"Relieved" Afridi hopes to dazzle for Hampshire

Shahid Afridi is looking forward to his first outing as a ‘retired’ player on Thursday (tomorrow) when he will make his debut for Hampshire in their Friends Pro-t20 clash against Essex Eagles in Chelmsford (England).

The star allrounder, who announced his retirement from international cricket during a bitter dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is happy that he will be back on the cricket field soon.

“I’m really looking forward to be back in action,” Afridi told ‘The News (a local newspaper)’ in an interview on Tuesday. “The last few weeks were pretty frustrating but thank God it’s over now. I’m feeling relieved,” added the player who will leave here for London on Wednesday (today).

Till a few days back it seemed that Afridi won’t be able to fulfill his lucrative assignment with Hampshire as he was busy battling in court against the PCB.

It all began when Afridi was relieved of Pakistan’s one-day captaincy last month by the PCB after he hinted at disharmony in the national team management following his team’s 3-2 win in the limited-overs series against West Indies.

Reacting to the snub, Afridi retired from international cricket and lashed out at the PCB for its “ill-treatment” towards him. The PCB decided to hit back by suspending his central contract and revoking all No Objection Certificates thus blocking the player’s participation in the Friends Pro-t20 event in England.

Afridi returned home and filed a petition in the Sindh High Court. A few days later, he withdrew the petition following a meeting with PCB chief Ijaz Butt. The Board slapped him with a hefty fine of Rs4.5 million but agreed to revoke his NOC to play for Hampshire.

The entire episode was a stunning turnaround for the 31-year-old who was hailed as a hero last March when he guided an otherwise underachieving Pakistan team to the World Cup semifinals.

However, Afridi made it clear that he won’t delve in the past.

“All I’m thinking about is how to regain my form, both as a bowler and as a batsman,” said Afridi, who is one of the world’s most successful allrounders in the shorter formats of the game.

“I’m looking forward to do well as an allrounder for Hampshire,” added the player who has scored 6695 runs and bagged 315 wickets in One-day Internationals. He is also one of the most prolific players in Twenty20 Internationals with 683 runs and 53 wickets from 43 matches.

Afridi peaked as a legspinner during the 2011 World Cup in sub-continent when he emerged as one of the most successful bowlers in the 16-nation spectacle. But his performance graph dipped in the Caribbean where he flopped both with the bat and ball.

However, an unplanned yet well-deserved sabbatical from cricket has left Afridi in a buoyant mood.

“I was feeling a bit drained after the World Cup which is probably the reason why my performance wasn’t up to the mark against the West Indies,” he said.

“But I’m feeling much better now and am itching to play cricket which is a great sign.”

Soon after concluding his Hampshire stint, Afridi is hoping to feature as one of the star attractions at the inaugural Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament. The event will be played over 18 days from July 19 and will feature teams from the island’s seven provinces.

Afridi will lead one of the competing teams and is already looking forward to the challenge. “It (SLPL) promises to be a challenging tournament and I’m hoping to give my best in it,” he said.

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Hope McCullum stays part of leadership group'

New Zealand's coach, John Wright, is confidentBrendon McCullum and Ross Taylor can work together after the drawn-out jostle to become the team's captain. Wright said the near three months that it took to decide between the two candidates, as New Zealand Cricket (NZC) waited for them to return home from the IPL, was far from ideal.

Daniel Vettori's last game in charge, the World Cup semi-final, was in late March, and it took 84 days for Taylor to be confirmed as his successor. Months of speculation as to who would win the role didn't help team stability as Taylor and McCullum waited for a decision from a three-man panel comprising Wright, the director of cricket John Buchanan and the national selection manager Mark Greatbatch.

"To be honest, in future I hope that whatever processes are embarked on in reaching these decisions are probably a little bit more rapid than they have been in this case," Wright said. "For me, being a coach, we're in a sporting competitive environment and it's about making decisions as quickly as possible and then getting on with things."

