So Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal have been left out of the touring party for the UK where Pakistan will first play a couple of ODIs in Scotland and Ireland, and then take part in the final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy.

That is going to be one action packed UK summer for Pakistan's cricketers and all of you better get hold of your Sky Sports deals an make sure you are ready to follow Misbah & company as they take the field in Scotland, Ireland, and England.

Two of my favorite cricketers are out of the team, with at least one of them not deserving the axe at all. But I'll move on and focus on the players that have been picked.

Particularly the three newbies - Umar Amin, Asad Ali, and Ehsan Adil.

Asad Ali
I first spoke about Asad Ali when I wrote the two part piece on "Pakistan's new ODI team". He has an exceptional First class, List A, and Twenty 20 record, an he was the leading wicket taker in the recently concluded President's One Day Cup Competition.

He was one of the 20 bowlers to take part in the 10-day fast bowler's camp under the supervision of Wasim Akram, which must have helped him immensely.

He comes with 8 years of domestic experience under his belt and at 24 is still very young to have a long career for Pakistan.

Asad might end up being the largest beneficiary of Umar Gul's injury and with the supportive conditions in England, he could not have asked for a better opportunity to break into international cricket.

Umar Amin
Umar Amin made his ODI and Test debut in 2010 when he played in the Asia Cup and the following tour of England with no success. He has been long considered to be a talented batsman, but his record is hardly impressive.

With an average of below 40 in first class cricket and below 35 in List A cricket, I seriously do not feel that he is international material. If anything his failure in the Asia Cup and the tests in England in 2010 told the same story.

Yet the selectors have picked him, not only ahead of Umar Akmal, but also ahead of better domestic performers like Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Sohail, Khurram Manzoor, and Azhar Ali.

The only notable performance Umar gave this past season was his glorious 281 in the President's Trophy that helped him to end the competition as the leading run scorer. Yet the all the batsmen mentioned above scored more first class and List A runs than him during the past season.

I have my doubts about Umar Amin, which I hope he can prove wrong; but I really do not see him succeeding in international cricket.

Ehsan Adil
Ehsan Adil is another tall pacer in the mould of Mohammad Asif. We all saw him make his test debut in South Africa, where he picked up Graeme Smith with his third delivery in international cricket.

Adil is one of the leading wicket takers of the past domestic season and along with Asad, Junaid, and Irfan creates a potentially dangerous pace attack for Pakistan.

He was also part of the fast bowler's camp under Wasim Akram and will be a better bowler in England than he was in South Africa.

I can bet that we all will see a lot of Adil and Asad over the next 10 years. For all your cricket bets, use bwin.

The Squad and the XI
Pakistan's Champions Trophy squad looks a bit bowler heavy to me with as many as 7 specialist bowlers - Junaid, Irfan, Asad, Adil, Wahab, Ajmal, Rehman! Taking the keeper, Akmal, and the "allrounder", Malik, out leaves room for only 6 specialist batsmen with 1 of them totally unproven in international cricket.

I don't get how a nation known to have a brittle batting line up picks a squad for a place like England (seaming conditions et al) with only 6 specialist batsmen.

With Younis Khan out of the team, Asad Shafiq will definitely get an extended run and I guess the playing XI will pick itself:

1. Hafeez 2. Farhat 3. Nasir 4. Misbah 5. Asad 6. Malik 7. Kamran 8. Junaid 9. Ajmal 10. Asad 11. Irfan

Or Asad could play at 3 and Umar Amin at 5 with one of Nasir or Farhat sitting out.

In either case without Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi that looks like a very weak batting line up to me with almost no firepower. With Younis gone and Misbah vowing to play more aggressively the batting is lacking an anchor as well.

As always the batting has left a lot to be desired and the bowling is looking like an exciting prospect.

And as always, the selectors have amused us all once again!

The President's Trophy continued this week with national stars getting good outings and emerging players sending reminders to selector.

Sui Gas Remain on Top

Sui Gas remained at the top of the table at the end of this week's matches with a thumping innings and 216 runs win over UBL.

Mohammad Hafeez picked up 4-13 in only 7 overs to help dismiss UBL for 165, and then walked out to bat and single handedly scored more than what UBL's entire team managed. Hafeez stayed at the crease for 7.5 hours and faced 301 deliveries while scoring 193 with the help of 32 boundaries.

Hafeez also shared a 218 run 4th wicket partnership with Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq, who scored his second successive century in the tournament.

Sui Gas' total of 455 was more than enough to ensure an innings win, which was hastened by Faisalabad's medium fast bowler Ali Asad whose 7 wickets bowled UBL out for only 74.

