“ECB has also written separately to Addington 1743 CC seeking a full written explanation from the club of the events leading up to Amir’s appearance in the match. The decision came after ECB confirmed Addington 1743 CC falls under its regulatory jurisdiction by virtue of the club being affiliated to the Surrey Cricket Board. The ECB will also continue to assist the ICC with its own inquiry into the matter.”

Amir believed that he was clear to play. He told PakPassion.net: “I was informed by club representatives before the game that it was a friendly match, being played on a privately owned cricket ground.

“I asked the club representatives if the match fell under the jurisdiction of the ECB and they informed me that the match did not. I spoke to several club representatives about the issue and they all told me that it was a friendly match and would not contravene my ban from the ICC. I was informed that I was fine to play.”

Amir also denied that he had signed any registration documents with the club and insisted that he would never have taken the risk of playing had he known it was an official match.

“I would not be stupid enough to knowingly play in a match that I knew would contravene my ban. Wherever I am going to play cricket, the world will know about it. I would not be stupid enough to play in a match where I knew that I would be taking a risk”.

Amir was central to Addington’s 81-run victory in the game, against St Luke’s CC. He surprisingly opened the innings and scored 60 before returning figures of 4 for 9 in seven overs.

 Mithun and Kumar called up as replacements for three-match series

Injured seamers Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth will both miss India's upcoming Test series against West Indies.


Left-armer Zaheer has a problem with his right ankle while team-mate Sreesanth has a right elbow injury - both will require time off for rehabilitation.

The Indian Cricket Board announced that Abhimanyu Mithun and Praveen Kumar had been called up as replacements.

Live on Sky Sportsndies v Indine 11, 2011 1:55pm
Mithun has played three Tests for his country, all against Sri Lanka last year, while Kumar has yet to make his debut in the longer form of the game, despite being a regular in limited-overs cricket.

The tourists were already without a number of players for the three-match series in the Caribbean.

Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are both sidelined with shoulder injuries while while Yuvraj Singh was ruled out due to a lung infection.

Veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, opted not to play in the Tests to spend time with his family.

The first Test gets underway on June 20 at Kingston, Jamaica and can be seen live on Sky Sports 1.

British number one routs Roddick but Ward falls to Tsonga
British number one Murray was in scintillating form against the American, who is always a tough proposition on grass, and he wrapped up a brilliant victory in just under an hour.
Murray made it into the semi-finals without hitting a ball after Marin Cilic pulled out of their proposed quarter-final, but the extra day's rest obviously did wonders as he came blazing out of the traps.
A shell-shocked Roddick simply had no answer to Murray's returns of serve and thumping passing shots, with almost everything that came firing off the Scotsman's racquet finding the target.
Murray did his part to try and set up the first all-British final at Queen's since 1931, only for surprise package James Ward was unable to fulfill his end of the bargain as he lost to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"I got off to a good start. Andy is one of the toughest guys to break on the tour. I managed to get a break early in both sets, everything that touched my racquet was going in," said Murray. "That doesn't happen much on court. I was lucky."
With Wimbledon just over a week away the signs are looking good for Murray with such a dominant display over Roddick - who was chasing a record fifth Queen's title and has played in three Wimbledon finals.
With his troublesome ankle well-rested, Murray came storming out of the blocks and after two aces of his own he broke Roddick's powerful serve in his first game to go 2-0 ahead, before two trademark drop-shots sealed a good hold for 4-1.
After claiming the first set, a break right at the start of the second put Murray well in charge again, and a Roddick double fault then gave Murray the chance to make it 4-1, which he took with ease.
Murray sealed the win in the same style, with his passing shots in the final game summing up his performance. He took his third match point just in time to stop the match clock at 59 minutes after a sublime exhibition of grass court tennis at its best.