The first major controversy of Shoaib Akhtar's career was at its height over a New Year period. He had been called for throwing and urgent negotiations between Tauqir Zia, the chairman of Pakistan's cricket board, and his pal Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the ICC, ended in Shoaib's return to international cricket in front of a cheering crowd in Australia.

With Pakistan's squad announcement for the South African Test series, Shoaib finds himself sitting it out again over New Year with the prospect of a recall for the one-day series. You suspect that the spectre of WADA has something to do with this too. Personally, I'd have taken him to South Africa to ensure he regains fitness under the scrutiny of team management. Unless Shoaib--like Mohammad Asif--is banned by the ICC, Pakistan need him back fit and in form for the World Cup, and that means he has to play the one-day series in South Africa.

For Shoaib's part, he needs to be careful. It is clear that he enjoys considerably less sympathy from the Pakistani cricket fraternity than Asif does. This remains a dangerous period in his career. And if his fitness continues to fail he will rapidly lose the remnants of support he has among Pakistan cricket fans. The public loves to celebrate heroes but it also loves nothing more than cursing fallen idols. Shoaib has to put concerns about WADA to one side and show that he is ready to play if he is allowed to. Anything else will be negligent. Can Shoaib--and the Pakistan selectors--rise to the challenge?

WADA's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is an unusual one in that it is bypassing cricket's ruling body. The ICC has examined its own regulations where it is written as clear as day that the ICC code applies to ICC events. The court of arbitration and WADA boast even longer documents about their rules of engagement, and a first glance at these does not make it immediately obvious whether or not the court of arbitration has any jurisdiction in this instance. Where there is any room for doubt expect lawyers to jump in with arguments that might take an eternity to resolve. If the PCB does not accept the court of arbitration's jurisdiction in this case and the ICC believes that its own code does not apply to the PCB's out of tournament testing--the fact that this is not a joint application by WADA and ICC speaks volumes in my view--we could be in for the biggest farce in the history of sport. Presumably it was not beyond the wit of man or woman for WADA, ICC, and PCB to have done a little scenario planning and risk management before they signed up to the various doping codes and processes.

A confession: thanks to my iPod I have recently rediscovered qawali. Some years ago I became obsessed with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the greatest qawal of all, and I was in delighted disbelief when Jeff Buckley, another of my favourite singers, declared an admiration for Nusrat and then collaborated with him. The bond between cricket and qawali was forged when I discovered that a strong cup of tea, a fried egg, and a rousing rendition of Haq Ali Ali were ideal preparation for a big innings (yes--even I've had a few). But the clincher came when it emerged that Nusrat's qawalis were an integral part of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup victory. So, in this season of goodwill whatever race, religion, or nationality you may be, I commend to you qawali, an art form that transcends all these boundaries. Some of my favourite qawalis are in Farsi, a language I barely understand. I commend it too to Team Pakistan, who require inner peace and outward fearlessness to win next year's event. Nusrat might be dead but his voice can rekindle the magic and the spirit of '92.

	'Pakistan will need Inzamam to be exuding postive energy between now and the end of the World Cup' © AFP

Despite initial speculation that Inzamam-ul-Haq would not lead Pakistan in next year's World Cup, the cricket board has sensibly confirmed his appointment. I confess that I am one of the many who have often despaired at Inzamam's moribund captaincy - and it is something that might still cost Pakistan dear - but he is the obvious choice. Younis Khan, who retains the potential to succeed him, showed with his antics before Pakistan left for the Champions Trophy and his tactically suspect performance during the tournament that he was unready.

Inzamam, though, is on a mission, and that mission is to win the next World Cup and surpass his former captain, Imran Khan.

You might think that surpassing the Great Khan is something not worth contemplating but he is. And he believes he has the team to do it. Moreover, Inzamam has launched a campaign to build a hospital in his hometown, Multan. I'm sure that rings a few bells. Inzamam may not have Imran's leadership skills but he does have a dominant presence in the team, a persona whose moods dictate the mindset of his charges. Pakistan will need Inzamam to be exuding postive energy between now and the end of the World Cup. A return to the dark mood that engulfed the second half of Pakistan's tour of England will be a disaster.

