KARACHI, 15 June 2003 — All rounder Abdul Razzaq has joined the Pakistan squad for three One-Day Internationals against England starting next week as a replacement for the injured Faisal Athar.

“The touring selection committee requested that Razzaq be allowed to join the team in England since Faisal Athar has been ruled out for 10 days with a finger injury,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Zakir Khan told Reuters.

Athar injured his finger in a warm-up match at Northampton this week and will not be taking further part in the tour matches. Razzaq was initially dropped for the England tour because the Pakistan selectors felt he was tired and needed rest to recover his form and enthusiasm.

“The Pakistan tour selection committee felt that since Razzaq was already playing for Middlesex and with his experience would be a boost for the team ahead of the one-day series,” Khan said. Pakistan take on England in the first match on Tuesday, a day-night fixture at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Pakistan Expecting No

Favors From ICC Nominee

Pakistan is not expecting any preferential treatment from its nominee for the presidency of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“We nominated Ehsan Mani for the post of ICC President because he was best qualified to do this job,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Tauqir Zia told Reuters.

“He is a very competent person who has been with the ICC for years now. We don’t expect and would not want him to give Pakistan any preferential treatment in his tenure,” Zia said before leaving for London to attend the ICC meetings.

The leading decision makers in world cricket will gather in London next week when the ICC hosts its annual round of meetings from June 15-20 at Lord’s.

The meetings will be dominated by the change of ICC President as Malcolm Gray’s three-year tenure ends, discussions over compensation claims from the 2003 World Cup and the volume of international cricket. Zia said Pakistan would like to see Mani urgently address some important issues and take steps to increase the authority of the ruling body. “Pakistan has always believed that without the ICC being more independent and having more authority it cannot deal consistently with problems of its member nations and the sport,” Zia added.

Injured Lawson Out

of Sri Lanka Tests

In St. John’s, Antigua, West Indies fast bowler Jermaine Lawson has been ruled out of the Tests against Sri Lanka because of a persistent back injury.

The 21-year-old Lawson, who has been out of action for a month recovering from bulging discs in his lower back, is still complaining about discomfort when bowling.

The injury means that remedial work on his bowling action, which was ordered after umpires David Shepherd and Srinivasa Venkataraghavan reported him during the fourth Test against Australia last month, will be affected. “We cannot make much progress once the injury to the back remains a concern,” said Michael Seepersaud, the West Indies Cricket Board’s Chief Cricket Development Officer.

“We have received a medical report from WICB medical panel member Akshai Mansingh. He has informed us that Jermaine has worked almost daily over the last couple of weeks doing core strengthening and has been undergoing tests to determine the state of the back injury. Initially, he had some stiffness, but now is devoid of pain.

“We are pleased to see Jermaine’s response to the treatment, but believe that the rigors of Test cricket would likely overwhelm his back.”