Surrey have released Saqlain Mushtaq, who served the county for 11 years, in order to sign Harbhajan Singh.

Due to Saqlain's ICL links, the BCCI had not allowed Harbhajan to sign with Surrey for this last season.

However, the Surrey boss has now made it clear that they will not be going into the next season with an ICL player on board and that this will also allow them to sign up Harbhajan Singh.

Hence Saqlain, who plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, has been released from his contract.

I guess the world is still far away from accepting ICL players, and I thought we were moving closer to that.

So where does this leave Mushtaq Ahmed, who also plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, as England's spin coach?

I think a more consistent approach is required from the ECB. Surely the counties' and the ECB's interests should be aligned.

In times like these for Pakistan cricket, atleast some people have something to cheer about - for Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, and Mushtaq Ahmed it was a significant day.

Javed Miandad was included in the PCB Governing Board, a position that was held by Ijaz Butt before he became chairman.

So if you're not a successful coach, you are given a post in the Pakistan board. When will we see Lawson wear a suit?

This may also resurrect Faisal Iqbal's career!

Saleem Malik got his life ban overturned by a Pakistan court after 8 years.

Azharuddin has hope I guess and Cronje can now finally come back from the dead!

Malik talked about setting up a cricket academy. Really? Who is going to join this academy?

Or rather what is he going to coach in this academy - How to lose a match? Or how to set your team up for victory, run some partners out, and then throw your wicket to lose the match?

Mushtaq Ahmed has been appointed spin coach by the England Cricket Board.

There's hope for the ICL players!

Mushtaq is going to work with spinners in England's test and ODI squads as well as in ECB's development programs.

I didn't know they had spinners in England's squads and development programs.

Nonetheless, a great achievement for someone who is involved with the ICL and who was not allowed to be Pakistan's assistant coach due to being charged in a match fixing inquiry, the same one that banned Malik 8 years ago.

High time someone thinks about the current players in Pakistan!

Since Nasim Ashraf was a personal adviser and friend of Pervez Musharraf, it was only apt that he resigned as the PCB chairman hours after the Pakistan president resigned from his post.

Either way, he wouldn't have stayed long post Musharraf considering the mess he had put Pakistan cricket in over the last 2 years.

The Pakistan president is the defacto Patron of the PCB according to the constitution, which now makes Asif Zardari just that. That man as the head of anything is just laughable but thats a point for another debate.

Zardari has now been patron of the PCB for a month but he has not been able to appoint a PCB Chairman yet.

No one really knows why but I believe that at the moment there are way too many people lobbying for the post and I guess Zardari is waiting for the best 10% offer to be made to him.

In the meantime, as Zardari made calculations on his "cut", the Federal Sports Ministry decided to take over the PCB. Since there's no chairman, as per the constitution the Sports Ministry becomes responsible for the board's operations.

If this remains, cricket will be treated like hockey and football is in Pakistan and that is not good news.

If you thought that was bad news, worse was to follow when we heard that Najamuddin Khan, Pakistan's Sports Minister, had sent his name to the ICC as the PCB Chairman to attend the ICC moot in Dubai later this month.

Since the PCB comes under the Sports Ministry, the Sports Minister became the defacto PCB Chairman.

But why?

The chairman of the hockey and football boards were elected by the Sports Minister. So why didn't Najamuddin elect a chairman for the PCB? Why did he decide to become chairman himself?

We all know the answer to that.

The PCB after all is one of the richest institutions in Pakistan, let alone being the richest sports body in the country.

But that's not it. The power struggle for the top PCB post was just starting.

Farooq Naek, the Federal Law Minister of Pakistan and a member of Zardari's ruling political party, is currently reviewing the constitution of the PCB in order to remove its "flaws".

Naek has been assigned to do so by Zardari, who will not name a chairman till this review is over.

This review has been on-going for a few weeks now, however what took place yesterday is what created ripples in the cricketing circles around Pakistan.

Farooq Naek held a meeting with 5 key cricketing figures of Pakistan - Wasim Akram, Inzamam Ul Haq, Rameez Raja, Saeed Anwar, and Mushtaq Ahmed.

According to Naek, he met them in order to get their views on the PCB constitution and how they think it can be improved.

But, there's much more to it than just that.

Why did Naek meet these specific people?

Wouldn't Imran Khan have been the most appropriate person to meet for this purpose?

