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Old is not gold, Mushtaq tells England

Pakistan coach Mushtaq Mohammad thinks the World Cup aspirations of hosts England are "laughable".

Mushtaq, a former Pakistani Test captain, blamed England's selectors for picking players over 30, and said that players like Ian Austin (33 years old, and just four ODIs worth of experience to his name) and Adam Hollioake were average players who could never make it to the Pakistan side.

The Pakistan coach, who took over from Javed Miandad, said that he found it surprising that while players like Hollioake and Austin were selected, the likes of Dean Headley, Chris Lewis and Mark Ramprakash could find no place in the squad.

The Observer would certainly agree -- in a recent article, the British paper trashed the home side as being composed of poor batsmen, pedestrian fielders and bowlers who were little more than pie-throwers.

Austin in fact was under fire from the moment he was selected to play for England, with the Australian media dubbing him an "amateur".

The Pakistan coach, meanwhile, took on the question of chucking allegations against pace ace Shoaib Akthar, and said there was nothing to it.

"We have not heard from the ICC about it and I don't think we ever will," Mushtaq said. "I think young Shoaib has a perfectly legal action and has never been called."