The second piece of good news to emerge from Pakistan is that Bob Woolmer's position is secure until after the World Cup. Woolmer believes Pakistan had a good series against West Indies and he is upbeat about his team's chances in next year's tournament. He has always held this positive outlook even in the depths of the Hair incident when he considered resigning his post.

These moves are a vote for stability, a strategy supported by this blog. But the PCB has still got a long way to go to answer its critics. Particularly when it believes that the creation of a fielding award will improve the team's fielding, and then awards the prize to Inzamam. And perturbingly appoints a friend of the chairman of the cricket board and the president of Pakistan as its media manager for the World Cup. I don't think the PCB has ever understood how the media works - this is an organisation that pays for journalists to go on tours but who barely write a word - and I don't think it ever will. As long as friendship is more important than merit, Pakistan will never realise its talent in cricket or anything else.

In the true Pakistani way, one step forward and one step back. But the step forward is the one that matters for Pakistan's World Cup chances and it is the players who will create the memories to treasure and not the legion of hangers-on desperate to see their names in lights.

	Bob Woolmer's local knowledge should give Pakistan a good chance of being competitive in South Africa © Getty Images

The machinations of this year have left Pakistan with a far stronger pool of bowlers to choose from and some clearer possibilities around the opening slot, their weakest area. These factors combined with Bob Woolmer's local knowledge should give Pakistan a good chance of being competitive in South Africa and perhaps even overturning their poor record in that country.

But before that can happen it is imperative that the PCB confirms that both Inzamam and Woolmer will lead these two upcoming campaigns. Pakistan have a real opportunity to win the biggest one-day prize and any dithering now will be detrimental to their challenge.

Despite WADA's posturing, both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will be available next year and that leaves Pakistan with an unimagined selection problem. Umar Gul, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, and Mohammad Sami--yes the bowler who couldn't bowl two balls on the same spot--have all made indisputable cases for selection. As has Abdur Rehman, who has been nothing short of sensational in this series. At Karachi, on a wicket that favoured batsmen, he bowled an intelligent line, even keeping Brian Lara in check. That fills six places.

Among the batsmen, Yasir Hameed has shown enough to earn a place along with Mohammad Hafeez. Follow those with the inevitable selections of Pakistan's middle-order trio of Inzamam, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf and you have five more places with people's names on them.

Among the allrounders, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, and Kamran Akmal--providing he continues to rebuild his confidence in South Africa--are virtual certainties, which builds the squad to 14.

That only leaves one place, and you can see why Woolmer is claiming that the squad selection is becoming clearer, although this final spot might prove controversial. Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, and Danish Kaneria, to name but a few, will be saying their prayers. Who will win a trip to the Caribbean? It could be any of those three but it might be a wild card, and Pakistan has no wilder card than Shahid Afridi. He'd win my vote--as you all know--and I suspect he might even win the vote of the selectors.

Much can happen, of course, between this December speculation and the reality of next March but barring major upheavals I wouldn't bet on Pakistan's World Cup squad being much different to this. It is a squad of experience but also enough youth to hunger for success. The bowling riches are the team's strength and the batting should not be found wanting on the Asian wickets of the West Indies. The rest is all mind games. Over to you Bob and Inzi.

I don't usually post comments that include team XIs or squads but since that is what this article is about then feel free to speculate.

	Icing on the cake: A Pakistani win at Karachi but with a piece of Lara magic © Getty Images

The question that nobody will ever be able to answer is just how brilliant Lara might have been had he had a half decent team to support him? My guess is that he would have been unstoppable. And for much of his career he threatened to be, particularly in the days when individual batting records were falling to him with ease. But the hopping maestro from Trinidad has not just been a man for records. He has saved his country on numerous occasions against the best teams.

From the beginning Lara has had a particular liking for Pakistan. In the 1992 World Cup he destroyed Imran's team with an effortless dominance, a harbinger of the coiled beauty that he would unleash on all nations.

As with all heroes, he has divided opinion in his homeland but elsewhere his genius has been unequivocally acclaimed. The love for Lara has been evident in the Champions Trophy and now this West Indian tour of Pakistan. And Lara has responded like a true great, handling the fortunes of his team with immense wisdom, dexterity, and sportsmanship.

