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SHARJAH, April 9: Former cricket captain Wasim Akram has emphasized that without a lot of work, Pakistan team would not do well in the World Cricket Cup 2003.

We need to have 25 players who train together and play regularly for. You can't have guys going in and out of the team. There needs to be some consistency and players need confidence.

"We have to set up this system immediately so that the players can get familiar with international cricket and the way the team works. The players need to understand each other's game and get used to playing with one another", he said in an interview here.

Wasim, the highest wicket taker for the country in Test matches and one-dayers said fast bowling is doing just fine. "We have lot of good young bowlers like Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Sami, who is a great find.

"It's batting we should worry about. There is no one besides Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan and Saeed Anwar, if he is fit. You need players who can turn a match and do it on a consistent basis. I don't know if there are good batsmen around but I do know that they haven't been found", he observed.

Replying to a question, he contended that the International Cricket Council ICC is "useless as a governing body. Umpires with eye problems are still around and the ICC hasn't done anything.

"There is no point in a captain filing a report about the umpire because nothing is done. We complained about umpiring after the West Indies and Australian tours but nothing came of it. This bias will continue until we get some Asians in the ICC management", Wasim Akram noted.

He felt it needs to be realized that most of the money generated by the game comes from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. "We really need to do something about the ICC".

Responding to another question on how Asian countries unite if India refuses to play against Pakistan, the former skipper said "we really need to play India but I don't think ties will resume any time soon. We recently invited them to play in Pakistan but they again refused. I don't see us competing unless something dramatic happens".-PPI

© Dawn