Azhar Mahmood crazy hitting (60 from 40 balls) 7 fours and 1 huge SIX (kent vs surrey 14th july)

Afridi eyes another stint with Hampshire next summer

Pakistan’s former skipper, Shahid Afridi, has expressed his desire to play for the English County side, Hampshire, next summer as well, after retaining his splendid form in the ongoing season.
Afridi, who has become an indispensable member of the side after performing exceptionally well in the Friends Life T20, said: “Definitely, I would love to, it’s up to the chairman (Rod Bransgrove) and the crowd. If they want to see me then maybe I’ll come back. I’m enjoying myself, but the main thing is performance and trying my level best to perform as best as I can.”
Talking about his experience playing for Hampshire, the 31-year-old admitted that it was fun working with the guys and team was a well knitted outfit. “There’s a nice atmosphere, people are very nice and the boys - my team-mates - they are all legends. I’ve really enjoyed playing cricket for Hampshire. (Captain) Dominic Cork is doing well and we’re really backing each other,” said Afridi.
The all-rounder, who exhibited some astounding performances for his County side, especially while bowling, had to abruptly return back home because of his father’s illness which means that he will miss the final group match against Middlesex, scheduled to be played on Friday, July 15, 2011. Nonetheless, it is expected that the flamboyant cricketer will return early next month to play in the last-eight clash.
The all-rounder has taken 14 wickets in his eight outings for the Royals, where he also helped his side reach the quarter-final stage of the T20 tournament.

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Govt and cricket

Just a day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned its member nations from making political appointments to national cricket boards, the Sri Lankans announced that they accepted the ruling and had disbanded an interim committee appointed by their government to run cricket in the island. But Pakistan, where a gentleman handpicked by the government is running a one-man show, is a different story. What a top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told the media after his return early on Saturday morning from Hong Kong which hosted the ICC moot shows the extent of government meddling in our cricket affairs. PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed made it clear that the Board would decide its course of action on the ICC ruling after discussing the issue with the government. “How we implement this reform will depend on our talks with the government,” Ahmed told reporters. However, the writing is on the wall for the PCB bigwigs. The ICC executive board has given cricket boards 12 months to implement free elections and another 12-month grace period before any sanctions would be considered against a member nation.

According to the ICC, the idea behind this move is to free cricket from undue influence and outright government meddling. The reform allows the ICC to suspend a member country in the event of government interference in the running of a national cricket board. Unsurprisingly, the ICC move has been welcomed by people like Imran Khan, the former Pakistan Test captain, who is a staunch critic of the current PCB set-up. Political meddling is certainly spoiling our cricket. PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt has been heavily criticised for his poor policies both at home and abroad. But he continues to weather all sorts of storms because he has the backing of President Zardari who, as the PCB’s chief patron, has the powers to hire or fire Board chiefs. Because of such direct political involvement, it is difficult to run Pakistan cricket in a transparent manner. There isn’t much accountability either. It is time our government learnt to separate sports from politics.

Pakistan hopeful of inclusion in Champions League T20

While the country gets continuously snubbed by the Champions League organisers, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is still not giving up hope of participation in the coveted Twenty20 tournament.

Pakistan’s representation was missing once again when organisers announced a new format for this year’s event that will be competed among 10 teams later this year. Pakistan are the only major Test nation to miss out on taking part in the mega event.

However, the PCB Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed was optimistic after having a discussion with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he said.

“We had a discussion with the BCCI on the sidelines of the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting,” Ahmed told reporters on returning from the ICC annual conference. “Primarily we discussed playing a bilateral series with India. Once the ties revive, we’re confident we’ll be included in the Champions League.”

Ahmed further said that Pakistan and India are scheduled to play a series in February next year, for which discussions with the Indian board will soon be held.

PCB satisfied with outcome in Hong Kong

The ICC meeting saw some major decisions being taken, including giving a ruling that requires cricket boards to end government intervention in their operations.

The PCB, whose chairman is appointed by the country’s president who also happens to be the board’s patron-in-chief, is directly affected by this ruling but Ahmed seemed content with the outcome.

“We’re satisfied with the outcome and will be discussing the ruling with the government. We will give its output to the ICC, which has understood our viewpoint and has given us two years to implement the change.”

Ahmed also expressed his satisfaction that the proposal of doing away with the rotational policy of appointing ICC presidents was deferred.

No progress in reviving international cricket

However, the PCB failed to achieve any breakthrough in their attempts to revive international cricket in Pakistan. The country has not hosted international cricket since March 2009 following an attack on the Sri Lanka team.