Some readers of this blog, including Mr Euceph Ahmed who generally enjoys disagreeing with every word I write, have requested a piece on Lara. We should all give Lara the send off he deserves, and I have no doubt that the Karachi crowd will not be found wanting.

This may be a World Cup year and a winning finale would be nice for Pakistan. But it would be equally heart-warming to see the last piece of Lara magic on Pakistani soil. For this match only, my head says Pakistan but my heart says Lara.

The Multan one-day international was a baffling experience. Here are ten reasons for bafflement:

1 Shahid Afridi opening the batting instead of coming in down the order.
2 Mohammad Hafeez not opening the batting with Imran Farhat.
3 Shoaib Malik's form.
4 Rao Iftikhar's selection.
5 Umar Gul's absence and Abdur Rehman's absence.
6 Some Pakistan fans being unable to appreciate anything Faisal Iqbal ever does.
7 Yasir Hameed's eternity away from the international scene.
8 Kamran Akmal's inability to find some form.
9 Abdul Razzaq's decision not to bowl Rana more.
10 Abdul Razzaq's captaincy in general.

	'Yasir Hameed deserves an opportunity and might make an ideal number three' © Getty Images

It might have seemed unthinkable that Pakistan would be without any of their holy middle-order but it will happen in Multan. Injury, illness, and bereavement have conspired to rob Pakistan of Inzamam-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan. While those three should rest assured about their World Cup chances, the situation has started to hot up for anybody below them in the pecking order--and that means everybody.

The fourth one-dayer will be an expedition into virgin territory for Pakistan, which explains why Shoaib Akhtar is nowehere to be seen. Shorn of their Titans, Pakistan will showcase a new middle-order and a new captain.

On the captaincy front, Abdul Razzaq appears to be the next in line by dint of hierarchy and his momentary elevation to the vice-captaincy prior to the Champions Trophy. Some observers question Razzaq's place in the team but there should be no doubt about Razzaq's value as a giant-hitting middle-order batsman and a safe but unspectacular bowler in one-day cricket; it's in Test cricket that Razzaq's place is in serious danger. Yet there has been scant evidence of Razzaq's ability as a captain. The other obvious contender would be Shoaib Malik, and there was once talk of Afridi as a future captain.

The performance of Pakistan's middle-order will be the most fascinating aspect of the fourth one-dayer. Yasir Hameed deserves an opportunity and might make an ideal number three. The logic of Faisal Iqbal's selection is that he would play too. And I would slot in Afridi in place of Rao Iftikhar.

With their players on form Pakistan have mind-boggling options but when those same players misfire it can all look a desperate shambles. Any match without Inzamam, Yousuf, and Younis will be a real test for Pakistan's young team. Who will seize the opportunity to show some leadership?

	Rana rediscovering his edge © AFP

Whenever Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif do return to international cricket, Pakistan might have a pleasant problem on their hands. In their absence, Umar Gul has grown his hair, upped his speed, and seized the opportunity to become the team's spearhead. But the most encouraging news of the series thus far is that two bowlers whose positions might have been questioned have given Pakistan the edge.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, a man who once rose to the occasion like Gul, has recovered his fire. In England and India, Rana had looked anything but the clever strike bowler that he is. Since his omission from the Test series he has worked hard on his fitness and on his technique--he says with Waqar Younis--to recapture the form that had made him an essential selection.

The second revelation has been Abdur Rehman, a man who has been hanging around the Pakistan squad like an uninvited guest. He may not be the "youngster" that Inzamam described him as, prompting a fit of laughter from Ramiz Raja, but perhaps that's a good thing. On the evidence of these first two matches, Rehman is a highly skilled left-arm spinner. His action is a touch unusual with his head almost turned away from the batsman as he delivers but he has hit a near perfect line in this series. His general energy and tidiness in the field suggest that Danish Kaneria might never make it into Pakistan's World Cup squad.

Pakistan's traditional strength has been its bowling. In a World Cup year, the return of Rana and the revelation of Rehman are important landmarks. With bench strength comprising Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria, and Shahid Afridi--that's before we dare to discuss the comeback of Pakistan's most notorious bowlers --Inzamam's team is shaping up nicely in an important area. Australia might be in for a contest after all.

