Lahore, Oct 31 : Geoff Lawson believes his sacking as the Pakistan cricket coach had nothing to do with his performance but was influenced by political changes in the country and the change in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set-up.

The former Australian bowler will return home on Friday after just over a year as coach of the national team.

The PCB cleared his financial dues with a final payment of 80,000 dollar, which included a bonus for guiding the national team into the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year.

Lawson had refused to leave until the PCB cleared all his payments and this was done on Monday by the board, the Daily Times reported.

Lahore, Oct 31 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident of getting all its stadiums ready to host the home series against India in January and February.

The board has decided to spend Rs. 800 million on refurbishing all five venues for the tour, which includes three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20.

Salim Altaf, the PCB’s director general, is confident the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will be ready in time to host the second Test and third one-dayer.

The venue was dropped from the Champions Trophy as the renovation work wasn’t complete and the ICC wasn’t convinced about the security situation there.

The tournament was eventually postponed due to security concerns, the Daily Times reported.

Karachi, Oct 31 : England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have formally invited Pakistan to play a test series in 2010 and negotiations will be held soon, a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday.

Saleem Altaf, Director General of the board, said they had received a formal proposal from the ECB to play three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 match on the bilateral tour.

“We will be holding negotiations soon with the ECB to sort out financial arrangements but obviously we are very keen to go ahead with the series,” Altaf said.

Leverkusen, Germany - Bernd Schneider is hungry to play again after his worst career injury and is even looking ahead at the 2010 World Cup.

The Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder hopes to return to Bundesliga action before the end of the year from a back injury which has sidelined him since April.

"It's getting better. I have started working with the ball again, said Schneider, who turns 35 on November 17.

Lahore, Oct 31 : With the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set to review Shoaib Malik’s performance as the national team captain at the end of this year, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has expressed his desire to lead the side if given a chance.

He made it clear that if given a chance to captain Pakistan, he would not turn down the offer, the Daily Times reported.

However, he admitted that at present he was under tremendous pressure to retain his place in the side due to a slump in his batting form.

Lahore, Oct 31 : Shahryar Mohammad Khan, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has cautioned the ICC against overturning the result of the controversial England-Pakistan Test at The Oval in 2006, now a draw, back to a forfeit.

“The ICC will only make fun of itself and it will leave them in a very awkward position,” Shahryar told media on Thursday.

The PCB is currently awaiting the ICC’s reaction to the MCC’s recommendation that the result of the Oval Test be reversed and awarded to England, the Daily Times reported.