Members of the PCB and the Sports Ministry are part of the 15-man committee currently reviewing the PCB constitution. Where were they?

Did Naek deliberately keep them out?

This has upset Najamuddin, the acting chairman of the PCB, and he now thinks that Naek is trying to take control of the PCB.

This power struggle is going to kill cricket in Pakistan I tell you! This needs to stop!

Anyhow, coming back to Naek's meeting with Wasim, Inzamam, Rameez, Saeed, and Mushtaq.

Among a number of things suggested to Naek, the one thing that caught my interest was the suggestion to form a Cricket Committee.

These are the suggestions that were made by the 5 regarding the Cricket Committee.

1. Form a 5-member Cricket Committee
2. Committee to have final say on all decisions
3. Independent committee not reporting to CEO or Chairman
4. Members must have experience of over 50 test matches

Thus, in effect, what this means is that the committee can over rule any decision made by the selectors, CEO, or the Chairman. It gives the 5 committee members autonomous power in running Pakistan's cricket.

Good or bad?

Its a great idea to have former experienced test players running cricket in Pakistan.

Plus its happening successfully in India I believe with the likes of Gavaskar and Shastri sitting on a similar committee.

But full autonomy just doesn't sound right. Not in Pakistan.

What is bothering me right now is the fact that it seemed like Wasim, Inzamam, Rameez, Saeed, and Mushtaq were lobbying for themselves. Pushing their own personal agenda rather than thinking about cricket in Pakistan.

All 5 have played more than 50 test matches for Pakistan thus making themselves the ideal candidates for the committee.

There are only 25 Pakistani cricketers who have played more than 50 tests and 3 of them are current players - Yousuf, Younis, and Kaneria.

That leaves 22, which includes the likes of Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Bari, Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad, Mudassar Nazar, Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Mushtaq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Raja, Saleem Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, and Moin Khan.

Different reasons such as association with the ICC, ICL, match fixing, academies, political parties, coaching, coupled with bad relationships with the PCB easily rules all these 16 out of a seat in the Cricket Committee.

The remaining 6 possible members are the above 5 who met Naek along with another former captain, Waqar Younis.

One report in fact even mentions that Waqar met Naek, however he wasn't there as per my understanding.

The fact that Rameez Raja has been lobbying for the post of PCB Chairman, it could be that the 5-member committee suggested was Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed, and Mushtaq.

So are these the men that can get Pakistan cricket out of trouble?

Are these the right men to run cricket in Pakistan?

They may be better than most and better than the politically appointed bureaucrats but their involvement with Pakistan cricket can only spell trouble.

Wasim Akram has forever been haunted by the match fixing ghost. Justice Qayyum's report, which the PCB swears by, has clearly stated that Wasim not be given any post of authority within cricket. So how will the PCB justify his inclusion in a Cricket Committee with all powers?

Inzamam-Ul-Haq captained Pakistan from 2003-2007 and when he was in control, Pakistan cricket went from bad to worse. Great batsman no doubt, but he in a leadership position within Pakistan cricket, would be disastrous. Moreover his involvement with the ICL will also be a problem. How will the PCB justify an ICL player being a part of their board set up?

Rameez Raja served as CEO of the PCB under 2 different Chairmen, and he couldn't do anything to improve the state of cricket in Pakistan. At the end he chose his media career over his PCB one, which just shows how committed he really is to the cause of Pakistan cricket.

Saeed Anwar has been uninvolved with cricket for over 5 years now. He has not been in touch with the game and spends almost all of his time giving and attending religious sermons. He admitted that religious activities came between his cricket, so there's no reason why they wouldn't come in between now.

Mushtaq Ahmed was also implicated in the same Justice Qayyum report. In addition his association with the ICL as well as talk of him working with the ECB / England as a spin coach will not allow him to devote much time to Pakistan cricket.

Waqar Younis is probably the least tainted one out of the lot but his relationship with Wasim, Inzamam, and Mushtaq is questionable. His feud with Wasim is well documented while his removal as bowling coach in favour of Mushtaq when Inzamam was captain left him hurt.

All these reasons are why I think these 5 will never make up the Cricket Committee. Or even if they did, the world would have a problem with them because of their history.

