Moin and Rashid left out of tour squad

Kamran Akmal: elevated to No. 1 © Getty Images

Pakistan's selectors have left out Moin Khan and Rashid Latif from the 25-man preliminary squad for the forthcoming tour of Australia. The news seems to signal the end of both men's international careers.

Neither player, both of whom have previously captained the side, was included in the group that will meet in Lahore for fitness trials before the final squad is announced. Only one specialist keeper, Kamran Akmal, was included in the list, although a board spokesman said that others could be drafted in if the need arose. Akmal replaced Moin for the second Test against Sri Lanka last month.

"Akmal will be the only wicketkeeper on the Australian tour because Inzamam-ul-Haq is satisfied with his performance," Wasim Bari, the chief selector, told reporters. "Since we are looking to the future we must try him on this tough tour."

Three uncapped players - batsman Aamir Bashir, opener Ashar Zaidi and left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Khalil - were included.

And Bari added that six promising fast bowlers - Wasim Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Iftikhar Anjum, Mohammad Asif, Yasir Ali and Abdul Rauf - would join the squad to give them more experience.

Pakistan squad: Salman Butt, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Shahid Afridi, Asim Kamal, Aamer Bashir, Riaz Afridi, Bazid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Ashar Zaidi, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Faisal Athar, Mohammad Khalil.