May 17, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1428

LAHORE, May 16: Only 17 out of the 38 players invited for the National Cricket Academy specialization coaching camp appeared at the NCA on Wednesday. The camp is being supervised by former captain and all-rounder Wasim Akram, PCB’s Game Development Director, Mudassar Nazar and NCA chief coach Aaqib Javed.

Eight players of the camp obviously could not attend since they have left with the Pakistan team for Abu Dhabi for the three-match series against Sri Lanka commencing from May 18.

Apart from that, some junior players are currently involved in the trials at the Muridke Academy which are being held to select a team for the forthcoming juniors tour of England scheduled for July-August.

The absence of so many players from the camp - being conducted by three highly skilled players of Pakistan – reflected poorly on PCB’s planning abilities for such a high profile course.

Almost all the players could have been available for the camp had it commenced from May 25. Meanwhile, maverick pacer Shoaib Akhtar also attended the camp on Wednesday.