All of them, except Rameez, were involved in the match fixing scandal and implicated by Justice Qayyum. Two of them are involved with the rebellious ICL. One of them has been out of cricket for 5 years. One was accused of being a dictator, while another was termed unpatriotic for helping Indian bowlers. Three of them have been blamed for emphasizing on religion rather than cricket. And two of them have been blamed for keeping new talent from coming up. And all of them have been involved in the player power struggle.

On the flip side, Pakistan may not have a better choice than them.

So would you give Pakistan cricket in their hands?

Imran Khan did and that too with a lot of faith. They were part of arguably the best XI Pakistan ever had.

So are they the saviours of Pakistan cricket?

Think about it.

The return of international cricket has coincided with the return of the rebels with the 2nd season of the Indian Cricket League starting from Friday.

With 9 teams, 41 matches, and 4 venues - the ICL promises to be bigger and better than before.

Has anyone seen the new ICL ad on TV?

I couldn't find a video online. The ad shows a cricketer trying to impress the national selectors who seem to be busy chatting away and not paying attention to him. Frustrated with the selectors' behaviour the cricketer marches off, throws away his playing kit, and walks out in the ICL uniform.

Isn't that the story of the ICL players?

How openly this war between the ICL and the BCCI is being played out is not funny anymore.

Mushtaq Ahmed has even suggested an ICL vs IPL play-off with the best teams from both leagues participating in a tournament. He has even suggested the ICL champions to be a part of the 20-20 Champions League in December.

Brilliant idea I think.

The ICL kicks off on 10th October with the opening match being a repeat of last years final: Lahore Baadshahs vs Hyderabad Heroes.

There's a new team this season - the Dhaka Warriors - taking the team count to 9 and the match count to 41.

The matches will be played over 4 venues.

The tournament will run till 16th November with each team taking on the other once followed by the semi-finals and a best of 3 finals.

The ICL is back and its definitely bigger and better than before.

Shoaib Akhtar appeared on Capital Talk on GEO TV last night.

Before I go on to disclosing what he said on and off camera, let me brief you on GEO TV, Capital Talk, and its host Hamid Mir.

GEO is a privately owned Pakistani television channel based and telecasted out of Dubai Media City. The onwers are also the owners of Pakistan's most widely read newspapers - Jang and The News. There are a number of talk shows aired on GEO and majority of them have the reputation of being anti-establishment. Capital Talk is one of them and Hamid Mir usually bounces on every opportunity to criticize the Government. At times rightly so, at times maybe not.

Back to Shoaib Akhtar.

The show was aired last evening and Shoaib Akhtar talked about how he has been victimized by the PCB and criticized Nasim Ashraf and the PCB of having double standards and personal vendettas against him. He said a number of other things, the key ones being:

• He said that the PCB had no right to ban him since he is not a contracted player and thus the PCB laws do not apply to him.
  
• He questioned Nasim Ashraf's eligibility to be PCB Chairman since he was a US citizen and not a Pakistani one.
  
• He blamed President Pervez Musharraf of nepotism saying that Nasimn Ashraf was chairman only because he was the president's friend.
  
• He brought up the match fixing issue mentioning that those players who were involved didn't get any bans and yet he was being banned.
  
• He also talked about instances where he was offered money to under perform yet refused to do so - he mentioned Johannesburg and India as the 2 places where he was offered money.
  
• He reminded everyone of the times when he played for Pakistan despite being injured or not fully fit because the team management demanded it.

Shoaib spoke about all this on camera. But what happened off it is what I think is going to start a war within Pakistan cricket!

Once the show ended, Star News ran a story on Shoaib Akhtar. They gave their views on him and reported about the ban and the reactions associated with it. Half an hour or so into the program the reporter contacted Hamid Mir via telephone.

Hamid Mir mentioned that he had just interviewed Shoaib Akhtar and spoke about the above mentioned points. As the Star News reporter probed further into Shoaib's criticism of Nasim Ashraf and the match fixing comment, Hamid Mir opened up and said that Shoaib Akhtar had made a number of glaring revelations off camera.

According Hamid Mir these were:

• Pakistani, South African, Indian, and Australian cricketers are all involved in match fixing.
  
• Shoaib Akhtar has been offered money to throw matches by cricketers from all these countries and in all these countries.
  
• Shoaib Akhtar slapped Moin Khan and Inzamam Ul Haq on 2 separate occasions inside the dressing room when they offered money to him to under perform.
  
