Since we have a number of good posters on this forum I was wondering if any of you might like to get together in this thread and collectively choose a Pakistan A side (future Test players) based on the WAT criteria:

(1) Under 30 (2) Less than 6 Test matches played (3) Team should be balanced for the purposes of playing in a tournament in a one innings (90 overs), two-day format.

It would be good if you could review your selections at the end of the season as some players may present a strong case to be included on form. One or two players in your current team may become unqualified due to the age criteria between now and the end of the season.

Those who participate in this exercise will have a special title added next to their username: WAT Pakistan A Selector.

__________________
Administrator

Yikes, this is going to count out a lot of promising young talent: most of the people who should really be in an 'A' side and learning their trade have a stack of caps already!

Kaneria is not yet 24 and has 20 caps.
Shoaib Malik is not yet 23 and has 7 caps.
Imran Farhat is not yet 23 and has 21 caps.
Taufeeq Umar is not yet 24 and has 22 caps.
Abdul Razzaq is not yet 25 and has 30 caps.
Mohammad Sami is not yet 24 and has 16 caps.
Shahid Afridi is not yet 25 and has 14 caps.
Kamran Akmal is not yet 23 and has 7 caps.
Faisal Iqbal is not yet 23 and has 10 caps.

Shabbir Ahmed is eligible on age (28) but is another who has too many caps (7). Yasir Hameed (aged 27) is another marginally older player eligible on age who is a relative novice but has too many (12) caps. Saleem Elahi is eligible on age but has 13 caps.

Asim Kamal (aged 28, 5 caps) will presumably head the list of those eligible at present... but as with Umar Gul (aged 20, 5 caps) that's only until the next Test series.. where he's likely to get his 6th cap. Mohammad Zahid may miss the boat (he's 28) but remains just eligible on 5 caps. Fazl-e-Akbar is another who is not yet 25 and yet has 5 caps. Hasan Raza is not even 23 and has 5 caps.

Naved-ul-Hasan (age 26, 1 cap) and Salman Butt (age 20, 1 cap) are probably the only guys who have made an impact who look like being eligible for more than the next few months!

Yikes, this is going to end up a pretty thin list: Riaz Afridi (not yet 20, 1 cap) anyone?

Rachael, as you know, this board aims to focus on up-and-coming players more than other boards are willing to do. Based on the amount of caps some of these players have we can say they are established players who are already part of the Test setup. However, there must be other players on the fringes of selection who deserve our attention. I'll be most interested to see who our Pakistan forum selectors think they are.

__________________
Administrator

As Racheal points out Mike, selecting such a squad will be quite a task since most of our fringe players have played a few test matches, I'm doing a little check and then I'll post an initial squad of some players, and gradually thin it down to a team.

Here I go:

Bowlers:

Those who qualify:
1. Umar Gul (Aged 20, 5 test caps) right arm fast medium*
2. Rao Iftikhar Anjum (Aged 23, 0 test caps) right arm fast medium
3. Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan (Aged 26, 1 test cap) right arm fast medium
4. Riaz Afridi (Aged 19, 1 test cap) right arm fast medium
5. Adbur Rauf (20 something, 0 test matches) Right arm fast
6. Mohammad Khalil (Aged 23, 0 test matches) Left arm fast medium
7. Yasir Ali (Aged 19, I test cap) Right arm fast medium
8. Mohammad Zahid (Aged 28, 5 test matches) Right arm fast medium
9. Mohammad Arshad (Aged 19 or 20, 0 test matches) Right arm fast (really fast)
10. Fazle Akbar (Aged 24, 5 test matches) Right arm fast medium
11. Waqar Ahmed (Aged 24, 0 test caps) Right arm fast medium
12. Fahad Masood (Aged 23, 0 test caps) (Right Arm Fast Medium)
13. Hidayatullah Khan (Aged 19 or 20, 0 test caps) (leg spinner)
14. Mansoor Amjad (Aged 20 something, 0 test caps) (leg spinner)

*though he qualifies as according to the criteria set up by WAT selectors, but in an ideal word he should be a part of the Pakistan first choice squad, now though he is rehabilitating after a serious back injury.