	The Tests are done, but now begins the World Cup campaign © Getty Images

Pakistan begin their 2007 World Cup campaign in earnest tomorrow. This is clearly the squad of players that the Pakistan management will gamble their futures and their burning effigies on. Throw in Shoaib and Asif when match fit, and Shahid Afridi when he is back in the groove (I've said my piece on 'Boom Boom' already) and you have the extent of Pakistan's talents.

This is bad news for anybody expecting a new star to emerge like Inzamam did just before the 1992 World Cup but it is good news for people arguing for a period of stability. And there is much going for that particular argument. Think back to the middle of the one-day series in England. Pakistan were being lauded from hill and dale as the perfect combination to lift the next World Cup. A few minor inconveniences later and Pakistan are still very much the same team. Could they do it after all this? It would make an incredible story.

But Pakistan's one-day form has hit the buffers since that English praise undid the players. There are mitigating circumstances. England in September wasn't the best place to build a batsman's confidence, and more surprisingly neither was India in October. South Africa may be misleading too, hence this series offers the closest approximation to likely conditions in the Caribbean, minus the cool beers and the hot tubs.

This series matters. Several players, bowlers in particular, will be fighting for a World Cup berth.

But despite the one-day failures there are some positives. First, Umar Gul has grown in stature as a front-line bowler over the past few months. He began the England series as one of a handful of hopeful third-seamers (Shoaib and Asif being numbers one and two). He begins this one day series as the clear number three with potential to rise up the pecking order, a fast-medium bowler who can carry an attack. Second, Mohammad Hafeez looks increasingly to have solved one half of Pakistan's opening problem (Imran Farhat continues to fill me with dread though).

These are important additions to the "perfect combination." Despite the hell that Pakistan cricket and its supporters have lived through over the past few months, the next World Cup offers a fabulous opportunity. Inzamam wants to emulate Imran. The campaign begins here, and it needs to begin with the swagger of title contenders.

Thank you all for a tremendoud debate on this important issue. Understandably it has sharply divided opinion. It will continue to do so.

Some of you are disappointed and angry by my claim that justice has been done. My interpretation of justice is that it has two elements. First, a due process. Second, a just outcome arising from that due process. In this case, the process involved setting a board policy, educating players, monitoring their drug status, and then hearing both sides of the argument at the first tribunal. Each stage of that process was flawed (see entries in 'The drugged cricketer' category). That taken with the scientific problems with ascribing causation to the presence of nandrolone in urine (a situation that I believe is a major problem for WADA and one that it owes it to the world's premier athletes to resolve) and the players' insistence that they did not take nandrolone are sufficient reasons to give the players the benefit of the doubt.

In any organisation people look to blame those below them. It is a major failing of WADA's stance. Whatever the circumstances, the ultimate blame lies with the cricketers or athletes or tennis players, says WADA. This simplistic and idealistic view takes no account of ground realitites such as the education of sportspeople, the support they receive from their governing body, or the drug and product licensing and validation regulations in each country. A rigid policy does not even contemplate the doubts about scientific evidence. It for these reasons that sportspeople have been able to argue, with the support of lawyers, that they are innocent. WADA needs to understand that in the world of medicine and science certainty is a preciously rare commodity.

Let's take the example of medicines and other herbal products in the world's poorer countries, some of which happen to be big players in the world of cricket. The World Health Organization has a major concern over the licensing and manufacture of medicines in poorer countries. Globally, ten per cent of drugs are thought to be fake with far higher percentages in poorer countries. There are international guidelines but these countries do not have the infrastructure or the financial resources to implement them.

In short, you can't be sure that even blockbuster international drugs are real. What hope do you have when you consider supplements and herbal products, which are even less stringently regulated? There is a wealth of research evidence to support this argument.

Another example that springs to mind is a research paper that we published when I was at the BMJ. The researchers analysed several chinese herbal products and found that just under 80% of them contained a steroid that was a prescription only drug in the UK and should not have been an ingredient without proper approval. There was certainly nothing on the labelling to suggest that the products contained a steroid. If this can (and does) happen in the UK, what hope for countries like India and Pakistan?

The simple point is that it is entirely plausible that a supplement taken in all innocence could contain a banned substance.

