Latif sets academy goals

In his role at the National Cricket Academy the former Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif, has pledged to nurture the country's budding players without curbing their natural talent. Latif is leading a three-week development camp for Under-23 players at the National Stadium in Karachi and aims to prepare players mentally and physically.

"We wouldn't have produced a Wasim Akram if the coaches of that time tried to rectify his bowling style. In the camp we will try to polish and retain the natural talent of the players," said Latif. "Players specially coming from the lower middle class and middle class face problems in their family life which directly affect their performance.

"We want to form a highly communicative medium between coaches and the players so that the players could share their problems. Communication gap should cease to exist between players and coaches and an environment should form in which a player willingly comes to the camp."

Latif, who also runs his own cricket academy in Karachi, hoped to also concentrate on instructing coaches as to how to interact with the players. "We also want to increase the expertise of the coaches so that they can get jobs here and in foreign countries as well," he said.

Latif accepted that there was talent at the international level who did not come through the National Academy's ranks. One such example is that of Umar Akmal, brother of Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran, who impressed during the A tour of Australia and with the senior team in Sri Lanka. "Umar didn't come into the consideration of selectors for the National Academy. There is a lot of talent going waste in the country," said Latif, "so we will be sending teams of coaches throughout Sindh so that they could identify talented players and bring them here for grooming their talent."

Latif began working as a wicketkeeper coach for the NCA in June 2008, hired initially for three years to nurture and groom young talent in the country.