Lahore: Confusion prevailed over appointment of Mohammad Akram as the new bowling coach of the Pakistan team with a PCB official denying any such development even as the news appeared on a cricket website on Sunday.

The news, credited to sources, had appeared on a cricket website that Akram had been appointed coach, but when contacted, the PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar said, "We are surprised to see this news because until now a decision has not been made on the new bowling coach."

He said the committee appointed to review prospective candidates for the bowling coach post had yet to finalise and short-list probables for approval of the chairman.

But the website, Pakpassion.net, claimed that the PCB has chosen Akram as the Pakistan bowling coach.

"The PCB chose Akram because he has a good rapport with the current group of Pakistani cricketers; they know him and he has the experience of Pakistan's domestic cricket and of county cricket," the website quoted a PCB source.

The source, said the website, further added that the new bowling coach will not just train the national team bowlers but will be expected to work with "the bowlers at the National Cricket Academy as well as at grass root level with emphasis on grooming and preparing the next generation of fast bowlers for Pakistan."

The PCB has been on the lookout for a new bowling coach since Aaqib Javed resigned in February after the England series to join the UAE team as head coach.

Source : CricketNext