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A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches held on April 20, 2017

Mohammad Isam20-Apr-2017In the first close contest of this season’s Dhaka Premier League, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club registered a five-run win over Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club at the BKSP-4 Ground in Savar.Needing 15 runs off the last over in a truncated game of 38 overs a side, Doleshwar’s Mohammad Sharifullah managed to hit a solitary boundary as Abdur Razzak conceded only nine runs off the deciding six balls.That Doleshwar’s chances were alive until the last over was largely due to a 108-run fourth-wicket stand between Puneet Bisht (83) and Marshall Ayub (42). But a sluggish start earlier meant there was too much to be done in the last eight overs. Shahadat Hossain picked up two wickets for Dhanmondi, while Razzak’s 3 for 39 in eight overs earned him the Player-of-the-Match award.Earlier, Dhanmondi Club amassed 235 for 7 in 38 overs, piloted by a 123-run second-wicket stand between Fazle Mahmud (55) and Imrul Kayes (67) before Nurul Hasan’s unbeaten 47 off 41. Habibur Rahman and Arafat Sunny took two wickets each.Gazi Group Cricketers cruised to an eight-wicket win, led by their bowlers, against Legends of Rupganj at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar. Overnight rain had effected a 30-minute delay before the match got underway, reducing the contest to 47 overs a side.Gazi Group’s left-arm pace bowler Abu Hider took full advantage of the overcast conditions by picking up two early wickets during his four-wicket haul. Offspinner Parvez Rasool picked three wickets, while Mahedi Hasan bagged two, bowling out Rupganj for 156 runs in 44 overs.For Rupganj, No. 9 Mosharraf Hossain top-scored with 37 while No. 4 Mahmudul Hasan made 30.In reply, Gazi Group wrapped up the chase in 36 overs, with opening batsman Jahurul Islam closing out the game unbeaten on 62 off 106 with six fours. Mominul Haque contributed with 44 off 53 balls.Uday Kaul missed out on a century by just six runs but his effort helped Abahani Limited snaffle a 32-run win over Brothers Union at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.Kaul struck just five fours in his 120-ball knock that spanned 41 overs. He added 96 for the opening stand with Liton Das (48) before adding a further 88 runs with Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who struck a 56-ball 49. Mahmudullah also fell one run short of a half-century, but Shuvagata Hom’s 17-ball 44 – studded with seven fours and a six – propelled Abahani to 327 for 6 in 50 overs.Opener Junaid Siddique’s century kept Brothers Union on track with his 112-ball 114, clobbering eight fours and three sixes. He added 86 runs for the second wicket with Mizanur Rahman and another 61 runs for the fourth wicket with Myshukur Rahman.However, when captain Alok Kapali fell for 6 in the 38th over, Brothers Union lost two more wickets in quick succession, including that of Siddique in the 41st over. No. 10 Nihaduzzaman kept his side in the chase with an unbeaten 32-ball 41, but it insufficient as Brothers Union could only manage 295 for 8 in 50 overs.For Abahani, Shuvagata finished with 3 for 45 from 10 overs and Mohammad Saifuddin ended on 2 for 50 after he dismissed the openers.

Nottinghamshire cricketers were in no mood to be drinks waiters at Durham’s revivalist party as they sliced through them on the opening day

