New captain after Australia tour - Ijaz Butt

Pakistan will have a new captain after their tour of Australia comes to an end in early February, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has said. Mohammad Yousuf was appointed to lead in New Zealand and Australia after Younis Khan quit in a huff back in November.

"This captain [Mohammad Yousuf] was for this series only and we will decide after the tour of Australia about the captain, [but] we will change," Butt told the private ARY News channel.

Under Yousuf, Pakistan squared a three-Test series against New Zealand but lost three Tests in a row to Australia before they surrendered the first ODI in Brisbane today. The relationship between Yousuf and the selection committee, headed by Iqbal Qasim, has been tense over the course of the long tour of Australia. He had Misbah-ul-Haq sent over to New Zealand after the player had been dropped from all three formats of the game just a month before.

Butt termed Younis' decision to relinquish the captaincy as unfortunate for Pakistan. "We did not change Younis. Unfortunately the sports committee of the parliament made him run away after they levelled match-fixing allegations against him," he said.

Butt squashed the match-fixing allegations against Pakistan after the Champions Trophy, in specific the game against Australia in which they lost by one run off the last ball. "How can someone fix a match on the last ball? Only a magician can do that and on this allegation Younis was mentally disturbed and resigned," Butt said. "Younis was a good captain but he was hurt on the allegations and quit. Now we will soon decide about the change."

Butt also said there could be changes to the coaching staff. "Coaching is a very difficult job so I don't want to comment on it, but yes, we are looking at options to hire batting and fielding coaches, foreign or local, for the national team," he said. "The problem is no foreign coach is willing to come to Pakistan in present security conditions and a local coach appears to be a more feasible prospect."

Pakistan's next Test assignment is in England where they play Australia, a series shifted out of Pakistan over security fears. They are scheduled to play four Tests against England on the same tour.