Woolmer keen for Azhar Mahmood to return to the fold

Pakistan's new coach, Bob Woolmer, has embarked upon the team's rebuilding process, by asking the Pakistan Cricket Board to arrange a meeting with the seven national players who are currently playing in county cricket. Among them is Azhar Mahmood, the Surrey allrounder who has not played a Test match since Pakistan's last tour of England in 2001, and a man whom Woolmer is keen to reintroduce to the national set-up.

"We will go by what [Woolmer] says because he obviously has a neutral view about the players," said Rameez Raja, the Pakistan board's chief executive, "He will be starting from scratch." Woolmer has already spoken to Shoaib Akhtar, who is currently playing for Durham, and also intends to meet with Mohammad Sami, Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik and Shabbir Ahmed.

According to a report in The News, a Pakistan daily, Woolmer still feels Mahmood has plenty to offer in international cricket. He began his Test career with a bang at Rawalpindi in 1997-98, when he cracked unbeaten innings of 128 and 50 on debut against South Africa, and he followed that up with back-to-back centuries at Johannesburg and Durban four months later. But his form fell away after that, and he managed no more fifties and just one four-wicket haul in his last 13 matches.

He made a brief return to the one-day side against New Zealand at the beginning of the year, but has since been overlooked for Pakistan's Asia Cup squad and recently described the Pakistani cap as "worthless". "Why I am in and out of the Pakistan team?" he asked. "Whether I perform or not does not seem to make a difference."

Whether coincidentally or not, all three of Mahmood's finest performances have come against Woolmer's South Africans, so if anyone has faith in his ability, then it has to be the new coach.