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street14-Apr-2017
Scorecard”We’re not angry with you,” the ECB’s panjandrums told Durham last autumn.”Just very disappointed?” queried the county’s officials, who had rapidly adjusted to their role in the patient parent lectures naughty teen routine. And so it continued, the board telling Durham that sanctions were for the greater good and the county mumbling “Whatevs” while waiting for nice Uncle Ian to come and stay. It was thus a relief when shrugs and moodies were replaced by competitive, wicket-strewn cricket on the first day of this game and BounceBackTogether could be more than a hashtagged slogan.Nottinghamshire cricketers, though, were in no mood to be drinks waiters at Durham’s revivalist party. Supporters at Trent Bridge were themselves both bloody angry and very disappointed when their team was relegated last September, a demise caused not by a shortage of cash but by a lack of points. What was worse they went down without a semblance of a fight, 41 points shy of seventh-placed Lancashire in the final table.It will therefore have comforted the away spectators when Nottinghamshire’s seamers followed last week’s ten-wicket demolition of Leicestershire by controlling the opening exchanges of this match, taking six wickets for 24 runs either side of lunch as the home side crumbled to 71 for 7. Then much later in the piece, Samit Patel and Michael Lumb put on 85 for the visitors’ fourth wicket and their alliance was only ended deep into the evening when Lumb, having laboured worthily over 33 runs, was leg before to one from Mark Wood which kept low. That wicket fell in a 29-ball session watched by fewer people than you would find in the average ECB committee meeting. It ended a day marked not quite so much by Durham’s resurgence as by Nottinghamshire’s grit.Indeed, we had got to middle of the afternoon before north-eastern hope was personified in the chunky shape of Stuart Poynter, whose 59-ball half-century hoisted his side’s first innings total to a barely respectable 162. The ball itself did a fair bit of #bouncingback and forth during Poynter’s innings, not least when he uppercut the impressive James Pattinson to the longstop boundary, a shot which brought a roar of delight from the 2190-strong crowd, their attendance encouraged by the £5 price of admission.Durham’s wicketkeeper-batsman breathed in the oxygen of approval and more boundaries followed, the best of them driven through the covers. Poynter hit a dozen fine fours in his 65 and had added 52 for the last wicket with Chris Rushworth before he was bowled making room to work Luke Fletcher through the off side.But last-wicket partnerships often foreshadow early breakthroughs and so it was at a chilly Riverside where Rushworth and Graham Onions took three wickets in seven balls inside the first five overs of Nottinghamshire’s reply. This was probably the best part of the day for the Durham supporters who had turned up with the intention of showing the authorities that it takes more than points deductions to crush their collective spirit.”Betrayed, Cheated but not Defeated” read a banner just to the left of the sightscreen at the Lumley End and one did not need to be “Dilly” Knox to fathom the acronym “FTECB” printed alongside the rhyme. Onions probably did not express himself quite so frankly when he caused Greg Smith to edge a drive to Paul Collingwood; neither might Rushworth have been so candid when he trapped Alex Hales for a five-ball duck. But their joy was evident all the same and a reminder that Collingwood still possesses one of the best seam attacks in either division.Lumb and Patel, though, staunched the flow of wickets with careful flourish-free batsmanship. Spectators may not have discounted the possibility of Durham beginning their second innings of the first evening of this game but only Lumb’s wicket fell. Patel had hit eight boundaries when the umpires took the players off about an hour into the final session but Wood had looked relatively innocuous and the 80-minute break in play may have come as something of a disappointment to batsmen who seemed at ease in their work.All of which served as a pleasing complement to the first session of the day when it had been Nottinghamshire’s seamers who had made the most of Read’s decision to bowl first. Stephen Cook’s first competitive innings for Durham ended after 11 balls when he attempted to leave a ball from Jake Ball but only edged a catch to Chris Read. Jack Burnham added 41 with 11 overs Keaton Jennings but then declined to attempt a stroke to the final ball of Luke Fletcher’s first over. It was a fatal misjudgement. Burnham’s off stump Beth Tweddled back to Read, the ash pole performing a gymnastic feat well beyond the bowler’s capabilities, albeit that Fletcher has chiselled down his previously megalithic build.Burnham’s wicket was the prelude to further success for Fletcher and his colleagues. Pattinson produced what was by far the seed of the day to bowl Jennings for 26, the ball angling in before straightening to take out the off stump. Michael Richardson’s tentative push gave a slip catch to Greg Smith; Collingwood and Ryan Pringle fell to successive deliveries from Ball and Durham were in the soup before the media had digested their lunchtime lasagne.

