Pakistan manager deplores British media's bigotry

By Rizwan Ehsan Ali

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 28. Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed warned India on Thursday to make special preparations against hostile British media when India tours England next year. Throughout our stay in England, the British media highlighted negative aspects of the game and never mentioned the individual or team effort of the Pakistan team, Yawar said after his return from England.

I think every touring team should make special arrangements and appoint specialist media coordinators to tackle the biased British media, he said.

Pakistan squared the Test series 1-1 after claiming eight wickets in the last session of the Old Trafford Test. However, due to the negligence of English umpire David Shepherd, four English wickets fell off no-balls.

It was not our fault, Yawar said. But the British media highlighted the four no-balls instead of appreciating Pakistan's efforts, he added.

The biased English experts questioned Wasim Akram's rich haul of over 400 wickets in Test cricket and one expert went on to say: ``I wonder how many of Akram's 414 Test wickets came off no balls. It was one of the most biased comments to say the least, Yawar said.

Similarly, Yawar said there was little coverage when Pakistan defeated England in all the three triangular One-day internationals. Most of the scribes concentrated on off-the-field activities and blamed Pakistan spectators for crowd invasions during the matches.

Yawar said overall, Pakistan's tour of England was a success but the team needs to solve problems at number two and number three positions before the World Cup 2003 in South Africa. ''I think we need to find a permanent player who opens the innings with Saeed Anwar and the one-down batsman``, he said.

But Yawar hoped he would submit his tour report in the next 10 days. His report will focus on player's individual performance, overall atmosphere of Pakistan's dressing room, coordination between senior and junior players and British media's negative attitude.

The tour manager appreciated Waqar's leadership and hoped he would continue to lead the side if the speedster proves his fitness. His captaincy and reemergence as a fast bowler are the two big plus points of the tour.

The tour report would also highlight Pakistan's inability to perform on big occasions as it lost third final in a year's time. Pakistan lost the final at Singapore and Sharjah before losing the tri-series final against Australia at Lord's by a humiliating nine-wicket margin.

Yawar's only disappointment during the two-month tour of England was the continuous fitness problems of the `Rawalpindi Express' Shoaib Akhtar. ''He couldn't bowl six overs properly in an international match!`` Yawar said. ''If the speedster wants to play regular cricket at top level, he must pay attention to his fitness. I think he is proving his own enemy. No doubt, Shoaib is our future asset, but he should take care of himself if he wants to compete in international matches,`` he pointed out.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : It's a great relief: Ganguly
Next     : Sportspersons get special cash awards