Pakistan to rebuild cricket team after defeat, Woolmer murder

dpa German Press Agency Published: Saturday March 31, 2007

Islamabad- Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Nasim
Ashraf on Saturday made an impassioned pledge to revamp the national
team and cricket culture following the recent World Cup defeat in
West Indies and the unsolved murder of coach Bob Woolmer.
Announcing his board's reconstitution, Ashraf told journalists in
the city of Lahore that contracts of all the players now stood
suspended and new performance-based agreements would be signed within
the next three months.

"Everything our whole nation is feeling about the debacle in the
West Indies is justified," Asraf said after an outpouring of shock
and anger at home amid rumours of match-fixing and Woolmer's possible
intention to blow the whistle on intrigues behind the scenes.

The chairman stressed that there would also now be special
emphasis on mental toughness and improved physical condition of
players, who have been criticised for putting their own interests and
financial status before the game itself.

The national team came under severe criticism after its March 17
humiliation by the Irish team that also prevented Pakistan from
clearing the championship's initial round in Jamaica.

The defeat was immediately overshadowed the next day after
Pakistani coach Woolmer was found unconscious in his room and later
pronounced dead in hospital. After five days of investigation police
announced they were treating his death as homicide.

While acknowledging that Pakistan was in the spotlight as one of
its team members died, Ashraf said, "We were not suspects or anything
of that nature, we were witnesses and recording witness statements
like everybody else.

"We want to get to the truth, our team members are innocent," he
stressed.

"We have to find the people who did this ... but this
investigation is not an easy investigation," said Ashrad, praising
the efforts of the Jamaican police and the treatment of the Pakistani
team and management.

Woolmer's funeral was due to take place in Cape Town in South
Africa where the PCB chairman said he would represent his team and
country.

Long-term cricketing plans announced by Ashraf included the
selection of 25 children below the age of 13 through a national
talent hunt and their grooming for future stardom during a
state-financed education in Lahore where the PCB has its
headquarters.

"This will be the nucleus from which the Pakistani cricket team
will emerge," he observed terming the talk about the demise of
Pakistani cricket "grossly exaggerated."

Promising massive investment in the development of youth cricket,
Ashraf noted that one billion rupees (more than 16 million US
dollars) would also be invested for the development of grounds and
pitches across the country.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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