Those who don't qualify:
1. Saqlain Mushtaq (Aged 27, 49 test caps) right arm off spinner
2. Arshad Khan (Aged 338 test caps) right arm off spinner
3. Mushtaq Ahmed (Aged 34 , 52 test caps) leg spinner
The following are not eligible for a fringe team in my opinion, because I would prefer to have them in the first choice squad.
4. Shabbir Ahmed (Aged 28, 7 test caps) right arm fast medium
5. Mohammad Sami (Aged 23, 16 test caps) right arm fast
6. Danish Kaneria (Aged 23, 20 test caps) leg spinner

Batsmen:

Those who qualify:
1) Salman Butt (Aged 20, 1 test cap) left hand bat, opener*
2) Mohammad Hafeez (Aged 24, 3 test caps) right hand bat, opener
3) Bazid Khan (Aged 23, 0 test caps) right hand bat, opener and/or at 3
4) Asim Kamal (aged 28, 5 caps) left hand bat, middle order
5) Farhan Adil (aged 27, 1 test cap) right hand bat, middle order
6) Saeed bin Nasser (Aged 25, 0 test caps) right hand bat, middle order
7) Hasan Raza (Aged 22, 5 test caps) right hand bat, middle order
8) Faisal Athar (Aged 29, 0 test caps) right hand bat, top order, usually 3
9) Naved Latif (Aged 28, 1 test cap) right hand bat, opener or 3/4
10) Khaqan Arsal (19 or 20, 0 test caps) middle order bat
11) Sohail Ahmed (Early 20s, 0 test caps) opener
12) Adnan Akmal (Early 20s, 0 test caps) middle order bat
13) Salman Qadir (aged either 19 or 20, 0 test matches) top (usually at 3) and/or middle order bat
* even though he qualifies as a WAT players, I’d rather prefer seeing him in my first choice squad

Those who don't qualify:
1) Imran Nazir (Aged 22, 8 test caps) right hand opener
2) Saleem Elahi (Aged 27, 13 test caps) left hand opener
3) Wajahatullah Wasti (Aged 30, 6 test matches) right hand opener
4) Misbah-ul-Haq (Aged 30, 5 test matches) right hand middle order bat
5) Faisal Iqbal (Aged 22, 10 test caps) right hand middle order bat
6) Aamir Bashir (Aged 32, 0 test caps) top to middle order bat
The following are not eligible for a fringe team in my opinion, because I would prefer to have them in the first choice squad.
7) Taufeeq Umar (Aged 23, 22 test caps) left hand opener
8) Imran Farhat (Aged 22, 21 test caps) left hand opener
9) Yasir Hameed (Aged 27, 12 test caps) right hand top order bat
10) Younus Khan (Aged 26, 29 test caps) right hand top to middle order bat

All rounders:

Those who qualify:
1) Junaid Zia (Aged 20, 0 test caps) right arm fast medium, right hand lower to middle order bat
2) Bilal Asad (Aged 26, 0 test caps) right arm medium, right hand middle order bat
3) Yasir Arafat (Aged 22, 0 test caps) right hand medium, right hand middle order bat

Those who don't qualify
1) Azhar Mahmood (Aged 29, 21 test matches) right hand fast medium, right hand middle order bat
The following are not eligible for a fringe team in my opinion, because I would prefer to have them in the first choice squad.
2) Shoaib Malik (Aged 22, 7 test caps) right arm off spinner, right hand top to middle order bat
3) Abdul Razzaq (Aged 24, 30 test caps) right arm fast medium, right hand to middle order bat

Wicket keeper
1) Zulqarnain Haider (early 20s, 0 tests) Right hand bat
2) Atiquz Zaman (Aged 20, 1 test cap) right hand bat

A provisional Pakistan A team squad would therefore be something on these lines:

Openers: Mohammad Hafeez, Naved Latif, Sohail Ahmed
Number 3: Bazid Khan, Faisal Athar, Salman Qadir
Middle order: Asim Kamal, Farhan Adil, Saeed bin Nasir, Adnan Akmal, Khaqan Arsal, Hasan Raza
All rounders: Junaid Zia, Bilal Asad, Yasir Arafat
W/k: Zulqarnain Haider, Attiquzaman
Fast bowlers: Adbur Rauf, Mohammad Arshad
Fast medium bowlers: Rana Naveed, Rao Iftikhar, Riaz Afridi, Mohammad Khalil, Yasir Ali, Mohammad Zahid, Fazle Akbar, Waqar Ahmed, Fahad Masood
Spinners: Hidayatullah Khan, Mansoor Amjad

From that my Pakistan a team would be

1) Sohail Ahmed
2) Mohammad Hafeez
3) Bazid Khan
4) Hasan Raza
5) Asim Kamal
6) Bilal Asad
7) Zulqarnain Haider
8) Rana Naveed
9) Mansoor Amjad
10) Mohammad Arshad
11) Mohammad Khalil