Title-chasing Kent will require a backs-to-the-wall batting effort on Sunday if they are to protect their unbeaten Division Two status after tomorrow’s final day of their Specsavers County Championship clash with Durham in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2017
ScorecardTitle-chasing Kent will require a backs-to-the-wall batting effort on Sunday if they are to protect their unbeaten Division Two status after tomorrow’s final day of their Specsavers County Championship clash with Durham in Canterbury.Having been set an unlikely victory pursuit of 484 in a minimum of 90 overs, the hosts started their second innings just after 5.30pm and went in unscathed at stumps on 35 for nought – still needing 449 for an unlikely win.Openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sean Dickson escaped the 30-minute examination without alarm despite a pitch that is waring and beginning to show signs of variable bounce.A Durham victory would finally take them above zero after they began the season with a 48-point penalty from the ECB.Kent had started the day hanging on grimly in their first innings with skipper Sam Northeast leading their fight to avoid the follow-on. However, Paul Collingwood’s side needed only 12 overs and 50 minutes’ play to mop up Kent’s two remaining first-inning’s wickets and secure a 212-run lead.Barry McCarthy polished the job off by having Yasir Shah caught behind by a tumbling Stuart Poynter for 48 and then, with his next delivery, snaring Mitchell Claydon lbw with the home score on 236.Debutant Shah featured in a ninth-wicket stand worth 113 in 34.2 overs with his new captain Northeast, who was left unbeaten on 109 after posting his 18th first-class hundred from 162 balls and with 13 fours.McCarthy finished with a career-best 6 for 63, while Chris Rushworth bagged 3 for 69 in a much-improved Durham bowling performance.Batting again before noon and after deciding not to enforce the follow-on, Durham suffered a near immediate blow with the loss of left-handed opener Keaton Jennings.Prodding half-forward and inside the line of Darren Stevens’ first delivery, an off-cutter, the ball thudded into the right pad forcing umpire Jeff Evans to raise his finger.Paul Collingwood has put Durham in sight of their first win•Getty Images

Stephen Cook needed a stroke of luck to survive with his score on 25. Driving loosely at one from Will Gidman he watched as Matt Coles, at second slip, dropped a tough chance diving in front of first slip.After lunch, Durham continued at a surprisingly sedate pace, adding 100 in the mid-session for the loss of Stephen Cook who, with his score on 44, fenced at one from Claydon to edge to the keeper.Kent’s short-leg fielder Dickson went off for treatment just before tea when Graham Clark’s full-blooded sweep against Yasir Shah struck him a fearful blow at the back of his neck and immediately drew blood. Thankfully, the South Africa-born player emerged after the interval to take up a fielding spot on the ropes as Durham started to increase their run rate.Cameron Steel miscued a hook against Coles to hole out to mid-wicket, then Clark, after reaching an 81-ball 50, was bowled around his legs by Shah.
In the quest for quicker runs Ryan Pringle was stumped off the bowling of Joe Denly and Stuart Poynter holed out to deep square leg to gift Yasir Shah his second scalp of the innings.Paul Collingwood upped the tempo further with a 49-ball, unbeaten 50 that took his side to 271 for six before his declaration with 10 overs remaining in the day.