Wright said he hoped that after spending so long with his eyes on the top job, McCullum could remain a leader within the squad despite the disappointment of being overlooked. McCullum said on Tuesday that he was keen to take on the vice-captaincy and Wright said that while no decision had been made on who would be second-in-command, he was sure McCullum could work with Taylor in any capacity.

"I hope that Brendon, by the time this all settles down, is an important part of our leadership group," Wright said. "[As India coach] I've worked in the past with Ganguly and Dravid and Kumble and Tendulkar - with Dravid and Ganguly they were captain and vice-captain, they helped each other and were very important to the side.

"I hope that Brendon will come to terms with this and I still think he's got an important part to play in the leadership of this team. If he wants to do the job [as vice-captain], if Ross Taylor is off the field he's certainly the bloke that seems an obvious candidate."

Taylor won the role in part due to being the incumbent vice-captain, and also because he impressed with his tactical nous and his run-making when he has stood in for Vettori over the past two years. The new captain's approach might be understated, but Wright has been pleased with the decisions he has seen from Taylor when he has had the chance to lead.

"One of the advantages that Ross had was that he was the incumbent and he'd performed well in his vice-captaincy role," Wright said. "From my perspective, from the time that I've been with the team since Christmas that probably gave him an advantage over Brendon.

"They both presented well. It was obvious that they had a passion for the job. I've been impressed with his [Taylor's] captaincy when he's had the opportunity. There have been a couple of occasions when he has made some subtle field changes that have worked and we've got wickets. There are some things he's done that you look at and you think, 'yeah, that's actually worked'."

New Zealand's next series is in Zimbabwe in September, a tour on which Taylor will become his country's 27th Test captain, and only the third man to do the job this century. He then faces a tough tour of Australia, followed by home Tests against Zimbabwe and South Africa to round out the 2011-12 summer.

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Winner of Pakistani domestic t20 cup will not be a part of Clt20 2011..

The Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) Governing Council has confirmed the format and dates for the 2011 tournament to be played in India, with more teams than ever before having a chance to win domestic T20’s biggest prize.

The 10-team CLT20 will follow the same format as 2010 and will be held in Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata from 23 September to 9 October.

Before the tournament kicks off however, a six-team event will be played in Hyderabad from 19-21 September to decide the final three teams that qualify for the main event.

With six sides in the qualifier and another seven already confirmed as participants in the tournament, a record 13 teams will have a chance to claim the most prestigious prize in domestic cricket.

The two stages are explained below:

Stage I: Qualifier
Venue: Hyderabad
Dates: 19 September - 21 September

A six-team qualifier will be held in Hyderabad from 19-21 September. Kolkata Knight Riders (fourth, IPL), Trinidad and Tobago (Champion, West Indies) and Auckland Aces (Champion, New Zealand) have already been invited to participate, with the teams from Sri Lanka (one) and England (two) yet to be confirmed. The top three teams at the conclusion of the qualifier will advance to the main tournament. The format for the qualifier will be announced soon.

Stage II: 2011 Champions League Twenty20
Dates: 23 September - 9 October
Venues: Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata

The top three teams from the qualifier will join three IPL teams, two T20 teams from Australia and two from South Africa in the main event. As in 2010, the 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five, and the top two sides from both groups will play the semi-finals.

Seven high-calibre teams have already been invited to participate – South Australian Redbacks and NSW Blues from Australia, Warriors and Cape Cobras from South Africa, as well as the top three sides from the 2011 IPL, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.

The line-ups already contains the 2009 (NSW Blues) and 2010 (Chennai Super Kings) Champions and 2010 Runner-Up (Warriors), showing CLT20 as the true test of world’s elite domestic T20 teams.

Bengaluru will host the inaugural game on 23 September and along with Chennai will host a semi-final. The 2011 CLT20 Final will be played in Chennai on 9 October.