Salman Butt Named As Pakistan Test Captain

Salman Butt Named As Pakistan Test Captain

Salman Butt (centre) scored 63 and 92 at Lord's - now he must bat with the added pressure of Test captaincy for the rest of the summer

©Action Images / Paul Harding Livepic

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has acted quickly to install Salman Butt as the Test captain for the remainder of the team's tour of England following Shahid Afridi's decision to step down.

Afridi announced he would be relinquishing the Test captaincy after the second Test at Headingley, but the PCB has made Butt, who was Afridi's vice-captain, the skipper for that match as well as the four-match series which follows against England.

Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal will be his vice-captain.

"A Meeting was convened today by Chairman PCB with Pakistan Team Management and senior players to discuss the way forward following decision of Shahid Afridi to step down as Pakistan team captain for Test Matches," a PCB statement explained.

"The meeting was attended by M/s Ijaz Butt (Chairman PCB), Yawar Saeed (Manager), Waqar Younis (Coach), Shafqat Rana (Associate Manager), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Umer Gul.

"The attendees appreciated the job done by Shahid Afridi in building the team. The attendees also appreciated Shahid Afridi’s frank views regarding his own selection for the Test Matches.

"Salman Butt was appointed as Captain of Pakistan Test team for the 2nd Test match against Australia and the 4 Test matches against England. Kamran Akmal was appointed as Vice Captain for the remaining 5 Test matches on England tour."

Pakistan were beaten by 150 runs in the first Test at Lord's by Australia, with Afridi struggling to adapt to the longest form of the game - his first Test for four years - as he scored a quickfire 31 and then just two as Pakistan struggled to compete with Australia.

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