Glamorgan have signed South African international batsman David Miller as an overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2017Glamorgan have signed South African international batsman David Miller as an overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast campaign.Miller arrives on Saturday and will be available for six T20 Blast matches, starting with Essex Eagles on July 23, with his last match set to be against Surrey only 12 days later in a packed schedule.Miller is available because he has not being included in the South Africa A 50-over squad that will compete in a triangular series against India A and Afghanistan A which starts on July 26. It is expected he will be part of the four-day squad that play India A in two four-day matches, starting on August 12.He has played 52 T20 internationals and 99 one-day Internationals for South Africa with previous experience in the NatWest T20 Blast for both Durham Jets and Yorkshire Vikings in previous campaigns. The white-ball specialist has enjoyed successful spells for St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League and in the IPL for the Kings XI Punjab.He adds to a strong South African contingent in Glamorgan’s middle order which also include Kolpak-registered Colin Ingram and overseas player Jacques Rudolph.Miller’s last outing in Cardiff was at the end of June for South Africa in the third NatWest International T20 when England were victorious.”We are delighted to sign David Miller for a six-game stint,” said Hugh Morris, Glamorgan’s chief executive and director of cricket. “David is a fine batsman, with a wealth of experience in T20 cricket. He is a match-winner and a finisher, proven to be one of the most destructive batsmen in the game at both domestic and international level.”Hopefully his signing will add depth to our batting and boost our prospects of replicating last season’s form when we secured a home quarter-final in the knockout stages.After four matches Glamorgan currently sit in a qualifying position from the South Group having won two games against this weekend’s opponents in Cardiff: Sussex Sharks and Essex Eagles.

Hampshire’s match-winner Shahid Afridi revealed that he had to persuade director of cricket Giles White and skipper James Vince to let him open the batting against Derbyshire

Jon Culley at Derby22-Aug-2017Hampshire’s match-winner Shahid Afridi revealed that he had to persuade director of cricket Giles White and skipper James Vince to let him open the batting against Derbyshire – even though he had not done so in a Twenty20 for Hampshire since finals day in 2011.”I asked the captain and coach yesterday if I could bat higher up the order because seven or eight is not my position,” Afridi said, after his brilliant 101 – his first century in the shortest form of the game – set Hampshire on their way to a seventh finals day in eight seasons.”In crucial games you have to take chances. The first six overs are important and you need batters who play aggressively like me to utilise this.”I wanted to put pressure on them from the start although it was not easy because the new ball was seaming. The first six overs are important and I tried to start on the attack.”The last time I opened the batting for Hampshire was finals day in 2011 but the main thing is confidence and I felt confident today.”As it happens, that innings – against Somerset – produced Afridi’s next highest T20 score of 80, although it was not enough to win the semi-final for his team.Although Hampshire were well on the way to a substantial score, one of the key moments of the match came in the eighth over of the Hampshire innings after Derbyshire captain Gary Wilson had chosen to bowl first, as Wayne Madsen – so often Derbyshire’s hero in reaching their first quarter-final since 2005 – dropped the catch at long-on that would have seen Afridi out for 65.”I saw it all the way and I thought it was coming straight in, to be fair,” Madsen said, having manfully agreed to front up and discuss the moment.”I would probably catch those 98 times out of 100. It was just one of those things, it just hit me straight in the middle of the hand and popped right out again.”He had already done us quite a lot of damage but that cost us another 40 runs and it was very disappointing obviously.”Madsen also conceded four boundaries to Afridi in his only over – the first of the innings – but explained that he and skipper Wilson thought it was the right tactic, even if the sight of the explosive Pakistani all-rounder coming out to open was a surprise.”We thought about giving Hardus the first over but I was bowling pretty straight at the stumps. Both those sweep shots he played in the first over – if he had missed it would have hit the pads and he was out lbw.”Today it has come off for him and, although I have had success bowling at the top of the innings, today it wasn’t to be.”

The 56-year-old former South African first-class cricketer has signed a three-year deal with Cricket Ireland and will succeed John Bracewell in December

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Sep-2017Graham Ford is set to take over as Ireland’s head coach in December, when the incumbent John Bracewell’s contract comes to an end. Ford, the 56-year-old former South African first-class cricketer, has signed a three-year deal with Cricket Ireland.In June, Ford ended his second stint as Sri Lanka’s head coach, stepping down after 15 months of a tenure that was originally scheduled to stretch until the end of the 2019 World Cup. His first stint lasted from 2012 to 2014. Before that, he had served as South Africa’s head coach from 1999 to 2002. He has also worked with Dolphins (formerly Natal) in South African domestic cricket, and Kent and Surrey in England.”I am really excited to be a part of this new era in Irish cricket,” Ford said. “I have always enjoyed working with decent people and, in their attitude, character and camaraderie, the Irish cricketers have always come across as such.”With my knowledge and experience I believe I can genuinely make a difference. All my efforts will be dedicated to assisting the players to improve and achieve their full potential while playing an enjoyable brand of cricket.”

