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Cricket Buzz: Ajmal claims declined Pak's T20 captaincy
Veteran Pakistani cricketer Saeed Ajmal, who is widely regarded as the world's best off-spinner, has reportedly claimed that he declined an offer to become the captain of the team's national Twenty20 side in order to concentrate on his bowling.
Ajmal claims to have declined captaining the Pakistan national team because he did not want any unnecessary pressure and wanted to focus on his bowling.
According to the Dawn, Ajmal said that he was reluctant to take the reigns of Pakistan's T20 squad that was offered to him after Mohammed Hafeez resigned in April, saying that he feels that he is better as a team player.
Ajmal said that he does not think about being captain of Pakistan, but he is reluctant too, adding that captaincy in the country is not easy as the skipper ends up being blamed for anything that goes wrong.
The off-spinner said that Hafeez resigned after Pakistan's exit from this year's World T20 tournament because all the blame was being dumped on him.
Ajmal said that he has been approached for captaincy but he declined, adding that he wants to be relaxed about his cricket.
Watchdog questions England's use of ex-Lankan cricket coach
Global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has revealed that England's decision to hunt Sri Lanka's head coach Paul Farbrace and then use him immediately in a serious against his former side is a sign of 'out-dated' sports governance.
Questions have reportedly been raised on whether England's decision to hunt Sri Lanka's head coach Paul Farbrace and then immediately use him in a series against his former side was ethical and in line with the spirit of cricket.
According to the Island Cricket, Transparency International, the global anti-corruption watchdog, weighed in on the matter with the agency's executive director Dr Robert Barrington saying that in the business world this would be considered a clear conflict of interest.
Barrington added that it would be unusual for a senior employee to move to a competitor and work for them immediately in competition with their previous employer.
Barrington said that it is more common in sports as when football club managers switch teams, adding that sports governance unfortunately often reflects the charming but out-dated approach of the amateur age, when informal structures were bolstered by personal integrity.
Barrington said that cricket's recent problems with match-fixing demonstrate that the game's governance needs to be updated, and the rejection by the ICC of the Woolf report proposing such reforms means that cricket's global leadership is not setting a good example.
Sri Lanka will face hosts England in the fourth match of the ongoing five-match series on Sunday at Lord's, which is home to the holiest shrine of cricket and custodians of the sport's laws, the report added.