• Briefcases full of money have been left in Shoaib's hotel rooms in South Africa and India by players from SA, Ind, and Pakistan to throw matches.

For Pakistani readers these stories have been heard of before but only partly - Shoaib getting into a spat with Moin Khan or Shoaib and Inzamam having arguements in the dressing room are commonly known facts but there were never any concrete stories as to why the spats took place. According to Hamid Mir, Shoaib Akhtar came clean on those incidents.

But even that is not what I think will shake Pakistan cricket. It is what Shoaib Akhtar said about Nasim Ashraf.

Hamid Mir told Star News that Shoaib Akhtar told him that he has always given a share of his match fees to Nasim Ashraf. Not only from matches played for Pakistan but also from those played for counties, World XIs, Asian XIs, etc. He also mentioned:

• The PCB Chairman demands a cut of the fees earned by all players representing Pakistan - whether is is their match fee for playing for Pakistan or their county contract.
  
• The latest cuts that are to be paid to Nasim Ashraf are those from the IPL contracts.
  
• All Pakistan players give a share to Nasim Ashraf to play for Pakistan.

After disclosing all this, Hamid Mir said that Shoaib told him that if his ban is not overturned he will go to court and go public with proof on all these allegations on Nasim Ashraf and the cricketers involved in match fixing.

Concluding his tele conversation with Star News, Hamid Mir signed off by saying that the PCB did not have any just reason for banning Shoaib and he thought that it had happened because of Shoaib treating Nasim Ashraf the same way he had treated former captains Moin Khan and Inzamam Ul Haq - i.e. with a slap.

In Hamid Mir's words: "ho sakta hai Shoaib ne Nasim Ashraf saahab ko bhi apne haath ka maza chakhaya hoga kabhi".

It could be a result of sour grapes on the part of Shoaib Akhtar or it could be a case of political motives on part of Hamid Mir but the kind of facts that have been disclosed, whether true, false, or exaggerated, are bound to shake up Pakistan cricket.

Shoaib has a case on his hands - against the PCB, against the cricketers, and against the man that banned him, Nasim Ashraf.

He claims he has proof of match fixing, nepotism, and demand of shares from players' fees.

He has threatened to go public with all these facts and proof.

Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has already passed on his request to the PCB to overturn the ban.

A lot has already happened within 36 hours of the announcement of the ban.

I sense a lot more is in store. The War has just started and I believe it will end in a reinstated Shoaib Akhtar and a sacked Nasim Ashraf.

Cricket20 is a website that covers everything and anything related to 20-20 cricket around the world. Be it the ICL, the IPL, the Pro20, Stanford Series, KFC 20-20 they have it all on Cricket20.

The website also publishes global rankings of domestic 20-20 teams from around the world and what I'm glad to see is that they don't bar the ICL teams from being ranked - thank God some people still have sense.

In their most recently updated list, the Lahore Badshahs are ranked at #3 behind the Victoria Bushrangers and the Sialkot Stallions.

The Lahore Badshahs are in their 1st season of 20-20 cricket and have swept aside all opposition in the on going ICL Edelweiss Grand Championship winning all 7 of their matches.

Led by former Pakistan captain, Inzamam Ul Haq, the Badshahs is made up of former international cricketers from Pakistan and a number of them have made a solid impact in the ongoing ICL tournament.

Here's a look at a few of the outstanding performances:

Inzamam Ul Haq: 50* off 43 deliveries to lead them to a 5 wicket win over defending champions, Chennai Superstars.

Azhar Mahmood 5-13 to dismiss the Hyderbabad Heroes for a paltry 86. He is also the 2nd highest wicket taker of the championship.

Imran Farhat: 94 off 54 balls with 8 sixes against the Chandigarh Lions leading the Badshahs to a match winning 187.

Hasan Raza: Bettered Farhat's effort, smashing an unbeaten 98 off only 52 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes to lead them to another match winning 187 against the Mumbai Champs.

Mushtaq Ahmed: 3-20 to bowl out Delhi Giants for only 103. Imran Nazir smashed a 47 ball unbeaten 60 to lad the Badshahs to an 8 wicket win.

The ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge enters the semifinal stage today with defending champions Chennai Superstars up against Hyderabad Heroes.

The Lahore Badshahs have entered the semis as the only team that has remained unbeaten in the 7 league games and they play the Kolkata Tigers tomorrow.