Roshan Mahanama, Brendon Kuruppu and Graeme Labrooy are among the other former players the board is attempting to align with in its efforts to arrest the decline of the national team

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Sep-2017Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Brendon Kuruppu, Graeme Labrooy, perhaps even Mahela Jayawardene – these are the names Sri Lanka Cricket is attempting to align itself with as the board looks to arrest the decline of the national team.Even more crucially for SLC, getting former players with good reputations on board may also help turn around its ailing public reputation. The board is now not only widely believed to be detrimental to the development of cricket, it is also seen as one of the most toxic governing bodies in the country.Whether these former players are willing to become associated with SLC given its present state remains to be seen. But as far as some board officials are concerned, they have several vacancies to fill, and would like for these men to be installed in those positions. De Silva, for example, would return to his role as cricket advisor, some board officials hope. They would also like Mahanama, Kuruppu and Labrooy to become selectors, to replace the Sanath Jayasuriya-led committee that resigned earlier in the month. Ideally Jayawardene might also come in as a consultant. And the only reason officials have not set their sights on Kumar Sangakkara is because he is still playing cricket overseas.Of these ex-players, Labrooy and Kuruppu have confirmed that SLC has approached them, while Mahanama has said he has not been approached so far. Labrooy is currently an ICC match referee.There is some irony in the board gunning for the aid of these former players at this juncture, because some of them are the same men it has spent the last 18 months alienating. Kuruppu was part of the selection committee that was sacked by Thilanga Sumathipala and the board just 48 hours from the team’s scheduled departure from the 2016 World T20, for example. Jayawardene’s plan to take cricket into the provinces was scrapped and criticised, and he was ousted from his position in the SLC cricket committee. De Silva had held the cricket advisor post for about 12 months, but then quit earlier this year, due to strong differences with SLC.Two developments have precipitated this drastic change of approach. In the wake of the 0-9 drubbing by India, and indeed the unprecedented losses to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe earlier this year, members of SLC’s executive committee have become convinced that the board’s existing trajectory was untenable. Those defeats have also substantially weakened Thilanga Sumathipala’s political grip within the organisation, with pressure now having been placed on him from higher political offices in the country.Sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara has repeatedly said that he would not dissolve an elected board to appoint an interim committee, so the Sumathipala presidency is safe for now – at least until the board elections early next year (they could be brought forward to December).However, other board officials have now taken strong issue with the manner in which Sumathipala has conducted business at SLC, particularly his alleged meddling with team selection and direct influence over cricket matters. These agitating officials claim that should any of the former players they are trying to woo take up positions at the board, those new appointments should “have a free hand”, in contrast to what had previously been the case. It is perhaps relevant that Graham Ford resigned in June exactly because he felt his role was repeatedly encroached upon.The sports minister is also hoping to get many of these former players together for a brainstorming session on how SLC might turn cricket around, over the next week or so.Essentially, amid a significant decline in influence for Sumathipala, there is now substantial will within SLC to change tack. Early indications from the former players they are chasing, however, is that they would rather await fundamental change in SLC – either the election or the appointment of a fresh board – before they become involved.

