Talent has not dried up, claims NCA coach

Muhammad Akram feels players with potential just need to be groomed better

KARACHI: Former Test cricketer and National Cricket Academy (NCA) head coach Muhammad Akram has refuted the notion that talent is drying up in Pakistan and believes potential of players needs to be channelled to allow them to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket.

Some former players have been bemoaning the dearth of backup talent coming through the domestic cricket but that is not the case according to those who are closely involved with the system. “We’re getting talent from our domestic cricket and youth teams but we have to nurture them in a way that they can serve the national team well,” Akram told The Express Tribune. “The Pakistan Cricket Board has resumed A side’s tours, which are essential for second-string players. I’ve advised the board to arrange tours to England, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand because tours in Asia do not provide the players with any new challenge.”

The 40-year-old, who represented Pakistan in nine Tests and 23 ODIs at a time when the national team was full of superstars, stated that if the fringe players had already played in alien conditions, then they would be ready for the Pakistan side when they make their breakthrough.

Akram earmarked left-arm pacers Mir Hamza and Ziaul Haq, along with all-rounder Zafar Gohar as the players to watch in the near future.

“Mir Hamza has a terrific attitude and he is a workaholic; someone who can move the ball both ways and can bowl well with the old ball too,” stated Akram. “Similarly, Zia has got the pace while Zafar is a really cool customer as an all-rounder. I think they are the ones to be watched.”

Meanwhile, he stressed that there is a need to work at the U16 level to prepare quality players from a young age and admitted that coaching personnel need to be changed in regions.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2015.

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