“The revival of cricket depends on the security situation. The ICC has assured their support on hosting an event in 2018 subject to security.”

PCB should host T20, 50-over domestic leagues: Sohail

 The resounding success of first super eights T20 tournament in Faisalabad has impressed Aamir Sohail and the former captain feels the board should organize a T20 and 50-over League in the smaller cities of the country until international cricket returns to Pakistan.

The Iqbal stadium in Faisalabad on Friday night was packed to the hilt with thousands more clamoring outside the stadium to get in for the final of the super eights tournament that saw the unfancied Rawalpindi Rams upset Karachi Dolphins.

The match also saw an eliminator over bowled in a T20 match in Pakistan to decide the winner for the first time. Both teams had tied on the final ball after Karachi set a stiff target of 165 but in the eliminator over, Rawalpindi scored 16 runs and Karachi were unable to match and lost both their batsmen.

"The way the people have poured into the stadium every day of this week long tournament shows just hungry the Pakistanis are for quality cricket," Sohail said.

"We have seen such a packed house and atmosphere after such a long time. I have no doubt that if the board organizes limited over cricket leagues all over the country it will be an instant success," Sohail added.

No foreign team has toured Pakistan since March, 2009 for security reasons after militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in which six Pakistani police and a van driver were killed.

Pakistan has been forced to relocate its next two "home" series against Sri Lanka and England also to Dubai and Abu Dhabi after both teams refused to play in Pakistan.

Rawalpindi Rams vs Karachi Dolphins T20 Final Highlights

Kaneria files petition in SHC for non clearance by PCB

pakistan test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has filed a petition in the Sindh High Court here on Saturday against his non-clearance by Pakistan Cricket (PCB) Integrity Committee. Karachi-based Pakistan Highest wicket-taking spinner Kaneria with 261 wickets in 61 Test matches, has not been cleared for selection to Pakistan team since last October Lord’s spot-fixing scandal and his own entanglement in a

 corruption case in Essex. 

“I have been dealing with the PCB over my clearance since last October and I have failed to get justice from them,” Kaneria told reporters at SHC while filing petition through his Lawyer Barrister Farogh Naseem.      
“I have now come to the legal system and I hope to see justice will be done here.” The first hearing of the petition will be held on  July 4. 
Last month deposed Pakistan One-day Captain Shahid Afridi filed a petition in SHC after PCB revolved his Central Contract and canceled all his NOC’s for violating Code of Conduct for his outbursts against coach Waqar Younis and PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt.
Eventually Afridi managed to get NOC for playing Hampshire in  England’s T20 Competition. Fine of Rs.4.5 million was also imposed on him by the PCB.

IS PAKISTAN CRICKET LOSING ITS STRENGTH IN FAST BOWLING SPINNERS DOMINATING ATTACKTRONG

It wasn’t long ago when the fans in Pakistan saw their quick bowlers blowing away the opposition with their express pace and unplayable swing. The Pakistan cricket team had some tear away fast bowlers, who were a big threat to the batsmen. However, it seems that the era of the panthers has ended, as spin has taken over the attack in the recent past.

Pakistan have been relying on their spinners more than the pacers in the recent matches. They had four spinners in their ICC World Cup 2011 squad and usually one of them opened the attack with the new ball during the tournament.

The team did have some express bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz, but spinners were given more importance.

The team then toured West Indies after the Mega Event and off-spinner, Mohammad Hafeez, opened the attack on the first day of a Test match, which clearly shows the dominance of spin bowlers in the Pakistan team.

Does this signal the end of fast bowling trend in Pakistan? The answer to that can only be found with the passage of time, but at the moment things look grim for the fast bowlers in Pakistan.

Youngsters in Pakistan follow cricketers like superstars of Hollywood. They want to be like their heroes in the future. This is how the fastest bowler in cricket history, Shoaib Akhtar grew up, watching former Pakistan captain, Waqar Younis, terrorising the opposition.

Shoaib was impressed to see Waqar taking a long run-up and bowling consistently above 90 miles per hour. The Rawalpindi express not only fulfilled his dream of becoming a tear away fast bowler, he also had the opportunity to play alongside his hero in the same team.

Waqar is also currently coaching the national side and the fans will look up to him for grooming young fast bowlers in the country. He has not only inspired youngsters in Pakistan, but from other countries as well.

Sri Lanka’s pace ace, Lasith Malinga, recently revealed in an interview during the World Cup, that he learned the art of bowling quick yorkers watching Wasim Akram and Waqar.

This was an honour for the two legendary pace bowlers, who had dominated most part of the nineties, but they would love to see some express bowlers making their way to the Pakistan team.

