MCC announce squad to tour Pakistan

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) have announced a twelve-member squad which will tour Pakistan next month for a series of matches.

The squad, which is being led by MCC President Kumar Sangakkara, will take on Pakistan Shaheens in a 50-over match and Pakistan’s National T20 champions Northern in T20 format.

Apart from the 50-over and 20-over matches against the PCB-selected sides, MCC will also play two 20-over matches against Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans. These matches will be part of the two teams’ warm-up matches ahead of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020.

MCC squad: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Ravi Bopara (Sussex), Michael Burgess (Warwickshire), Oliver Hannon-Dalby (Warwickshire), Fred Klaassen (Kent), Michael Leask (Scotland), Arron Lilley (Leicestershire), Imran Qayyum (Kent), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire), Safyaan Sharif (Scotland), Roelof van der Merwe (Somerset) and Ross Whiteley (Worcestershire).

🇵🇰 MCC have today announced their squad to tour Pakistan next month.#MCCcricket | @TheRealPCB

— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) January 29, 2020

MCC’s on-field presence would be boosted further by three additional players, Liam Dawson (Hampshire/Peshawar Zalmi), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire/Lahore Qalandars) and Phil Salt (Sussex/Islamabad United), who would appear in the upcoming season of PSL, and will each represent MCC in one match on the tour.

The concept of a tour to Pakistan has been a long-stated aim of the MCC World Cricket committee, with its Members having expressed an interest in helping Pakistan during the country’s exile from hosting international cricket.

ALSO READ: Misbah has given up on young players: Ramiz Raja

At the MCC World Cricket committee meeting held at Lord’s in August last year, the WCC re-affirmed their support in seeing touring sides return to Pakistan – with security analysis being a prerequisite – following a presentation and discussion with  Wasim Khan, the Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“We are thrilled to be able to name a strong squad for this tour, which blends youth and experience for a strong side of high quality,” said John Stephenson, MCC Assistant Secretary. “We have really appreciated the collaborative approach from the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan Super League, which has enabled us to arrange fixtures against sides preparing for this year’s PSL tournament as well as to secure the services of some of those participating.

“As a Club, we share the PCB’s wish in wanting to see international teams returning to play in Pakistan on a regular basis and we hope that this tour contributes to those objectives,” he added.

Following are the PCB selected-squads which will play against MCC:

Pakistan Shaheens:

Saud Shakeel (captain) (Sindh ), Akif Javed (Balochistan), Haider Ali (Northern), Hasan Mohsin (Sindh), Imran Rafiq (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Mohsin (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Omair Bin Yousuf (Sindh), Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper) (Northern), Saif Badar (Southern Punjab), Sameen Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Umar Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Zeeshan Malik (Northern)

Northern:

Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper) (captain), Faizan Riaz (vice-captain), Ali Imran, Haider Ali, Mubashir Khan (Northern U19), Musa Khan, Nauman Ali, Sarmad Bhatti, Shahzad Azam, Shiraz Khan (Northern U19), Zaid Alam, Zeeshan Malik