August 31, 2007	Friday	Sha'aban 17, 1428

KARACHI, Aug 30: New Pakistan cricket coach Geoff Lawson says his newly-fit fast bowlers can give the team an edge at next month’s inaugural World Twenty20 Championship.

Lawson was speaking before his squad’s departure for a four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Kenya, from where they will fly to South Africa for the championship, which starts from Sept 11.

“Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul are simultaneously fit and available for the first time since they came together and despite the popular perception that the format is skewed heavily in favour of batsmen, pace might make a difference,” Lawson said.

Former Australian fast bowler Lawson last week formally replaced onetime England batsman Bob Woolmer, who died in his hotel room in March when Pakistan flopped in the 50-over World Cup.

Lawson said that Pakistan would also need some luck this time.

“We have some explosive players but I think everyone understands that luck will play some part in Twenty20. Everyone wants to win and to do so, any side will need an element of luck,” Lawson said.

Pakistan open their Twenty20 campaign against Scotland on Sept 12 at Durban before facing India at the same venue two days later. They have extensively prepared for the event with three training camps.

“We can prepare strategies, try and find the right balance, work out plans and play any number of practice games but that can only take you so far. Until the first match happens, we won’t really know what to expect,” Lawson said.

“We’ve got an excellent opportunity to play some matches in Kenya now and fine-tune our plans and get our combinations right,” he said of the Kenya event also featuring the hosts, Bangladesh and Uganda.

Lawson praised young captain Shoaib Malik, saying he has learned strategies for playing Twenty20 games from domestic competitions.

Malik said Pakistan needed to be consistent in the “unpredictable” format.

“You have to bat well, bowl well and field well to force a win and I think we are capable of doing that,” said Shoaib, who took over from Inzamam-ul Haq after the World Cup in the Caribbean.—AFP