Moving back the above mentioned Cricket20 rankings - currently there are 22 teams on that list. Another 8 will be ranked once the IPL gets underway this month. Which of the IPL teams do you reckon will make it to the top 5 of this list?

Pakistan won the ODI World Cup on this day. 25th March 1992.

Not many Pakistan cricket fans will forget that date.

Maybe if we as a country had more to be proud of or had we won the world cup 4 times like the Aussies, 25th March wouldn't hold much significance. But the fact that that is the only time that Pakistan won the world cup and that too of a sport that is close to religion and life for some, 25th March is significant. It is very significant.

That period of the early 90s was also a good overall period for sports in Pakistan. Apart from the cricket world cup, Pakistan won the hockey world cup in 1994, Jansher Khan was the number 1 ranked squash player at that time, and Mohammad Yousuf (not the artist formerly known as Yohanna) was the world snooker champion. Sadly such is no more the case.

Moving back to happy times.

I was all of 12 when the 1992 world cup took place, and I was just starting to get the grasp of the nitty gritties of cricket as a player and a watcher.

The '92 world cup collided with the boom of the sattellite dish in the Middle East and watchingm LIVE cricket on TV apart from the tournaments held in Sharjah, was a new phenomenon in the UAE.

The dish in our house was installed on the day Pakistan was to start its campaign against the Windies. By the time the decoder caught the signal, Rameez Raja was approaching his 100 and Pakistan's innings was coming to a close.

Pakistan lost that match and also those against India and South Africa. A miracle gave them 1 point in the washed out match against England in which they had been bowled out for a mere 73. After the first 5 games out of 8 in the group stage, Pakistan had only managed to beat Zimbabwe and they had all of 3 points.

With 3 matches to go, the competition seemed over for Pakistan and the newspapers were full of criticism and some journalists had even gone to the extent of reporting the details of the flight that the Pakistani cricketers would be returning on.

The build up to the world cup was hardly any good for Pakistan. Skipper Imran Khan had a shoulder injury, which prevented him from bowling. Their pace spearhead Waqar Younis had broken down with a stress fracture of the back and was ruled out of the world cup. Javed Miandad had been initially dropped from the squad due to indifferent form and Saleem Malik was named the official Vice Captain. Miandad only made it to the squad when Imran Khan informed the management that he won't be able to play in the initial matches.

The squad comprised of a number of inexperienced young cricketers with minimal international experience - Inzamam-ul-Haq, Aamir Sohail, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed were only a year old in international cricket.

Moreover, with Miandad captaining the side ahead of official Vice Captain Saleem Malik when Imran Khan sat out the first few matches, Malik led a mini revolt inside the dressing room disturbing the young inexperienced team.

Many books and documentaries on Pakistan's '92 world cup victory have done the rounds and I'm not sure if this story has been told before. I am sharing it cause it is my favorite and it will probably go down as the moment that turned the tide for Imran Khan's cornered tigers.

The night before the match against Australia, Imran Khan had summoned his troops at the team hotel. Pakistan had just arrived at Perth from Brisbane where they had lost their match to South Africa. The team dressed in their green coats and khaki trousers waited for the skipper and in some time Imran Khan turned up wearing a T-shirt with a tiger printed on its front.

It was then that he spoke to the team about his dream of winning the world cup. About how he wanted everyone to pick themselves up. About how Saleem Malik should think whether he wants to play for Pakistan ever again or not. About how the Pakistanis were cornered like tigers and they had to win all their matches from here and also hope that other results are in their favor for having any chance to make it to the semis. Imran Khan spoke to each member personally in that meeting. He even held a press conference after that requesting the Pakistani public that he believed his team can do it and they all should pray for them.

Pakistan beat Australia the next day. They had never beaten Australia at Perth before that and I doubt they did ever again, but if anyone gets the chance to watch that match again, do so to see what Pakistan can do on a day they believe in themselves.

They went on to beat Sri Lanka in the next game and New Zealand as well who had not lost a single game the whole tournament. Australia managed to beat West Indies in their final league match, which gave Pakistan a ticket to the semi finals. 1 extra point from a rained off game had pushed Pakistan through. It was truly a miracle.

The rest, as everyone says, is history.

Pakistan had won 5 matches on the trot, new heroes were born, Imran Khan's dream had come true, and the Pakistani tigers had won the cricket World Cup!

These memories will hardly ever go.