Taint charges a bid to finish Pakistan cricket:AFRIDI

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi  on Wednesday said that the constant flow of match-fixing allegations against his team has made his players even more determined to win the one-day series against England that is currently balanced at 2-2.
Afridi believes that the allegations are a part of a major conspiracy to 'finish' Pakistan cricket.
Afridi stressed that his team is not under any kind of pressure and will go all out for a series-winning triumph after winning the last two one-dayers at the Oval and the Lord's. The fifth and the final one-day international is slated at the Rose Bowl Wednesday.
"What pressure?" retorted Afridi in an interview with 'The News' after leading his team to a 38-run triumph against England at the Lord's in the fourth ODI.
"Why should we feel under pressure? We haven't done anything wrong. We are not guilty of any wrongdoing," he added, referring to allegations of 'spot-fixing' against his teammates.
In a thinly-veiled attack on the England team, Afridi said it is the guilty who always feel the pressure if allegations are levelled against them.
"Only people who feel guilty take pressure," he said.
"The way so many people are joining the bashing of Pakistan cricket shows that a conspiracy is on to finish our cricket," he said. "But we won't allow it. As far as I and my team are concerned, we will give our best on the field and play our role in saving Pakistan cricket from all such conspiracies."
In contrast, Afridi's England counterpart Andrew Strauss had said that he felt "pretty deflated" after Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board ( PCB) chairman, alleged that England deliberately lost the third ODI against Pakistan at the Oval last week.
"I am pretty deflated, really. It has been a long and arduous and difficult 24 hours and to lose a game of cricket at the back end of it, which we were in a good position to win, is very disappointing," Strauss said.
Afridi, 30, said he and his team are fully ready to take on England in the series decider on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
"The boys are feeling confident and motivated."
"Victories in the last two matches have really helped us. It has given the boys a lot of self-belief. They are now focused on the series decider because it's their last test on a long and exhaustive tour with a lot of bad memories. We have to win to end it positively and we will give our best to do that," said Afridi.

Shahid Afridi targeting big innings from Mohammad Yousuf

Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi has suggested that Mohammad Yousuf can make the difference in the final match of the England v Pakistan ODI series, which gets underway later today (September 22nd 2010).
Speaking to the Pak Tribune, the 30-year-old called on Yousuf - who has endured a somewhat disappointing summer so far - to step up his contribution with the bat and expressed confidence in his ability to pile on an impressive score.
"A big knock is due [from] Yousuf," he told the newspaper. "He is such a great player and I know that he can do it. We hope that knock will come in the decider."
Afridi also hailed Umar Gul's performance in the fourth clash of the series on Monday (September 20th), which saw the fast bowler take four wickets as England stumbled to a second successive defeat.
Relations between the two sides have become increasingly strained in recent weeks, with Jonathan Trott and Pakistan 12th man Wahab Riaz becoming involved in a heated confrontation prior to the last match

Afridi: We could have called police

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has admitted that his team had considered not playing the fourth ODI following Riaz-Trott clash at nets.

Pakistan won the match to level the five match series at 2-2 but the clash between Riaz and Trott highlighted the tensions between the two teams and the two boards after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ijaz Butt launched a scathing attack on the English players in the spot-fixing scandal.
Afridi confirmed that the two players clashed before the match in the nets when Trott called Riaz a "spot fixer".
Shahid Afridi also claimed that Pakistan could have called the police over the confrontation between Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz in the Lord's nets.
The England batsman and Pakistan's perennial NatWest Series reserve were involved in an altercation at the nursery end shortly before the start of fourth match in the one-day international series.
The incident was in danger at one point of delaying the start of a match which had been in doubt for several hours after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt accused England's players of deliberately losing at the Brit Oval last Friday - in return for "enormous amounts of money".
England captain Andrew Strauss has strongly refuted the accusations and has since made it clear he and his team will consider legal action against Butt if that is the best way to protect their reputations.
Tension was high on Monday lunchtime as another crisis point was reached in the ongoing controversy over spot-fixing which has followed the Pakistan team around throughout the second half of this summer's tour of England.
It was against that backdrop that tempers appeared to flare between Trott and Riaz - who was interviewed by police in the course of their spot-fixing inquiries last week - and Pakistan captain Afridi's claims on Geo television have ensured there is little chance of any ill-feeling abating before tomorrow's deciding match of the series at the Rose Bowl.
Dawn.com quoted Afridi telling Geo TV: "When Riaz was returning after warming up Trott called him a 'match fixer' and that he [Riaz] was up to harming Test cricket and hit his face with the pad.
"It could have been a police case, because it is crime to hit someone. But we showed a big heart and did not press for it."
An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman this afternoon declined to revisit the specifics of a bust-up described by home board chief executive David Collier yesterday as "regrettable" but "fairly minor in nature".
The incident was brought to the attention of match referee Jeff Crowe, who quickly ascertained the situation could be amicably resolved in time for the toss to take place before a match Pakistan went on to win by 38 runs to level the series at 2-2.
Press Association Sport put Afridi's claims to the ECB and a spokesman said: "The matter is closed.
"The match referee has judged the matter to be closed, and therefore we see it that way too."