Date-stamped : 14 Jun97 - 14:17 ΚΚ 13 June 1997 Youth team for England named sans captain By Samiul Hasan KARACHI, June 12: The national selection committee announced a well balanced and young 15-member team for the seven-week tour of England. The side includes three Test players and four internationals. The selectors met at the PIA Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon before the Chairman of Selectors, Salim Altaf, named the squad which did not include a captain."It is the domain of the PCB Executive Council to appoint a captain. We have done our job and now it is to be seen who leads the side," Salim Altaf told Dawn. The team is: Mohammad Wasim (Rawalpindi), Hasan Raza (Karachi), Farhan Adil (Karachi), Salim Elahi (Sahiwal), Mujahid Jamsheed (Lahore), Rana Qayyumul Hasan (Bahawalpur), Ali Naqvi (Karachi), Javed Qadeer (wicketkeeper) (Karachi), Azhar Mahmood (Islamabad), Shoaib Akhtar (Lahore), Fazl-i-Akbar (Peshawar), Abdul Razzak (Lahore), Irfan Fazil (Lahore), Ali Husain Rizvi (Karachi) and Shoaib Malik (Lahore). Although the PCB has not announced the managers, it is expected that Zaheer Abbas will be the tour manager while Haroon Rasheed will be the cricket manager. It is also anticipated that Mohammad Wasim, who has played two Tests and 10 odd one-day internationals, will skipper the side. Wasim also led the Pakistan Under-19 team to the West Indies last August where he earned a lot of praise for his leadership qualities and the way he handled his players. The team will assemble at Lahore on Sunday where it will undergo a 10-day training camp before leaving for England on June 26. The team is a combination of three openers viz Salim Elahi, Rana Qayyumul Hasan and Ali Naqvi, four middle-order batsmen-Mohammad Wasim, Hasan Raza, Mujahid Jamsheed and Farhan Adil-a seasoned wicketkeeper (Javed Qadeer), four seamers (Shoaib Akhtar, Fazl-i-Akbar, Abdul Razzak and Irfan Fazil) an allrounder (Azhar Mahmood), and two spinners, one wrist spinner Ali Husain Rizvi and the other finger spinner Shoaib Malik. While the selectors have left little room for criticism, the omission of skipper Ahmar Saeed, talented opener Shadab Kabir and virtually unknown HBFC's Patron's Trophy Grade Two batsman Ali Naqvi are surprising. Ahmar Saeed skippered the Youth team against England juniors, against South Africa in South Africa and then in the home series against Australia Under-19. The performance of Ahmar had been satisfactory if not outstanding. He led Pakistan Under-19 to 2-0 win over South Africa besides scored 200 odd runs and taking 10 odd wickets while also led well in the home series against Australia Under-19 which ended in a 1-1 draw. Shadab Kabir, who toured England with the senior side last summer, has been ignored though Salim Elahi has been selected. Chief Selector, Salim Altaf, said: "Salim Elahi did get some runs in the domestic circuit (546 in Patron's Trophy at 39.00)." Salim Elahi, for this performance, was rewarded with a tour of Sri Lanka in April where he had innings of 0, 0 and 14. Shadab Kabir, on the contrary, did reasonably well in England and his performance on the Under-19 tour of South Africa was also satisfactory and hit three half centuries and a 135. Kabir, the left-hander, it may be recalled, had earned a lot of praise for his talent and stroke-play. The average age of the 15-member team is 22 years with Mujahid Jamsheed, who also toured England in 1990 with the Under-19 side, being the oldest member at 26. Mujahid, who scored 621 runs in the Patron's Trophy at 51.75, also played in two one-day internationals in Australia where he went as one of the two replacements. Leg-spinner Ali Husain Rizvi has been rewarded for his excellent bowling performance in the domestic season where he finished with 56 wickets. He bagged 20 wickets in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and 36 wickets in the Patron's Trophy. "We have preferred him over Imran Tahir (Under-19 player) not only because of his domestic show, but also because he has an experience of two junior series (against New Zealand, England)," selector Haroon Rasheed said. Rana Qayyumul Hasan, who led Pakistan Under-19 in the home series against New Zealand two years ago, was penalised for submitting age documents of a girl to prove his age under 19. Although, his performance in the 1996-97 has not been outstanding, it is believed he has impressed the selectors with his technique and temperament. The only non first-class player in the 15-member side in 16-year-old paceman Irfan Fazil who has been selected purely on personal liking. "He has impressed us all. He has the potential to become a good fast bowler. He was excellent in the third `Test' against Australian Under-19 as well as in the one-day series," Altaf and Rasheed commented. However, it is still unknown about the fitness of paceman Abdul Razzak who was hospitalised in India after rupturing his thigh vain. His selection, nevertheless, gives an indication that he might have just gained fitness though there are no reports if the selectors have taken his fitness test or studied the medical reports of the pacer. All in all, the selectors have done a very good job and need a pat on the back for forming a clear-cut future policy. The selectors proved that they had a long vision when they decided to include Mohammad Wasim and Hasan Raza for the England tour rather then wasting them in Sri Lanka where Pakistan will play in the Asia Cup next month. "The English exposure will make the two even better players. We decided that it would be a wastage of money, talent and opportunity if the two go to Sri Lanka where Pakistan will play a maximum of four one-day internationals. In England, the two will have a full chance to play in the entire series," Salim Altaf stated. "I will be more anxious to watch the performance of Hasan Raza because I feel he is a real future asset having all the shots in his armoury. He has a couple of technical faults, I am sure they will be eliminated on this tour," the chief selector added. Salim Altaf stated that since Pakistan has to play in the Asia Cup, a few cricketers had to be left out so that they were available for selection for that tour. "We want to prepare an experienced side for the Asia Cup," he said. The team for the Asia Cup, Salim Altaf added, would be finalised in the next 10 days. Source:: Dawn (http://dawn.com/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)