PCB may seek Bedi's expertise

Concerned over the dearth of quality spinners in the country, chief selector Wasim Bari has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to invite legendary Indian left-arm spinner Bishen Singh Bedi for a special training camp for upcoming bowlers.

Bari said he proposed that a specialized spinners' clinic be held at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore under the supervision of Bedi and homegrown former spin stars Iqbal Qasim, Mushtaq Muhammad and Abdul Qadir.

"Bedi is still considered as one of the finest exponents of spin bowling and we feel his presence and tutelage would benefit our youngsters a lot," Bari was quoted as saying by Islamabad daily The News.

He said the proposal was to pick a group of seven to eight of the best spinners in all categories for specialized training.

Bari's recommendation is seen as a significant change in the mindset of PCB officials, who had reacted angrily to reports about Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram taking up an assignment as India's bowling coach.

"Pakistan is not short of talent in the pace bowling department. More and more youngsters are coming through. But we have lacked quality spinners for a while now and we need to address this problem urgently to take home advantage," Bari, a former wicketkeeper, said.

He said he had asked the PCB to provide a list of players who had gone to England to play county and club cricket.

"We are still awaiting the list. We want to know which player is available and who is out of the country and this will help us in preparing for the one-day tournament in Malaysia from May 29," he said.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are due to play three one-dayers in Malaysia, but Bari said due to non-availability of leading bowlers, like Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik and Saqlain Mushtaq  -- all scheduled to play county cricket in England -- the selectors will have to pick fringe bowlers for the event.

He said the selectors had held discussions among themselves on the positive and negative gains of the home series against India but so far there was no direct discussion with the PCB, its chairman, chief executive, captain or coach for future planning.