Habib Bank Continue Winning Ways

Habib Bank also continued their winning ways and remained 6 points behind Sui Gas in the points table. This week they beat KRL by 65 runs after they had collapsed to 161 in their first innings.

19 year old Ehsan Adil who has been in impressive form during the President's Trophy gave another superb performance picking up 6 wickets that ensured that Habib Bank didn't concede too big a first innings lead.

A much improved batting display in the second innings with Imran Farhat (102), Asad Shafiq (80*), Ahmed Shehzad (75), and Younis Khan (58) all getting runs allowed Habib Bank to post 399 and give KRL a target of 308, which proved to be enough at the end.

Easy win for NBP

National Bank of Pakistan made light weight of their match against SBP winning by an innings after posting an average 304 in their first innings. SBP were bowled out for 136 and 137 with the returning Wahab Riaz picking up a 10 wicket haul.

PIA win Despite Haris' 3rd 100

Haris Sohail continued his great form this season with a third successive ton, yet he could not help avoid a defeat at the hands of PIA.

PIA were staring at their first loss this season after conceding a first innings 60 run lead, but Aizaz Cheema (4-55) and Anwar Ali (3-19) ensured that PIA only required 192 to win.

With not many overs available, PIA had to chase down the runs quickly, which they managed thanks to Faisal Iqbal (44 off 21) and Shoaib Malik (27 off 25).

Port Qasim's First Win

Port Qasim registered their first win of the season with an unlikely win over WAPDA who were set a 118 run target in the second innings. Junaid Khan picked up 8 wickets in the match including a 5 wicket haul in the first innings that restricted Port Qasim to 215.

Requiring 118 to win, WAPDA folded for 100 in their 2nd innings as Tanvir Ahmed (4-12) and Azam Hussain (4-41) proved too hot to handle for the WAPDA batsmen giving Port Wasim their first win in the President's Trophy.

The President's Trophy continues next week with the likely inclusion of Shahid Afridi for Habib Bank and Mohammad Yousuf for Port Qasim.

It has been 3 weeks since Pakistan's domestic season got underway with the President's Trophy First Class competition that involves 10 department teams.

HBL, UBL, PIA, SBP, NBP, KRL, SNGPL, WAPDA, Port Qasim, and ZTBL have been engaged in this departmental tournament and all of Pakistan's test cricketers have been involved thus far.

Habib Bank, who are being captained by Younis Khan, are sitting at the top of the table currently with 3 wins out of 3 thus far; while PIA, Sui Gas, and State Bank follow with 2 wins each in their 3 matches.



Fawad Alam, who is captaining Natonal Bank of Pakistan, is the leading run scorer thus far, with 361 runs in 6 innings. He has already knocked two centuries and one fifty, and is looking in sublime form, just like he does in every domestic season.

It is quite unbelievable that a player like him who averages 58 in first class cricket, which is more than most Pakistan cricketers of the past and present, and who scored a debut test century, has had only 3 test caps.

Younis Khan is also looking in good touch with the only two innings that he has played producing a 48 and an unbeaten 101. He was on 101 overnight in HBL's match against SBP that started yesterday.

The SNGPL top 5 could very well be Pakistan's test line up with Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, and Misbah

Mohammad Hafeez has had a decent run as well with 227 runs in 5 innings at an average of 45.4, while Umar Akmal has had two knocks of 48 and 40.

But the other three - Misbah, Taufeeq Umar, and Azhar Ali have had a torrid time at the crease. Pakistan test captain Misbah has managed only 53 runs in 5 innings, while Taufeeq and Azhar Ali have managed 129 and 158 in 8 innings respectively.

Among the bowlers, Habib Bank's Ehsan Adil is the leading wicket taker currently with 25 wickets in 4* matches. Ehsan is only 19 years old and is in his debut first class season. He was also a part of Pakistan's U19 World Cup campaign a couple of months ago.

Aizaz Cheema has also been in fine form with the ball picking up 21 wickets in 4* games, while two slow left arm spinners - veterans Kashif Bhatti of UBL and Zulfiqar Babar of WAPDA have picked up 23 wickets apiece.

With no international tours over the next 2 months for Pakistan, all the test players are involved in this President's Cup, which will make the upcoming weeks even more exciting.

My bets are on Habib Bank to continue their winning ways and remain at the top of the table. If you are looking to be in sports, click here for the best betting sites.

Stay tuned for more updates as another week of the President's Cup unfolds.