Karachi: Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said on Thursday he will fly to Australia next week to see a specialist after injuring his left knee.
But the 30-year-old said he hoped to regain fitness in time for Pakistan's summer tour of England, despite also suffering problems with the other knee and his left ankle.
"I am going to Australia next week to have a specialist's opinion on the two injured knees and if they advise an operation then I will go through it and hopefully get fit for the England tour," Akhtar said.
"I don't want to miss the England tour, and hope that I make it after healing the injuries," said Akhtar.
Akhtar, who has taken 165 wickets in 42 Tests and 199 wickets in 129 One-Day internationals, said he would consult Australian surgeon David Young next week.
A Pakistan Cricket Board medical panel diagnosed the degenerative disease in his left knee but Akhtar said his right knee has also caused him trouble for a long time.
"Both my knees were causing problems but I played on despite these injuries, just for the sake of my team," said Akhtar, who took just four wickets in Pakistan's 1-0 home Test series win against India early this month.
Pakistan will tour England from mid-June to play four Tests and five ODIs, and Akhtar said he desperately wants to play.
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New Delhi: Maharashtra in particular and the country in general may be facing the avian flu virus, but the India and England cricket teams playing their first test in Nagpur from March 1, will as usual relish the delicacy of chickens.
"Both the teams will be served the delicious variety of chicken both in the hotel as well as in the lunch intervals during the five day test, commencing here on Wednesday," General Manager of Hotel Pride, which is hosting both the teams, G Bhattacharya said.
English team is arriving in Nagpur on February 26 from Mumbai, while members of Indian team would arrive by Sunday.
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Bhattacharya said "we are taking enough care and since the chicken preparations are cooked at a temperature of not less than 70 centigrade, the virus is killed. We will be more cautious and may go in for higher temperature to make sure that the preparation is cent per cent virus free."
In case of eggs, no half boiled eggs would be served but only hard boiled eggs would be given, he said.
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Johannesberg: United Cricket Board of South African (UCBSA) CEO Gerald Majola has called on the locals to refrain from hurling racial taunts at the touring Australian side and asked them to follow the principle of reconcilliation propagated by the country's first black President and Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela.
"We want to show that one can support your nation fully and vocally, without resorting to racially abusing your opponents as happened to the Proteas in Australia," Majola said.
"Our icons are people like Nelson Mandela, who believes in building the rainbow nation by bringing people together through sport. We must never let this arena for Madiba's (Mandela) reconciliation of people from diverse backgrounds be sullied by racism," he added.
The UCBSA chief said while the fans were free to be loud and vocal in their support they should not follow the Australians in abusing the players.
"We want to show those people that there is no place for that kind of behaviour," he said.
The six-week long series between the two sides gets underway on Friday with a Twenty20 match in Johannesberg and the World Champions are anticipating hostile crowds during their stay in South Africa.
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Karachi: Pakistan will start its second Twenty20 tournament from Friday though it had opposed the International Cricket Council's (ICC) move to bring the Twenty20 cricket in the international arena.
Pakistan along with India opposed ICC's proposal to start Twenty20 World Cup.
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Sydney: The much anticipated hostile reception from the crowds in South Africa does not worry Aussie vice-captain Adam Gilchrist because the washbuckling opener knows how to silence them.
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"If you can hear each other speak in a One-Day international, you know you're on top. That's obviously our goal, to keep knocking those guys over,'' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Gilchrist asked his teammates not to get affected by the charged up atmosphere during the series, which gets underway on Friday in Johannesberg with a Twenty20 match.
"It affects some in different ways than it does others," he said.
"You can't get over-sensitive with it, whether that's here or anywhere. Even in our own country, when we lost that first (VB Series) final in Adelaide we were getting absolutely hammered by our own crowds (with) serious abuse, so you've got to just put it in perspective and trust what you are doing is right," he added.
Meanwhile, South African Cricket Board's General Manager Brian Basson told the daily that extra security measures will be taken to prevent any untoward incident during the series.
Earlier, Proteas wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and fast bowler Andre Nel called on the crowds to abuse the visiting Oz team after the Graeme Smith led South Africans were racially abused by crowds Down Under.
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Lahore: Former Pakistan captains Moin Khan and Rashid Latif have been enlisted by a UK-based Islamic organisation for raising funds for last year's earthquake victims in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The two players recently accompanied the organisation's relief team to Muzaffarabad on a two-day visit and said they were disturbed to see the extent of damage caused by the calamity.
"It was a very moving experience for us as we were not aware of the large-scale destruction caused by the earthquake. It shook us to see the human misery," Moin said.
"Clearly, a lot more needs to be done for the victims," Rashid said.
Rashid and vice-captain Younis Khan donated their cricket kits for raising funds for the victims of the temblor, which killed thousands of people.
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Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced cash awards of Rs 200,000 for each member of the Pakistan Under-19 squad that won the Junior World Cup in Sri Lanka after beating India in the final.
PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan announced the award after receiving the victorious team at the National Stadium in Karachi, The Daily Times said.
The colts, led by Sarfraz Ahmed, beat India by 37 runs in a sensational low-scoring final in Colombo on Sunday.
Shaharyar said after losing the One-Day series against India, the cricket lovers in the country were disappointed but the junior cricketers had brought smiles back on the faces by winning the Junior World Cup.
"Though Australia have won the Under-19 World Cup twice but Pakistan have created a new record by defending their title," he said.
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