The Men in Green had found an extraordinary talent in Mohammad Amir, who impressed one and all with his brilliant pace bowling at a very young age. He was being compared to the legendary, Wasim, but his career came to a halt due to a shocking controversy.

The youngster was found guilty of spot-fixing in a match against England and was banned from all forms of cricket for five years. This was a big blow for the Pakistan team, especially with the incident taking place just ahead of the Mega Event.

Apart from that, Shoaib also announced his retirement from international cricket during the World Cup, which left Pakistan with limited choices in the fast bowling department.

At the moment, the Pakistan’s attack is led by spinners, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez. If the trend continues, the youngsters will lose interest in fast bowling and the nation will not be able to produce lethal pacers.

Proper planning needs to be done to keep the young generation interested in fast bowling. Pakistan has been known for having an exceptional pool of talent in the fast bowling department, but a lot of work is required to be done at the basic level to continue the legendary trend.

Malik delighted at Indo-Pak prospects

 
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, dubbed India's son-in-law since marrying tennis starSania Mirza, said on Friday he was delighted the rivals might soon face each other on the cricket pitch again. 

The International Cricket Council's Future Tours Programme has pencilled in India as hosts of Pakistan for three Tests and five one-day internationals in March-April next year. 

The tour remains subject to clearance from both governments, but would mark a breakthrough for relations that went into free fall after Islamist gunmen killed 166 people in the 2008 Mumbaiattacks that India blamed on Pakistan. 

"The prospect of Pakistan touring India for a cricket series is delightful and I am hopeful it will happen," Malik, who led Pakistan on their last tour to India in 2007, said from his home town of Sialkot. 

"Cricket has astonishing power to bring people of both India and Pakistan closer. We saw that in 2004 when Indians were welcomed in our country and they returned with a different perception of Pakistan," said the 29-year-old. 

"It was the same when we toured India in 2005. People of both countries eat the same food, speak the same language and wear the same dress, and everyone wants to watch Pakistan play India." 

Malik said he gets enormous respect and love in India, all the more so since his high-profile marriage last year. 

"Obviously after my marriage to Sania I get more respect and love, and there are hundreds of such marriages in India and Pakistan." 

Malik said India, which has a population of more than one billion, playing Pakistan, home to 167 million people, is bigger than the Ashes, played between Australia and England. 

"It's huge, bigger than the Ashes because if you count the number of people watching, it's very very big, so world cricket also needs India and Pakistan," said Malik. 

An India team was due to tour Pakistan in early 2009 but the visit was cancelled as peace talks stalled between the nuclear rivals after the Mumbai attacks. 

The teams last met in this year's World Cup semifinal in India at a match watched in person by the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani. 

"That spirit should be cashed in on," Malik said, noting that he also wanted to regain his place on the team, having not been selected since last year's tour of England. 

Malik has so far played 32 Tests, 192 one-dayers and 32 Twenty20 matches.

Afridi-inspired Hants cruise to another t20 win

THERE are not enough superlatives to describe Shahid Afridi’s first ten days with the Hampshire Royals.

World-class, unplayable, irrepressible… the thesaurus does not do the man justice at the moment.

With 13 wickets from his first 19 overs in a Hampshire shirt, Afridi is bowling on a different level to anyone else in the competition.

Another masterful bowling display from Hampshire’s star man helped ensure a seven-wicket win against Middlesex, extending Hampshire’s lead at the top of the Friends Life t20’s South Group to four points. Afridi’s presence ensured a bumper Uxbridge crowd of more than 2,000.

He took three for 16 on a balmy summer’s evening as Hampshire, after winning the toss, limited Middlesex to 121-9.

Imran Tahir, Hampshire’s other leg-spinner, was also outstanding, conceding only 14 runs from his four overs while also claiming a wicket with an athletic return catch.

Middlesex began brightly, ending their powerplay on 51-1. But they knew as well as anyone that their total was well below par for Uxbridge, where the wicket is good and the boundaries short.

Gloucestershire amassed a competition record 254-3 there last Sunday and Middlesex’s 121-9 was the lowest first-innings score in the tenTwenty20 matches played at Uxbridge since the shortest format began (beating Hampshire’s 134-7 in Twenty20’s inaugural season eight years ago).

The Royals have had a happier time of it at Uxbridge in recent years and a third t20 win in as many games there was never in doubt after Afridi and Tahir combined to dismantle the opposition once again.

Middlesex hit 61 from their first 40 deliveries before Dimi Mascarenhas (2-28) claimed his second wicket, 18-year-old Adam Rossington bowled for a 17-ball 25.

