KARACHI, March 6: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants assurances young pacer Umar Gul will not be overworked before they make a decision on a contract offer from English county side Gloucestershire for this year.

The 24-year-old Umar is Pakistan's main bowler at the World Cup after new ball pair Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were lost to injury.

“We have asked for assurances from the county there will be acceptable workloads for Umar as he is a valuable player for us,” Saleem Altaf, PCB director cricket operations.—Reuters