Court has no jurisdiction in doping case

The Court of Arbitration for Sports has been forced to dismiss an appeal by the World Anti Doping Agency over the reprieves for the Pakistan fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, saying it had no jurisdiction to overturn the decision.

The CAS panel said in a statement that the conclusion had been reached "with some considerable regret". Shoaib and Asif tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in internal tests conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last year, and were banned for two years and one year respectively in November 2006.

However, a month later, both were controversially reinstated by a Pakistani appellate committee, prompting WADA to appeal to CAS in Lausanne. Dick Pound, the chairman of WADA, had told the BBC last December that the ICC - the game's governing body - was "a signatory to the anti-doping code" and that Pakistan, as a full member of the ICC, was bound by its rules.

However CAS, which set up a special panel to examine the issue, found that the PCB does not provide a right of appeal to the international sports court. Furthermore, it added, the ICC's code did not contain any rules that obliged the Pakistan board to allow appeals to CAS.

Shoaib and Asif were both removed from their country's squad for the World Cup in March and April, although the PCB insisted they had missed the event because of injuries. That explanation, however, was countered by Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, who said at the beginning of the tournament in March that the duo had escaped a drugs test by not being selected for the World Cup.

The PCB had announced beforehand that 11 of its 15-man squad and seven reserves had passed domestic, pre-World Cup dope tests, but Shoaib and Asif were left out of the testing.

Play abandoned after intermittent rain

The one-off ODI between Scotland and Pakistan was abandoned due to persistent rain without a ball being bowled. The match was due to start at 10:45am local time but was delayed due to a wet outfield caused by overnight rain. As the teams arrived, the officials decided to have an inspection at 12noon local time after which the playing conditions were to be decided.

Minutes before the inspection, however, heavy rain resulted in an early lunch that never finished as the umpires and the match referee deemed that the outfield and the weather would not improve in time to get in the minimum requirement of 20 overs.

Pakistan now travel to Glasgow where they take on India on Tuesday in their second and final ODI on this short tour of Scotland.

Inzamam looks to county cricket to revive Test career

Training hard, Inzamam insists his Test career isn't yet over

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has expressed his interest in playing county cricket in a bid to regain his Test place.

"I have offers from league clubs in England but I want to play for a county to ascertain my form and fitness for a place in the Test team,"

Inzamam said.

"I am training hard and am fit. I played a one-day match at the weekend and will continue my efforts to get into the Test side."

Pakistan selectors have said Inzamam will have to prove his fitness to get a place in the home series against South Africa in late September this year. However, there are no further domestic matches in Pakistan, meaning Inzamam is looking to England to gain match practice.

"I have been in touch with people,"

he said,

"and if there is a place vacant in the county I would definitely like to go and play."

Inzamam, who retired from ODIs after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup and resigned from the Test captaincy, has never played for a county in a long and illustrious career. Although the Pakistan Cricket Board left him out from their list of centrally-contracted players, the country's chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said

"the doors of Test cricket are open for him"

Pakistan's one-day team are in Scotland for two one-dayers, against the hosts on Sunday at Edinburgh before facing India in Glasgow next Tuesday.