Javed Miandad is to be replaced as coach of Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board says the decision has been taken because Miandad is needed to work at the PCB's headquarters in Lahore.

Javed, a former Pakistan captain, had been appointed to guide the team through to the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. But his team lost the recent five-match one-day series in New Zealand and were beaten by an innings and 185 runs in the final Test.

"The chairman of the PCB wants Miandad to look after the day-to-day affairs in the cricket headquarters," a PCB spokesman said.

It has also emerged that Miandad had offered to relinquish his position after the disappointing tour. "I have offered to resign before and will step down if asked," he said.

Asked about relieving Javed Miandad from the coach's job in a press conference, the Chairman of the PCB, General Tauqir Zia said: "I desperately needed Javed on the advisory panel, as there was hitherto only one cricketer there, in Rameez Raja."

Miandad, meanwhile, distanced himself from the team's failures in New Zealand. Visibly incited by allegations levelled against him regarding the team's poor showing, Javed claimed that Pakistan had been depleted by injuries to key players. About his coaching capabilities, he said, "a coach's job is out of the field, what the players do on the field is beyond his grasp…"

Speculation has started regarding the identity of the new coach but Geoff Boycott, who recently completed a short term coaching assignment with young Pakistan players and is a friend of General Zia, is sure to be a candidate.

The PCB also announced that Waqar Younis would captain the side for the triangular tournament in Sharjah later this month.

Zia once again denied that excerpts from the team manager's report were leaked to the press, dismissing the Dawn report as a fake.

Claiming the 'sacredness' of the Manager's report, the chairman said that it is a confidential document, which cannot in any circumstances be divulged to the press. He added: "it is a million dollar question how the report got leaked, if at all it did?"

The Chairman stated that the full text of the report is being typed, and being a lengthy subject the process will take seven days. However, he revealed that Mr. Aizazuddin had read out the salient points of the report before the members of the PCB Advisory Council this morning, and: "I assure you that there is nothing in it which matches with what the press published in the name of the report."

Aizazuddin refuted the suggestion that he is to take legal action, remarking: "My conscience is crystal clear, and I do not feel the need to take the matter to the court."

Full Squad for Sharjah:

Imran Farhat Saeed Anwar Shahid Afridi Inzamam-ul-Haq (Vice Captain) Younis Khan Abdur Razzaq Humayun Farhat Shoaib Malik Saqlain Mushtaq Waqar Younis (Captain) Mohammad Sami Faisal Iqbal Imran Nazir Yasir Arafat Kashif Raza

Mr. Yawar Saeed (Manager) Mr. Dale Naylor (Trainer/Physio)

© CricInfo Ltd