Spin twins Mihir Hirwani and Ankit Sharma run through Tripura; Odisha thwart Andhra’s push for victory

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2017Legspinner Mihir Hirwani (5 for 22) and left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (4 for 51) helped Madhya Pradesh pocket seven points courtesy a 10-wicket win over Tripura in Agartala.Resuming on 200 for 7, MP lost Puneet Datey and Hirwani inside the first eight overs of the morning with the addition of only 11 runs to take them just ahead of Tripura’s 205. However, Ishwar Pandey struck a 29-ball 47, including six sixes, and put on 49 runs for the last wicket with Avesh Khan to give Madhya Pradesh a 55-run lead. Left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh finished with four wickets for Tripura.Despite losing opener Bishal Ghosh in the sixth over, opener Udiyan Bose (27) and Rajesh Banik (29) steadied things with a 47-run partnership in the second innings. However, Ankit’s double strike to remove Ghosh and Bose in the space of three deliveries in the 23rd over triggered Tripura’s irreversible slide. Eventually, Tripura went from 57 for 1 to 103 all out in a little over 20 overs. MP openers Rajat Patidar and Harpreet Singh chased down the target of 49 inside 15 overs.Andhra’s push for an outright victory was stalled courtesy a 185-run stand between Odisha captain Govinda Poddar (111, 182b) and Subhranshu Senapati (91), in pursuit of Andhra’s 584 in the first innings. But they managed to hit back with late wickets as Odisha went to stumps on 294 for 6. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with three wickets at less than two runs per over.

Australia eased to a crushing ten-wicket win in just over an hour’s play on the fifth and final morning at the Gabba

The Report by Andrew Miller27-Nov-20171:57

Swann: Short-pitched bowling not a problem for England’s top and middle order

Australia 328 (Smith 141*, Marsh 51) and 0 for 173 (Warner 87*, Bancroft 82*) beat England 302 and 195 (Root 51, Bairstow 42) by 10 wickets

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
David Warner and Cameron Bancroft resolved to offer England’s toiling bowlers no crumbs of comfort in the closing moments of the first Test at the Gabba, as they eased Australia to a crushing ten-wicket win in just over an hour’s play on the fifth and final morning.After resuming on 114 for 0 overnight, Australia’s openers resisted any temptation to gallop to the finishing line, with just 56 runs required and England’s players doubtless distracted by overnight headlines concerning Jonny Bairstow’s alleged altercation with Bancroft in Perth last month.Both batsmen eased themselves back into the groove, seeing off another disciplined but unpenetrative burst from James Anderson and Stuart Broad before picking up their tempos against the second seamers, Chris Woakes and Jake Ball.Ball did induce the day’s solitary half-chance, an edge off Bancroft that flew wide of Alastair Cook, the solitary slip, but it was left to Bancroft to strike the winning runs off Woakes, in a three-boundary fusillade in the first over after the drinks break. Moeen Ali was not called upon to bowl after struggling with a finger injury earlier in the innings, with Joe Root sending down two overs of offspin before the end.Despite Australia’s justified jubilation, it was an anticlimatic end to what had been, for three and a half days, a gripping and hard-fought contest, and it was very similar, in fact, to the first Test of the 1990-91 series, also at the Gabba, when England were again crushed by ten wickets despite having held the upper hand at times in a low-scoring contest.Afterwards Root rued the moments in the match when Australia got away from England.”We’re very disappointed to lose the game,” he said. “We came here fully confident that we could get a win, and for three days we were excellent. We probably missed a couple of chances with bat and ball in the first innings, where we should have maybe gone on and made that 400-plus score, being four-down with 250-plus on the board, you want to make that count.”Root singled out the efforts of Mark Stoneman and James Vince, whose first-innings half-centuries seemed to have set England up in the match.”I thought Mark and Vincey in particular played outstandingly well in their first Ashes Test,” he added. “To stand up like that showed great character, composure and skill. It’s just about making sure they go on and make big hundreds when they get in next time.”Similarly with the ball, we made them work extremely hard. I do think the wicket got better and better throughout, but [Steve] Smith played an unbelievable knock and if you take that out, we bowl them out for 150.”We’ve got to make sure we bounce back straight away,” said Root. “We’ve showed great resilience and character over the last year and we’ve got to do that again.”Smith, Australia’s captain, was proud of both his team and his personal contribution to the victory, a brilliant unbeaten 141 that shored up Australia’s first innings and secured a priceless lead.”The first Test of an Ashes is always incredibly important, especially with our record here at the Gabba,” he said. “So it’s great to keep that intact. We played some really good cricket after losing the toss, and to get a ten-wicket win against a quality side is very satisfying.”My hundred has got to be up there with one of my best, purely from the position we were in and that it’s an Ashes series. I had to work really hard for it, dig deep and get ourselves out of that situation, so I’m really pleased with it.”

