Akhtar needs psychiatric help, says Pakistan cricket chief

Pakistan's cricket chief hit out at Shoaib Akhtar, saying the controversial paceman damaged the nation's cricket image and needed psychiatric counselling.Akhtar was banned Thursday for 13 international matches and fined 3.4 million rupees (56,000 dollars) primarily for hitting a teammate with a bat."Akhtar hurt Pakistan's image and got the maximum punishment. Some form of counselling from a psychiatrist is compulsory for him," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf told reporters.The 32-year-old Akhtar has apologised for hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat after practice three days before the start of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last month.Pakistan team manager Talat Ali, who reported the incident to the PCB last month, had also recommended counselling for the troubled paceman whose ban dates back to the matches in the Twenty20 World Cup.

He will be available for the last of five one-day matches against South Africa to be played in Karachi on October 29.Ashraf said the ban and fine -- the biggest ever imposed on a cricketer at international level other than in match-fixing -- should set an example for all players."We have set an example as Akhtar has got the maximum possible punishment and he has accepted them. Akhtar has accepted his mistake and we hope that such a sad incident will not happen again," said Ashraf.But he said Akhtar must ensure such an incident never happens again."Akhtar will be under a probation of two years and in case of any further breach of code of conduct there will be grounds for a life ban and I hope Akhtar has learnt his lesson," said Ashraf.Akhtar and fellow paceman Asif were also involved in a doping scandal last year. They tested positive for nandrolone which resulted in a two-year ban on Akhtar and one year on Asif. The bans were overturned on appeal.

Pakistan will take time to replace Inzamam - Lawson

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson believes it will take a long time for the team to mould a replacement for retired batsman and former skipper Inzaman-ul-Haq.The 37-year-old premier batsman finished his playing career in the drawn second test against South Africa on Friday, falling three runs short of becoming the country's highest scorer."It is not going to happen overnight," Lawson told reporters."It will take a year or two before we can find a replacement for Inzamam. He was a class player with experience which comes with time."The former Australia bowler added it would be unfair to expect any of the current crop of players to start matching Inzamam's batting exploits immediately."There are a couple of good players in line but they will take time to mature and establish themselves as Inzamam did himself," Lawson said.Inzamam retired after scoring 8,830 runs in tests and 11,739 in one-day internationals but by only accumulating 17 in his final two innings, the batsman was unable to pass Javed Miandad's record aggregate of 8,832.Miandad led the tributes for Inzamam on Saturday.

"I was expecting him to break my record. I would have been happy if he had done it, because I have had a teacher-student relationship with him," Miandad told Reuters. "Given his service to Pakistan cricket and the quality player that he was, he deserved the record. I enjoyed watching him bat."Miandad, who captained the side when Inzamam made his debut in 1992, said it was a sad reflection on the state of Pakistani cricket that it was not producing more players of his stature."We need to look at our system and ensure we groom more quality batsmen for a better future."Former captain, Wasim Akram said that Inzamam had retired at the right time."He was one of the best batsmen produced by Pakistan along with Miandad," Akram said."The number of runs he scored is testimony of his greatness. It was sad to see him go but every player has to take a bow someday."

Symonds ready to move on following racist abuse

Australia's Andrew Symonds says he is ready to move on after suffering racist abuse from spectators during Thursday's one-day international against India in Baroda.The big all-rounder was subjected to monkey noises while he was fielding."You have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive in the Australian dressing room, let alone out on the paddock," Symonds was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers on Sunday."I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke but racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket."It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it's coming from the crowd? Life goes on."Australia captain Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, has called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take action."I know the match referee knows about it, if the ICC gets it in the report they have to do something," he said. "Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world, you don't expect it to happen when you step out on the field."We did not expect it and we do not expect it to happen again."Australia play India in the sixth one-day international in Nagpur on Sunday. The touring side lead the series 3-1.