Afridi warns players to be cautious in future

KARACHI: Pakistan’s one-day captain Shahid Afridi may have dismissed the match-fixing charges as being baseless, but he has warned his players to be more cautious in the future as now they have been closely observed by the world.
“All these allegation are baseless and there is no truth in the match-fixing reports. Nobody is involved in match-fixing. However, I have warned all the team players to be more cautious so as to avoid scandals in future. The team is being closely observed so it would be good to Pakistan cricket that our players avoid any activity which might be wrongly perceived and subsequently scandalised,” Afridi told reporters after he returned from England on Friday morning.
He said he would have been very happy if they had won the ODI series and it would have been a great achievement for the beleaguered team.
Afridi praised the players for playing well under pressure in the recently concluded England ODI series. “I am happy that the team played well in the ODI series especially after the allegations. It is difficult to play with all the controversies but I am glad the players played well under pressure,” he said.
He added that it was a difficult tour, however, the unity in the team helped them cope up with all the controversies.
“It was a difficult tour, however, the team was united and that was something very important,” Afridi said.
He further said that he may consider return to Test cricket if the team needs him in the Test series against South Africa next month.
Pakistan are scheduled to play a Twenty20 International, five ODIs and two Tests against South Africa during their tour of the UAE which starts on October 27 and ends on November 24.
He said that they would finalise a preliminary squad of around 22 players during the he tour of UAE, which would be retained till the 2011 ICC World Cup.
“I would try to bring in new players. The players would feel secure after knowing that they would be retained till World Cup and they would prepare themselves accordingly to put a brilliant show in the spectacle,” Afridi said.
Afridi further said that he had asked the players to improve their fielding along with other departments. “To perform and give good results, players also have to field well.”
The skipper refrained from commenting on the ball tampering charges against pacer Shoaib Akhtar.

Tit-for-tat: PCB may sue Jonathan Trott for altercation with Wahab

LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board is holding meetings with its legal team to prepare a solid reply to the English and Wales Cricket Board's letter seeking apology and as part of the legqalities it may also take legal course against England player Jonathan Trott for altercation with Wahab Riaz before the Lords ODI.
England batsman Jonathan Trott after his clash with bowler Wahab Riaz before the fourth one-day international at Lord’s gave another twist to the whole episode of match-fixing that also recorded PCB chairman giving statement about fixing in the England team.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had conferred with his legal team over the possibility of filing legal action against Trott for allegedly calling Riaz "a match-fixer" while the two teams were warming up in the nets, the source said.
The two players scuffled and had to appear before the match referee over the incident, with Trott apologising to Riaz.
“There is a strong likelihood that the PCB, in a tit-for-tat response to the threat by the England and Wales Cricket Board to sue Butt over his remarks against English players, will go after Trott,” it has been learnt.
The ECB has demanded a “full and unreserved apology” from Butt for his allegations that England players had engaged in match-fixing. Butt made the claims to a Pakistan television channel after England lost the third one-day international at the Brit Insurance Oval.

Afridi mulls Test comeback

Shahid Afridi will consider coming out of Test retirement for Pakistan's series against South Africa in November.

Afridi leads his country in the limited-overs cricket but quit the Test arena in July after Pakistan lost to Australia by 150 runs at Lord's - his first appearance in the five-day format in almost four years.
He returned to the helm to oversee Pakistan's fightback in the one-dayers at the end of a difficult tour of England, coming from 2-0 down to level the series before losing the decider at the Rose Bowl.
Afridi described the trip as the "most difficult" of his career, Pakistan also lost 2-0 in the T20s and 3-1 in the Tests.

