I’m a relaxed man now,” Afridi

Shahid afridi seems to have left his tussle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) far behind him as the former captain enjoys a successful run with his county side Hampshire. I’m a relaxed man now,” Afridi told The Express from Southampton.“The problems I went through seem to be far behind me.
I have my family around me and it’s a pleasure to be with my children during gaps in the matches. The atmosphere here is great and I am enjoying playing cricket.”


The all-rounder has claimed 13 wickets at an average of just over 6, the best among bowlers who have taken more than 10 wickets in the tournament.

“I didn’t get time to practice because of the issue with the PCB.

“The West Indies matches were the last ones I had played. But I had the confidence to do well and I am happy with the way I have performed so far.”

However, Afridi, who is yet to show his mettle with the bat in the tournament said he was also looking to improve his batting form.

“I’m working hard on improving my performance,” said the hard-hitting batsman.

“I’m not the best choice to open the innings as Hampshire have a very good opening combination.

“But I will speak to the team management about promoting me up the order.”

While the fate of foreign players signed to play the forthcoming Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) appears bleak due to financial constraints, Afridi is considering accepting Hampshire’s offer to feature in their one-day campaign as well.

“Although I have not received an official message, I am getting hints about the SLPL’s decision to exclude foreign players.

“If this happens I will extend my county stint at Hampshire. I’ve received an offer to feature in their one-day campaign as well.”

The experienced all-rounder also looks certain to participate at this year’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition that takes place in Australia in December.

“I’m getting offers from various Australian sides,” said Afridi, who represented South Australia at the 2009 event.

“The Big Bash is also a good competition and I’m looking forward to playing there as well,” said Afridi while declining to comment on a possible return to international cricket

India to host Pakistan in 2012

India is ready and steady to host Pakistan for a series. India will host Pakistan for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals in March-April 2012 for the first time since 2007, according to the Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The details of the tour are yet to be finalised as it is subject to government clearance. The tour will be preceded by India’s three-month tour to Australia, from December, during which they will play four Tests and 8-11 ODIs. Both the teams are set to fire each other’s strength out...

India is designated as the host of the series, but an ICC spokesman said that the list was provisional and indicated that the matches were likely to be played at a neutral venue.

Any series would be organised entirely by both countries’ governing bodies, he added.
No one was immediately available for comment at the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
India severed cricketing links with its neighbour after the Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people and which New Delhi blamed on outlawed Islamist militants based across the border in Pakistan.

No major international cricket side has toured Pakistan since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and injuring seven others.
The last time Pakistan played a Test match in India was in the southern city of Bangalore in December 2007. India won the series 1-0.

Apart from the World Cup semi-final, their the last one-day international on Indian soil was in November 2007 in Jaipur. Pakistan won the match but lost that series 3-2

Misbah advocates union

PAKISTAN  test and one-day captain misbah ul haq has advocated the formation of a players’ union as he believe it will help reduce the controversies that plague the country’s cricket team. “A players association with the right people in place can do a lot in Pakistan cricket,”Misbah told Geo Super in an interview.

“It can improve communication between players, management and board. It can educate and guide players on contentious issues. It can lead to reduction in the controversies and scandals that hit Pakistan cricket.” About the recent controversies hitting Pakistan cricket, Misbah said there was need for better communication between players, management and Pakistan Cricket Board.

He has also advised his teammates to understand and comprehend the clauses of Pakistan Cricket Board’s central contract before signing the document.
“I would advise all players to consult their elders or even lawyers if they don’t understand the clauses of the contracts. It is a binding agreement with the board. Once you sign it than it is no use complaining afterwards about it,” he added.

Misbah admitted the controversies Pakistan Cricket has gone through over the last few years had affected the performance of national side.

“It has been a torture at times because such things do affect our image and people talk about it. There are people who pass remarks on the roads and it affects your performance,” he said.
He lauded his teammates for adjusting to these pressures and trying hard to perform on the field. “The performances we have given in recent months are very good,” he said.

To a question about nature of existing central contracts, Misbah refused to comment. “I think these are issues that can be sorted out with better communication. What I think about the contract, I should be talking about it directly to the board not in the media,” he said.