These facts taken together could be a recipe for despair but it won't be if we focus on systems and make them optimal. The PCB's system for player education and drug monitoring has been shown to be inadequate, possibly pathetic. Who at the PCB will take responsibility for that failure of management and leadership?

The ICC is supposed to be responsible for the conduct of its cricket boards and standardisation of procedures. You might have imagined that the ICC would have got its house in order after the Shane Warne diuretic controversy (an innocent attempt at weight loss or an attempt to mask more serious illicit drug use?). Who at the ICC will take responsibility for this failure of management and leadership?

Finally, what's the point of WADA if it cannot ensure that its signatories follow proper procedures and maintain standards. We hear a great deal of hectoring from WADA but what about hearing more about its attempts at supervision of governing bodies? What about hearing more about its efforts to improve our understanding of how performance-enhancing drugs are abused, metabolised, and identified? What about hearing more about efforts to assist countries that might not have the infratructure or the financial resources to develop watertight systems on their own? Who at WADA will take responsibility for these failure of managemenet and leadership?

Yes, of course, despite all these system failures the players may have taken performance-enhancing drugs deliberately. To believe that to be impossible would be foolhardy. But this is exactly why there has to be due process from beginning to end, a system that sportsmen and sportswomen will trust. Only then can you implement a zero-tolerance policy. Only then can you ruin people's careers and destroy their reputations. Some sports have got their houses in order. Cricket clearly has not.

Shoaib Akhtar says he can breathe again but so can Pakistan's prospects of lifting next year's World Cup. Despite a noble effort by Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir, Pakistan's bowling has a toothless look to it without its premier fast bowlers. Shoaib and Mohammad Asif are capable of taking wickets on any track, a priceless commodity. Welcome back.

Much will be made of their bans being overturned. I can hear the clamour already: "What do you expect from Pakistan cricket, every rule will be bent to protect their star players." Well, my view is that it is better for justice to be done than for the players to be the victims of a witch-hunt. And, let's be clear, several top stars have successfully pleaded a defence in this situation but with higher levels of nandrolone in their urine, take Greg Rusedski for example. The central problem with nandrolone, to my mind, is that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to end or harm any sportsman's career on the basis of it being found in a urine sample. I fully support the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs from sport but clearly the drugs authorities need to work harder to produce better diagnostic tests and stronger evidence to support the validity of their tests. Nandrolone is a particular problem.

These issues were complicated further by the ramshackle way in which Pakistan players were instructed about drugs. Inevitably there will be denials about the quality of information and the level of supervision that the players received but anybody who has glimpsed the inner workings of Pakistan cricket knows that there is face validity to the findings of the tribunal.

The problem with any hearing that attempts to be fair is that a proportion of people who are guilty will be found to be innocent. Better that, though, than the other way round. In this case, my view is that there was sufficient doubt about the method of raising awareness among players and the process of testing--and further doubt about the wickedness of the players' intentions--for them to be found not guilty. A bad process invariably produces a bad result, which was the outcome of the first hearing.

Pakistan cricket must put this sad affair behind it, learn from its mistakes, and develop a proper process for drugs awareness and monitoring. An urgent review of the PCB's medical panel is required. It has emitted shambolic signals for years. Shoaib and Asif must now be exceptionally diligent about what they consume for there can be no second chance and no second forgiveness.

Above all, Pakistan cricket must now focus on winning the World Cup. And that preparation has to begin with the selection of the team for the second one-dayer, a team that should include Shoaib, Asif, and Shahid Afridi.

Many of you will disagree. But as Martin Luther King once wrote from Birmingham jail: "Injustice anywhere harms justice everywhere."

	Shahid Afridi's absence in the one-dayers may just be a turn-off for the fans © Getty Images

This is a World Cup year. Pakistan are about to play their final home one-day series before that tournament. The campaign needs to be relaunched with a sense of optimism and an aura of positivity. Conditions in Pakistan are likely to be closer to the West Indies than conditions in South Africa will be.

Your star player, your talisman, your aggressor, your match-winner needs to rediscover his confidence. A combination of the West Indian attack and home conditions are an ideal formula to reinvigorate your champion and your campaign. The decision looks straightforward. The selectors, though, leave him out. Shahid Afridi out? The mind boggles and the logic wobbles. Nice one. Another triumph of stupidity from the men who want to be paid to do an important job badly.