A number of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises have raised concerns over the PCB’s decision to allow contracted players to play in the T10 League, which starts in the UAE on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2017A number of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises have raised concerns over the PCB’s decision to allow contracted players to play in the T10 League, which starts in the UAE on Thursday.The franchises fear the league could emerge as a potential threat to the value of the PSL itself. A central point in their concern also revolves around Salman Iqbal, owner of the Karachi Kings franchise, who is president of the T10 League and whose broadcast company is part of the management, while Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar was not allowed permission by the PCB to launch his own league in association with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).Current PSL champions Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi was most trenchant in his criticism, who as champions have the most to lose if the PSL is adversely affected. “It’s the PCB’s responsibility to improve the PSL and protect the stake of Pakistan cricket,” Afridi told ESPNcricinfo.”Franchises are not the rights holders of the league but we are the important entity running the show and signed to do so for ten years. We worked so hard to build this brand collectively. If the PCB will not protect our interest, then who will?”How can the PCB undermine its own league and kill the hype of its own tournament by allowing top contracted players to play in another league taking place at the same venue just a month earlier? It might work well for some individuals but it does not help Pakistan cricket at all. There is a value of our players and you cannot sell out our players in bulk. There is a big possibility it will come back to bite us.”PCB chairman Najam Sethi had broached the subject first in a routine meeting with PSL stakeholders last month. He reportedly asked each team if they had any concerns, only to found out that a majority of the teams did. A basic presentation by Iqbal was rebutted by Islamabad United owner Ali Naqvi, while Lahore Qalandars questioned the support given to a league mainly backed by non-Pakistani investors.During another meeting, there was a suggestion that a vote be carried out to determine a future course of action, only for the idea to be dropped after the majority of franchises expressed reservations in allowing players to participate in the T10 League. Sethi, however, had the authority to take the final decision as PCB chairman, and allowed players to participate. He assured teams that they would continue to monitor the T10 League and promised the PCB would withdraw its support should the PSL be threatened.A PCB spokesman said the PCB had been assured there was “no conflict of interest with the PSL”. He also said the date of the T10 tournament had been changed from February to December after the PCB said the former was not acceptable to them. “The organisers wanted the PCB to issue NOCs to Pakistan players free of cost, like it’s done for other boards. But since no reciprocity was involved in their case, the PCB demanded a hefty fee in exchange and obtained $400,000.”Lahore Qalandars – as well as Peshawar – also confirmed that they were indirectly approached at a very early stage in the inception of the league and offered to become a party in it. But the business proposition was turned down because it was understood to be counter-productive to their brand. Iqbal was himself initially against allowing Pakistan players in the T10 League.”There are genuine concerns raised by a majority of PSL teams and the issue needs to be sorted with due diligence,” a Qalandars official told ESPNcricinfo. “Allowing marquee players into other leagues that have the potential to undermine the PSL is a point of concern.”Quetta’s owner, meanwhile, had been seeking permission from the PCB to buy a team in the Emirates League in the UAE but had not received permission. During the meeting, the owner of Gladiators didn’t object to supporting the T10 League, but underlined the PCB’s “double standard” in not allowing one owner to buy a team, and discouraging another for associating with other leagues in the UAE.Not least of the impacts of the league will be that the final round of Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, will be played without a number of big names who will be playing in the UAE this weekend. Pakistan players in the T10 League include Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Hasan Ali.The final QeA round begins on December 15 with eight teams competing for a place in the final.