Pakistan hire Australian physio to avert injury crisis

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday announced it had hired Australian physio-cum-trainer Dale Naylor as the squad aims to avoid a repeat of the injuries which blighted its tour to South Africa.

Naylor, who previously worked with Pakistan in 2010, will be hired for a period of four months with his first assignment the upcoming series against South Asian rivals Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this month.

Pakistan beat South Africa 2-1 in their recently concluded ODI series away, but were without the services of injured paceman Mohammad Irfan and veteran all-rounders Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq.

The trio have also been ruled out of the UAE matches, which begin with a Twenty20 against Afghanistan on Sunday followed by two more against Sri Lanka on December 13 and 15.

"Dale Naylor, a renowned physiotherapist and trainer has signed with PCB to work with the Pakistan team initially for four months," said a PCB release.

"Naylor had previously been associated with the Pakistan team in 2010. He is a trained sports physiotherapist, trainer and a bio-mechanist."

Naylor will remain associated with PCB till the end of ICC World Twenty-20 to be held in Bangladesh in March-April this year.

Following the Twenty20 games, Pakistan will play five one-days and three Tests against Sri Lanka -- all in UAE.

Former captain Moin Khan was retained as team manager for the Sri Lanka series.