PCB calls up players for skill, fitness camps

All central players to be involved in preparation for tour of UK

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have summoned all centrally contracted players, along with a few others, for a fitness and a skills camp ahead of the Men in Green’s tour of the United Kingdom.

The fitness camp and testing will take place on April 9 and 10, while the skill camp begins on April 11 and runs till April 23, with players expected to depart for the tour at the end of this month.

Middle-order batsman Fawad Alam, who has been a glaring miss in the side for the past couple of years despite some stellar performances in both domestic and international circles, has also been called up for the camp and may be in line for a return to the side.

Pakistan will play against county side Kent in a four-day warm-up game before taking on Ireland in a historic Test on April 11, with the Malahide one-off Test being the first-ever played by the minnows.

After the Test, Pakistan head to England for what is likely to be a much sterner Test. Sarfraz Ahmed’s men take on the hosts in two Tests followed by a couple of T20I clashes with Scotland.

Pakistan continue to place particular importance on fitness and the two-day test takes place before the squad for the three Tests is announced. The test will have a bearing on the final selection and the selected players will then be involved in the skills camp.

Three or four players are expected to then be sent for the Scotland T20Is as Pakistan seek to continue the form that has seen them top the T20I rankings for some time now.

Fortunes in Test cricket have not been as good though, with Pakistan suffering a 2-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka at home that saw them suffer a considerable slip down the rankings table in the longest format of the game.