Shoaib Malik to be part of Zimbabwe squad

Waqar Younis steps down as national cricket team's coach

Rameez raja is keen to make a 'memorable debut' against Zimbabwe

Islamabad : Uncapped Pakistani batsman Rameez Raja Junior, who has been selected for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour, has expressed his desire to make a memorable introduction to international cricket.

Rameez, who is an avid fan of Indian cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s batting style, also expressed confidence that he had the ability to succeed in all three formats of the game, like his childhood hero.
“I want to have a memorable debut series for Pakistan - I want to make a memorable introduction to International Cricket,” PakPassion.net quoted Rameez, as saying.The step up from domestic cricket to international cricket is a daunting one even for the strongest of characters, and many recent batting inclusions to the Pakistani team have struggled while representing their country at the highest level.“Inshaa 'ALLAH, I can make it into the Pakistani team in all formats of the game. I have already proven myself as a capable and accomplished batsman in domestic cricket… Even in T20s I play normal cricket shots and I can play long innings in four-day cricket too,” said the youngster.“I understand how it is a step up from domestic cricket, but I will try and play my natural game as that is what has got me to the national team,” he added.“It''s all about mental toughness and how you handle the pressure. It''s all about applying oneself.” Rameez said.

Nominations for ICC Awards 2011 announced

The ICC Awards 2011 is back with its list of nominations in about 10 categories with the winners to be announced on September 12th in London.
The 5 member panel which includes ICC Executives and former Cricketers of Clive Lloyd, Paul Adams, Danny Morrison and Zaheer Abbas had chosen the players for nomination based on their performances from August 2010 to August 2011.
If England ex-cricketers were disappointed with ICC for nominating their players in the previous edition, they have more to be rejoiced this year as almost 8 England Cricketers including their captain Andrew Strauss has been named for the Cricketer of the Year. Three Indians namely Zaheer Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid also feature in the list.
Hashim Amla , Zaheer Khan and Graeme Swann are the 3 cricketers who feature in both the list of the Test Player of the Year and the ODI Player of the Year.
The emerging player of the year list will be dominated by West Indies with Kirk Edwards who scored a brilliant hundred against Indians in the home series will be featuring along with Darren Bravo and Devendra Bishoo.
People's Choice of the Year which is being continued for the second year will have the World Cup Winning Captain 'Mahendra Singh Dhoni' along with Chris Gayle of West Indies. Kumar Sangakkara too find a spot in the list.
Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Strauss, GraemeSwann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson
Test player of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson
ODI player of the year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Hafeez, Mahela Jayawardene, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Saeed Ajmal, Shakib Al Hasan, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Tim Southee, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson
Women's cricketer of the year: Cri-zelda Britz, Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Charlotte Edwards, Shandre Fritz, Jhulan Goswami, Lydia Greenway, Bismah Maroof, Laura Marsh, Sara McGlashan, Anisa Mohammed, Shelley Nitschke, Leah Poulton, Poonam Raut, Stafanie Taylor
Emerging player of the year: Adnan Akmal, Azhar Ali, Hamish Bennett, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Colin Ingram, Abhinav Mukund, Wahab Riaz, Kane Williamson
Associate and Affiliate player of the year: Saqib Ali, Ashish Bagai, George Dockrell, Ryan ten Doeschate, Hamid Hassan, Nawroz Mangal, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Mohammad Shahzad, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson
Twenty20 international performance of the year: CJ Chibhabha 52 runs v South Africa, GC Smith 58 runs v Zimbabwe, JP Duminy 96* v Zimbabwe, SR Watson 59 v England, TT Bresnan 4 for 3 v Pakistan, TG Southee 5 for 18 v Pakistan, SA Fritz 116* v Netherlands Women
Umpire of the year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Kumar Dharmasena, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rod Tucker
People's choice award: MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Jonathan Trott, Hashim Amla