Comment: Naved Latif has to miss out to Sohail Ahmed because from his brief time at the international circuit I had the feeling he was a flat track bully; additionally Sohail Ahmed is taller than Latif and a some what better fielder as well. Mohammad Hafeez can also bowl more than useful gentle off spinners, and during his sustained run in the post world cup Pakistan one-day team in my eyes he gained a reputation of being a one-strike bowler, on the lines of Chris Gayle. Bazid Khan’s domestic record is too impressive for him to be not given another chance, and hence I have preferred him over the lesser experienced but extremely exciting prospect Salman Qadir (son of Abdul Qadir) and Pakistan Academy player Faisal Athar. It was a difficult task picking just 2 middle order from a group of very promising names likes Adnan Akmal, Khaqan Arsal, Farhan Adil etc, but I’ve eventually gone for experience again and kept faith in Asim Kamal, who will now owing to the return of Younus Khan most probably not find a regular place in the national side. Hasan Raza has been treated very poorly by the selectors, thankfully he is still young enough for him to have another crack at highest level, exposure with the A team will be a good precursor for an international come back in the near future. Coming to the number 6 spot, unlike Junaid Zia both Arafat and Bilal Asad are batting all rounders, and since I’ve already opted for 4 man bowling attack I’ve preferred having the extra batting in the line up. Bilal Asad has been preferred because he's older. Hidayatullah Khan, the leggie who impressed at the under 19 world cup, has been over looked in favor of Mansoor Amjad, because Khan needs to work on his action a bit and Amjad is also taller, and hence more likely to extract bounce. The rest of the fast bowling attack was relatively simple to chose, I wanted to have a left armer in there, so Mohammad Khalil kept the likes of Rao Iftikhar, Riaz Afridi and others out-of-contention. Rana Naveed will not find a place in the one-day team once Ahmed is fit again, and therefore he must play for the A side. As far as Mohammad Arshad is concerned, popular believe in Karachi is that this lad can bowl faster than even Shoaib Akhtar, and so he must be tried. Finally the wicket keeping gloves will be handed to Zulqarnain Haider instead of Attiaquzaman because Haider is in my opinion the better keeper of the two.

Rachael, that is very impressive research, must have taken quite a while, but is definitely invaluable. It seems you have gone through the PwC ratings to pick up all Pakistani caps of note, as I don't see any major omissions.

Well done!

__________________
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

Sensational stuff Zainub - I look forward to seeing what others make of THIS little lot!!!

Excellent post Zainub, and some very good selections.

A question for Mike - what is the purpose of the A team squad? Is to identify up and coming talent, who can one day be Test regulars? Or, is it simply to select the best group of 16 players not in the first-team?

If its the former, then many Pakistani players, who are very good in domestic cricket, would be discarded as they have all been tried briefly at international level and found wanting, or they are the wrong side of 25, and hence, in most cases deemed too old by the selectors to be given a try (particulary true for bowlers).

For instance, a 27 y.o. fast bowler may be a better bet now than a 21 year old rookie. However, the former could have been given 3 or 4 caps earlier and will definitely not be selected for the Test team again.

Second question - do we select the A team after we have removed all those who should be in the first team's playing 11 only, or everyone in the first team squad? I presume its the former, since the England A team includes Bell, Pieterson and Collingwood, one or two of whom would probably end up being in the 16 to tour SA, and definitely both Bell and Pieterson would expect to be part of the squad by next year.

__________________
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

I've selected only those who I beleive at this point in time have virtully no chance to get a place in the first xi.

Sure Zainub but you have also excluded some others on the basis that you would like to see them in the first team squad. If are selecting the A team after the first team squad has been selected, this is fine.

However, if the A team can include players who are in the first team squad and only excludes those in the actual first xi, then there will be some you have excluded who should be re-considered for the A team - eg Salman Butt and Umar Gul (when fit). This is assuming these two will not be in the first xi - I am making that assumption on the basis that they were not in either of Pakistan's last two Tests, though for different reasons of course!

__________________
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

You're right, Butt and Gul would have been in my A team had I not been considering them for the senior side, from what I have understood the creteria for selection is just that a certain player should be less than 30 years old and played fewer than 6 matches, doesn't matter if they are a regular in your first choice team or not (I think it depends upon your own liking and preference, but I think you're asking because you seem to on the verge of selecting your own team as well, I'm not sure, you should wait for Mike to respond, or perhaps ask Racheal (or Beny who is a WAT Australia A selector)