He said the lines of communication between team management, players and the selection committee needed to be clear and open, Misbah said, in reference to the dispute between Afridi and the board.
“I think it is important for a captain, coach or manager and players to know their job descriptions and responsibilities. They must know where they stand. They must also be communicating with each other all the time on any issue,” he said.

The 37-year old said he would continue playing as long as he was fit and able to do justice to his team. “I don’t want to hang around preventing some young player from coming in. The day I feel enough is enough and I am not doing justice I will quit.”

“I am only going on in international cricket because at my age I am still passionate about the sport and see playing at the top level as a big challenge,” he said

Shahid Afridi 122 Off 95 Balls

True Tragedy Of Asif & Amir

In Christianity Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas for 30 coins of silver.....That's what I automatically reverted back too. When the hammer came down on Pakistan's Mohammad Asif and Mohammaf Amir for match spotting exiling them from the game.

For not to demean Religion in any manner, but these young men betrayed a quite literal Pakistani 'God' in cricket for the same monetary reward

Condemnation was swift and expected from such a proud Nation of people as Pakistan.


As best seen in this comment from an online forum:

'Amir/Asif didn't only steal, they betrayed a whole country. They bought great sadness to millions of people, and pretty much committed treason. They also tarnished our great sport.'


So then the dust settled on the tragic event and the sad reality was accepted. The wounds of betrayal were still very tender with many calls for these men never to be allowed to represent Pakistan again

Justified too........

For they were living the dream of every Pakistani. In representing the Nation in cricket and they chose to not only disrespect the honour, but to take it one step further and tarnish it indelibly and hold it up to taunts

The cuts were deep and the pain that accompanied them, but as you dug a bit deeper they take on a different incarnate as if salt has been applied

The clarity shows the existence of a double edged sword. For you can't begin to explain the meaning of their betrayal for it has no words, but then their loss to the game was vast too

Restoring balance in the game in the present and in the future was what they could have achieved.....

A huge call indeed, but just think for a moment about who you define as A grade performers in the current age

Id hazard to guess these names would be offered:

Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kumar Sangakkara, Jonathan Trott, Hashim Amla, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn

Great names...,but symbolically of the current age 7 out of 8 are batsmen with Steyn the sole bowler.

Thus making this the batting age and it's effect is not only seen in the now with often one sided contests with bat dominating over ball. Though also in the future with what this spectacle inspires.

This seen by the fact that tomorrow's star are born out of the inspiration of today's heroes.

These two Pakistani pace men would have changed this indelibly for you couldn't help but be inspired by their regal skill and be besotted by their bowling beauty

Then in the now their effect on any batting line up was reminiscent of a hot knife slicing through butter. So rather than seeing batsmen fill their boots against average bowlers. We instead were to bare witness to a true spectacle. Either of these genius bowlers dismembering batsmen or indeed the edge of your seat spectacle that a great batsmen versus great bowlers represents.

Just think back to what was Test Crickets finest highlight of recent times and it be hard to go past the epic battle between Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn.

Yum Yum....mouth watering wasn't it...............!

That's what these two represented for not just Pakistani's, but for all cricket fans

So allow us to dream a bit....

Say a India versus Pakistan Test at a packed Eden Gardens with Sachin and VVS in partnership as these two roar into to them from either end.

You wouldn't be lying to say half of the World's humanity would stand still to bare witness. To truly immerse in the theatre and be moved by the inspiration.

In the face of this kids would run out mimicking Asif and Amir having a profound effect of crickets future...

Then reality bites you and you wake in fright....

To realise that this could have been their destiny, but they forsook it all for a few coins of gold...

A tragedy of the sincerest sense for all lovers of cricket that we will bemoan for many moons

ICC team calls for sweeping changes in Pakistan

The ICC's Pakistan Task Team (PTT) has recommended what amounts to a root and branch reform of the game in Pakistan, including broad changes to the way the board is run and on micro issues such as selection, managerial appointments and even the standard of ball used in Pakistan's domestic cricket.

The PTT presented a 38-page report during the annual conference in Hong Kong last week and listed 63 recommendations that it believes will strengthen cricket in the country. The report has also called, in strong terms, for a resumption of cricket ties with India, recognising it to be a key component of the fabric of Pakistan's cricket.

