PCB suspends Shahid Afridi's contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday suspended the central contract of former one-day captain Shahid Afridi, who had announced his retirement from international cricket, a board statement said.

At the same time it revoked all no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the player, meaning he will not be officially permitted to play abroad, the PCB said.

Afridi, a hugely popular big-hitting all-rounder, had been expected to play for Hampshire in the Twenty20 league in England next month, and also in the Sri Lanka Premier League a month later.

The 31-year-old, who was stripped of the Pakistan one-day captaincy earlier this month, announced his retirement from all international cricket on Monday following a spat with coach Waqar Younis.

"PCB has initiated action against Afridi in response to the multiple breaches he has committed under the central contract signed with PCB," the statement said.

"Afridi's central contract has been suspended with immediate effect. Consequently, all NOCs granted to him have been revoked. All payments on account of central contract have been suspended."

Afridi is in the "A" contract category, receiving a monthly salary of 250,000 rupees (about $2,900).

The PCB said Afridi must explain within seven days why he levelled allegations against the Board.

"In passing disparaging remarks about the board and its officials Afridi is in breach of clause 4.4 dealing with media obligations," said the statement.

Afridi had said he would not play under the current PCB set-up, headed by chairman Ijaz Butt, and accused the administration of mistreating the players.

Butt said Afridi's decision to retire was acceptable.

"If he has decided not to play under us then its his decision and we welcome it," the official told reporters. "Afridi has violated players' code of conduct and we have served show notice on him."

The player had lashed out at Waqar for undue meddling in team selection.

"Everyone should do his job and must be held accountable for that," Afridi said, without naming anyone, on his return from the West Indies where he led the team to a 3-2 one-day series victory earlier this month.

When asked about his differences with Waqar, Afridi replied: "The differences are not at a stage where they cannot be solved."

Afridi had withdrawn from Pakistan's latest matches, a one-day series against Ireland which finished in a 2-0 win on Monday, to attend his ailing father in the United States.

England on course for 2nd rank in Tests

England's stunning victory against Sri Lanka in the first Test in Cardiff has kept them on course to reclaim second position on the ICC Test Championship table for the first time in more than three years.

Although the Test Championship table will be updated only at the end of the series, a 3-0 series win will put England one ratings point ahead of South Africa. England last occupied the second position in November 2007.

England players Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell, who engineered the stunning innings and 14-run victory over Sri Lanka, also achieved their career-best rankings in the list released on Tuesday.

Swann, who bagged 4/16 in the second innings to finish with figures of 7/94, has strengthened his second position on the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, which is still headed by Dale Steyn of South Africa.

Tremlett, who claimed 4/40 in the second innings to earn match figures of 5/121, has gained seven places and is now on a career-best ranking of 27th.

Among the Test batsmen, man of the match Jonathan Trott, who scored 203, has moved up one place to join former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in third position.

Ian Bell was also rewarded for his innings of 103 not out with a jump of three places to the 18th position for the first time in his career.

Skipper Alastair Cook also earned 15 ratings points for his innings of 133 which has put him on 818 ratings points and just 38 points behind the pair of Trott and Sangakkara.

Sri Lanka opener Tharanga Paranavithana and wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardena moved up one place to 44th spot and six places to 51st position respectively.

Tendulkar is India's cricketer of year

Record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday received India's cricketer of the year award for his outstanding performances in 2009-2010.

Tendulkar, the world's leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket, won the Polly Umrigar award, named after a former India captain, at a function held by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai.

The master batsman scored 1,064 runs, including one double-century and five hundreds, in 10 Tests during the year in question, October 2009 to September 2010, at an average of 82.

Tendulkar also scored 695 runs in 12 one-day internationals, including the first double-century in one-dayers, against South Africa in Gwalior in February 2010.

Former Test all-rounder Salim Durani received the C. K. Nayudu award, named after another former India skipper, for his lifetime contribution to the game.

Durani, an exciting stroke-player and effective left-arm spinner, played 29 Tests from 1960 to 1973, scoring 1,202 runs and taking 75 wickets, including a major role in India's maiden Test series victory in the West Indies in 1971.

Then, he dismissed key batsmen Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd in the second Test in Trinidad to help India win by seven wickets.

Manish Pandey, a 21-year-old from Karnataka, won the best batsman award in domestic cricket for scoring 882 runs in nine matches in the country's premier first-class tournament, the Ranji Trophy.

Karnataka paceman Abhimanyu Mithun, who bagged 47 wickets in nine matches in domestic cricket, won the best bowler award.

India's World Cup-winning squad was also congratulated at the event.

India can do well in Windies: Fletcher

India's newly-appointed coach Duncan Fletcher said Tuesday the team had the potential to perform well on its upcoming tour of the West Indies despite missing key players.

"There is a lot of talent in India and my job is to prepare these youngsters," said former Zimbabwean all-rounder Fletcher, who was named coach last month.

"India have a plan to stay at the top. The young players have the potential and this tour will show the depth of talent we have. But any team playing at home is difficult to beat so we should not be complacent."

India are without Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh for a five-match one-day series starting in Trinidad on June 6.

Batting superstar Tendulkar, World Cup-winning captain Dhoni and paceman Zaheer have been rested while openers Gambhir and Sehwag, and all-rounder Yuvraj are unfit.

Fletcher said he had followed a rotation policy when he was the England coach.

"While I was in England, I started the rotation policy resting senior guys and was criticised. It's important to do that considering the heavy schedule. We need to look into the matter as we go into the future," he said.

Stand-in India captain Suresh Raina said the tour was a good opportunity for youngsters to show their talent.

"It's a great opportunity for the youngsters who have done well in domestic cricket and I hope they will do well," said Raina.

"I am really honoured to be leading the side. I am happy with the side as we have some very good batsmen in Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Subramaniam Badrinath and Shikhar Dhawan who have done well in first-class cricket."

The Caribbean tour opens with a one-off Twenty20 international in Trinidad on June 4. India will also play three Tests after the one-day series.

T20 and one-day squad: Suresh Raina (capt), Harbhajan Singh (vice-capt), Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Manoj Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha.