I will continue playing cricket with my fans: Amir

Banned Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir plans to stay in London until the Scotland Yard makes a decision in the spot-fixing case and will be playing cricket local parks over there, a private news channel reported on Tuesday.

Amir, who was hopeful of a reduction in his sentence, said that he was not barred from playing cricket with his fans and would continue to interact with them.

The fast bowler said that he was imparting bowling tips to children and would also set up an academy in the future.

I’m still available for Pakistan: Azhar Mahmood

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood claimed that he was still fit enough to represent the national side and was puzzled that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had not included him in their plans.
“I’m always available for Pakistan. I haven’t retired yet. There’s nothing like playing for your home country. A lot of people have been asking me if I want to play for England. It’s like a bubble in the air. If the opportunity comes I will take it,” Mahmood told the cricketer.com.
Mahmood, who last appeared in national colours during Pakistan’s humiliating defeat to Ireland at the 2007 World Cup, has been playing county cricket in England for several years and believes he still has what it takes to be a the top level.
Mahmood said it was frustrating because the Pakistan Cricket Board never explained why he wasn’t in its plans.
“It was tough missing so much cricket. People said I wasn’t fit and had put on weight. It was just a media thing. I’ve played county cricket for nine years and I’ve proved my fitness.
“In the few chances I got for Pakistan, I wasn’t given the new ball, I was batting at No.6, or below. It’s tough when you have only the last 3-4 overs to bat.”
Mahmood enjoyed a promising start to his test career, scoring 900 runs at an average of 30 from just 21 matches but it was in the ODI arena that he excelled with both bat and ball. He picked up 123 wickets and scored 1521 runs in his limited-overs career but played in an era when Pakistan had plenty of all-round options in Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.
The 36-year-old recalled how he was offered the captaincy at 25, but turned it down because of his inexperience.
“In 2000, Gen Tauqir Zia (the then PCB chairman) took me aside and said, “you’re the next Pakistan captain. I said : no, make Waqar (Younis) the captain.”
“That was the biggest mistake I made in my life.”
“The captaincy wasn’t offered for a long term. I saw no point having it for one tour alone.”

LACK OF INTEREST BY PCB MANAGEMENT IN DOMESTIC MATCHES...

Pakistan still facing the lot of problem to enforce the international teams to play in Pakistan because of security reasons .... but now in these days Pakistan domestic most popular season is going on in faislabad ..which is faysal bank t20...first time in pakistan history that this t20 season is playing in faislabad where as in the past years only karachi & lahore host that t20 season it's good for the public of faislabad to see some cricket action in pakistan .... doesn't matter it is domestic or international because something is better then nothing....

but this has been saw that management of PCB has show their lack of interest in this tournament because if management of PCB show their interest in these types of domestic matches then peoples automatically will come in ground ....

because in current t20 season most of pakistani international stars are playing in county t20 which is also the big dissappointment for the crowd because they are unable to see their stars in pakistan t20....also our stars also must realise this nothing comes before country .... they are playing in county because they have the contract with different county teams .... but they must prefere their national tournaments rather then to be efficient with the with the other cricketing nations leagues....

because in pakistan peoples want to see some action in sports but due to bad security scenario only they are able to see the domestic tournaments so in domestic they also want to see their star players because the presence of star players the junior also get the advantage .......

so the management also have to do some strong steps for this to make the star players attendance mandatory in domestic tournaments not only this the peoples of management also have to come in to the ground to judge the fresh bloods...

SLPL signs seven more Pakistan players

While star players like former captain Shahid Afridi and experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq already having their contracts secured, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has roped in seven more Pakistani cricketers for the inaugural edition of its Twenty20 league.

According to details, former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan are among the national cricketers who have signed fresh contracts with the SLC for the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) that will be played from July 19.

The other Pakistani players who have recently signed up include natioanl team discards Fawad Alam and Shahzaib Hasan, upcoming batsman Asad Shafiq and opener Ahmed Shehzad. Fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan was also included.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already announced that it would not block the participation of the players in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan cricket board has announced that the event will go as planned despite the withdrawal of Indian players following instructions by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). And while the SLC admitted that the league will incur a financial loss, the league will go ahead.

Excluding the Indian players, cricketers from all the top-cricketing nations including Daniel Vetorri (New Zealand), Herchelle Gibbs (South Africa), Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard (West Indies) are also expected to feature in the tournament.