Overshadowed

Results, however, were overshadowed by events off the field, Salman Butt - who succeeded Afridi as Test captain - and seamers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended by the International Cricket Council following allegations in the News of the World of spot-fixing during the the fourth Test at Lord's.
All three - plus fringe squad member Wahab Riaz - were interviewed under caution by Scotland Yard detectives as part of a police investigation into the claims.
The ICC also publically revealed they are investigating Pakistan's scoring patterns during the third one-day international, which they tourists won by 23 runs, based on information passed to them by The Sun newspaper.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt responded by saying he had heard in "bookies' circles" that England threw the third one-day international - a claim denied by England's players, who have since demanded an apology from Butt and threatened legal action.
"The best part of the whole tour was that the players showed unity even in difficult times and gave a good fight in the one-day series against England," Afridi said on his arrival home at Karachi airport.
"It was tough because of the controversies and became very difficult to cope with, because every time we went out of the hotel people passed remarks against us.
"Because of the controversies on the tour, it was the most difficult tour of my 14-year career."

Selfless

Pakistan are due to play two T20s, five ODIs and two Tests against South Africa from October 26 to November 24.
The matches are taking place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai as Pakistan remains off-limits for touring sides in the wake of a terrorist attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in March 2009 that left eight Pakistanis dead and seven members of the Sri Lankan squad injured.
With Butt likely to still be suspended, Afridi is willing to end his brief Test retirement if it is deemed to be in the interests of the team.
"I will think about it and if the team needs it, I may consider playing the Test series against South Africa," he said

'Some elements trying to destabilise cricket team'

KARACHI: Pakistan one-day skipper Shahid Afridi has said that some elements are trying to destabilise the Pakistan cricket team.
Talking to the media at his residence after returning from England, Afridi said it was one of the most difficult tours for him as a captain, as he had to handle the team as well as the foreign media.
He said Pakistan has given foreign media a chance to attack the team, adding that some other players were also quizzed following allegations.
He stressed that no Pakistani player is involved in corruption, adding that players have to take a stand and make themselves strong.
The skipper said Shoaib Akhtar has had a good comeback and the pacer is in excellent form.
Afridi said the morale of the players is high and the team has shown improvement.
However, he said the team was weak in fielding, which eventually turned out to be the main reason for the team’s loss.

Pakistan cricket team’s four month long journey away from home comes to an end, finally

The Pakistani cricket team has arrived back in Pakistan after a four month long tour of Sri Lanka and England. This tour will be remembered for a long time for many reasons, both good and bad. The team arrived at Lahore except for four players including the captain Shahid Afridi who arrived in Karachi. In his statement upon arrival, the captain said that the tour had been the most difficult of his career.

The tour began with Pakistan playing the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. From there the Pakistani team headed to England, where they played a T20 series against Australia as well as a test series. This was followed by a controversial test, T20 and ODI series against England.

Speaking to journalists upon arriving back, Shahid Afridi stated that the controversies that surrounded the tour made it very difficult for players to focus on the games themselves, and all the attention was widely unnecessary. Despite that, Afridi said that he was proud of the team for still battling those pressures and giving good performances especially in the two ODIs that the team won.

Waqar Younis, coach of the Pakistani team, said that the tour had taken a toll on the team’s support staff as well because of the effort needed to keep the players upbeat amid the barrage of allegations. He added that four months away from home had an adverse effect on every player and staff member, and even though success against Australia helped mitigate some of that, it wasn’t enough.

In England, Pakistan played two T20s against Australia which Pakistan won 2-0. After that, Pakistan played two test matches against Australia, in which Australia won the first match and second was won by Pakistan. This was Pakistan’s first test win against Australia after 15 years. In both the T20s and the test matches, Pakistan was effectively the home side.

After Australia, Pakistan played a four match test series against England. England won this test series by 3-1. Two T20s were then played between the two countries which were also won by England. In the last stage of this long tour, Pakistan played a five match one day series against England. This ODI series was an exciting one as Pakistan fought back from 2-0 to 2-2, but then meekly lost the decider.

The next assignment for the Pakistani team is a home series against the South Africans in UAE. This includes two tests, two T20s and five ODIs. This series kicks off in October. Perhaps more importantly however, Pakistani fans’ eyes will be glued to their television screens in the hope of catching any news about the fates of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt – the trio that was alleged to have participated in spot fixing scandals in the recent tour of England. These three players are vital cogs of the Pakistani team, and a resolution of this issue would help Pakistan determine which side to take to the 2011 World Cup which is getting increasingly closer.