The PCB said last week it would review the report and get back to the ICC with some "observations" on the recommendations; in some instances, such as the recommendations to reduce the power of the chairman, board officials believe the PTT has gone beyond its remit.

The parameters for the body's work - as the report acknowledges - did expand over time. Initially set up in light of continuing concerns over security in Pakistan (it was constituted in June 2009, having been on the agenda since February that year) it broadened its role after the spot-fixing scandal to take in "integrity issues" as well as matters of governance and administration.

And it is the recommendations on the last that are particularly eye-opening. "Perhaps the strongest of the recommendations, however, relate to the governance structures of Pakistan cricket," the executive summary of the report states. "It is highly unusual that the President of the country is entitled to appoint both the Chairman of the PCB and over half of the Governing Board. It is also inconsistent with the demands of modern sports administration that the Chairman also holds the powers of the CEO.

"The PTT believes there should be a wholesale (internal) review of the PCB's governance structures, including its constitution. While recognising that changes may not happen overnight, the PTT believes that preserving the status quo will constrain the development of Pakistan cricket in the long-term and is not in keeping with international best practice in sports administration."

The report calls for constitutional changes within the board aimed at reducing the power of the chairman and making the role a non-executive one. "The PCB and ICC are currently engaged in a consultative process of constitutional review. It is proposed that this process continues over the next few months, with a view to amending the PCB constitution."

The recommendations - to hold elections and ensure no political interference - are the same as those envisaged in the ICC's recent constitutional amendment on governance for all boards. But it goes further, suggesting a reduction "in the absolute executive powers of the Chairman by creating the post of Chief Executive, who is appointed by the Governing Board." The role of regional associations as an alternative centre of power, should also be increased.

Ten recommendations are made on matters of selection, the report said, noting that "there has been a high level of turnover of selectors in the past five years with five different people serving as chairman of selectors in this short period." The report recommends that the selection committee operate without "outside interference" and also suggests that appointments to the committee should be through a clear process, approved the the board of governors. Most tellingly, it asks that the chairman's right of veto on selection of players be removed altogether.

The role of the team management also comes under scrutiny, the report suggesting a permanent manager to accompany the side rather than a series-by-series appointment as is the case currently. The incumbent, Intikhab Alam, makes in fact regular appearances through the report; the PTT questions the workload of a man who is the national team manager, the chairman of the cricket committee, director game development as well as a governing board member.

Interestingly, the report also notes the growing influence of the board's legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi in cricket matters. No judgment is made, however, on a man who has been closely involved in a number of issues to afflict Pakistan over the last 18 months; "The PCB has very strong reliance on its external legal counsel, Mr Taffazul Rizvi, who is central to all major strategic and management decisions."

The PTT also suggests that the number of centrally contracted players be reduced, though here it is out of date; currently the PCB has 20 players on central contracts and no stipend category anymore, and not the 45 players and 15 receiving a stipend the report states.

It also raises, with little context, the type of balls being used in domestic cricket. "A specific cricket issue raised with the PTT on several occasions was the quality of the balls used in domestic cricket, being an inferior grade to those used at international level. This situation, which prevails for financial reasons, provides an insight into either the financial constraints facing the PCB or inappropriate prioritisation....PCB should prioritise the use of international-standard balls in the top division of its multi-day and one-day men's competitions."

The absence of Indo-Pak cricket, the report said, is hurting the sport. "The absence of the traditional bilateral series between Pakistan and India from the international cricket calendar is denying millions of cricket loving fans across the world from enjoying an iconic series. It is also hurting the sport, particularly in Pakistan and the PTT sees no reason why this great sporting rivalry should not be restored as soon as possible, even if on neutral soil." However, little else is said on how international cricket can be revived in Pakistan, which was one of the main tasks of the PTT.

The recommendations are not believed to be binding on the PCB so they are under no compulsion to implement them. The board will send back observations on the report to the ICC, but what happens beyond that is unclear. Incidentally, Zimbabwe accepted and implemented all recommendations in an earlier ICC task team report on problems in the game there.