Scott Newman contributed a run-a-ball 24 but he had no idea against Afridi, playing and missing against the first three deliveries from the Pakistani, who only conceded a single from his first over.

Newman holed out to long over in Afridi’s next over before Neil Dexter was beaten all ends up and trapped lbw.

Tahir reduced Middlesex to 68-5 two balls later and Ryan McLaren was brilliantly run out by James Vince from long on at the end of the next over.

Afridi’s figures read 2-0-3-2 when Cork decided to save his strike bowler’s last two overs. His absence from the attack allowed Sam Robson to restore some respectability to the Middlesex innings, dominating a seventh-wicket stand of 28 before Tom Smith had his leg stump knocked back trying to reverse-sweep Afridi.

Hampshire chased down their target with 18 balls to spare, giving them a little more time to get their togs ready for James Tomlinson’s wedding today but not enough to catch the end of Murray v Nadal, another annihilation. Jimmy Adams led Hampshire home with an unbeaten 38 (50 balls), while Sean Ervine raced to an unbeaten 22 from 14 balls to secure another two points.

But it was a scintillating 39 from Vince that ensured Hampshire reached the M25 earlier than scheduled.

Vince faced only 22 balls and hit Hampshire’s two sixes, sliced over point against England’s Steve Finn and over long-on against slow left-armer Smith.

He was eventually caught at mid-on, the first of two wickets for Steven Crook (2-17), who had Neil McKenzie brilliantly caught in the deep by Smith in his next over.

But those scalps were a negligible impediment to Hampshire’s inexorable progress to a home quarter-final.

For now, they can now enjoy a well deserved few days off before welcoming Essex to theRose Bowl on Wednesday, a repeat of last season’s semi-final.

INDIAN ARMY ORGANISES KASHMIR PREMIER LEAGUE T20 TO WIN HEARTS AND MINDS

The inaugural tournament of the newly established Kashmir Premier League (KPL) is going to start from July 4 in the valley of Kashmir. The one month long event will have 14 teams that hail from 10 districts of the valley. The opening T20 game will be played between Srinagar Sher Dil and Badgam Badshahs.

The tournament has been designed by the Indian army, which is occupying the valley, in order to pacify the public and reduce anti-India protests.

Kashmir has been fighting for freedom from Indian domination since 1947. The valley is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

An army statement reveals, “The first phase of the tournament was conducted in May and June with 193 teams from across the valley taking part. There were over 300 matches at the intra-district level. The best 14 district teams were selected for the final phase”.

It further tells, “The second phase of the summer slam promises to be the biggest extravaganza Kashmir has ever seen. The major districts of Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, and, Badgam will be fielding two teams each while the districts of Kupwara, Bandipur, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, and, Ganderbal will field a team each”.

The 14 teams in the tournament will compete for Chinar Cup. The winning side will get a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, while the runner-up is to get Rs 3 lakhs. The top three players of the tournament will have a chance to get training in the top cricket academies of India.

The tournament will be a major breakthrough for the promotion and development of cricket in the war-hit valley. As is it going to be the first ever T20 event in Kashmir, a large number of viewers are expected to come watch.

After the thumping success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which started in 2008, T20 leagues are rapidly mushrooming in the Subcontinent. Sri Lanka has formed a Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL), so has Bangaldesh, while Pakistan is planning to formulate Pakistan Premier League (PPL).

Analysts believe that the credit of all these developments goes to the IPL, which is the pioneer in Asia.

Abdul Razzaq Brilliant Slower Ball Wicket vs Yorkshire

News: New bowling machine to copy world’s best

 British scientists have fabricated a bowling machine that they claim can mimic its real life counterparts.

According to media reports, the machine replicates the bowling of Australian leg-spin legend Shane Warne or the English left-arm spinner Monty Panesar. They say it can copy the spin, swing and pace of any of the world’s best.

Experts believe the device developed at the Loughborough University will be invaluable for honing the skills of professional cricketers. It works by manipulating the alignment of the seam, speed of the ball ad airflow around it to create swing.

According to its inventor Dr. Andy West, when they were designing the machine, they considered all the things that real players use such as the orientation of the seam and the speed at which the ball is released to vary how a ball travels when it is bowled.

“Real life bowlers can get tired or injured during extensive training periods so the machine is ideal for batsmen to practise with,” West has been quoted as saying. West further said Loughborough researchers were also developing simulation machines for sports such as golf, football, rowing and weight training. 

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Wahab Riaz 6 and a 4 vs Hampshire