19 October 2004	Tuesday	04 Ramazan 1425

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LAHORE, Oct 18: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shaharyar M. Khan said on Monday that national team lacked physical fitness because of which it failed in achieving desired results in recent matches.

"Lack of fitness is a chronic problem due to which players failed to give their best," he said.

Shaharyar said English coach, Bob Woolmer had voiced his concern over lack of physical fitness of players and informed him that the problem needed to be rectified.

"He (Woolmer) is working on this grey area and probably it would take at least six months to gain improvement," he said. "After overcoming the problem we can hope better performance."

"It was the poor fitness due to which sometimes bowlers did not perform well, while batsmen and fielders failed to deliver," he added.

PCB official said despite team's recent defeats at home and abroad he was satisfied with the performance of the team as it was showing gradual improvement but admitted the fact that it failed to end the victory drought.

"It is a reality that we have not won any tournament and our performance in finals and crucial matches is disappointing. But if we analyse overall performance, it is satisfactory to know that we are improving because of our victories in matches. There is no justification in calling our side chokers," he said.

While he expressed disappointment over the long victory drought, he said the team was going through rebuilding phase which, he said, would take some time.

"We have young players in our ranks and we have to develop a culture of commitment and mental toughness to cope with demanding situations. The way the foreign coach is working I am sure we will soon emerge as a new force in cricket."

PCB chairman said there was no short cut to success and it was time to concentrate on weaker areas of the team and to take remedial measures.

"It is not a right statement that there is no improvement in the team under Woolmer's supervision. It is unfair to expect success overnight. We have to be patient and have to work hard to turn our team into a winning combination," he opined.

Shaharyar said since PCB was endeavouring to lift the standard of the team the selectors were trying out different combinations. "It is not fair to blame selectors for defeats."

"We have to give opportunity to every player and that is why the selectors did some experiments in the recent series."-APP