Shahid Afrdi- World's first only 20/20 cricketer?

[Xuhaib]

Not quite yet but recently has made an announcement that he will be unavailable for test cricket since he wants to concentrate on WC in 2011 then he has gone on to sign contracts with Dolphins in SA and SA in Ausrtralia to play for them in their domestic 20/20 campaign.I have a feeling he will quite from odi's aftert 2011WC and just concentrate on T-20.

I feel in the future we will see an increasing trend where player's would just look to concentrate on the shortest format.

thoughts?

 

[Pratters]

T20 requires specialists just like test cricket does. We will see an increasing number of players who play T20 but don't play either tests or even one dayers as the T20 format matures.

 

[analyst]

I thought the first was Warner or Symonds but he ofcourse retired from international cricket so perhaps that excludes him.

 

[age_master]

Warner is not a specialist, he plays all forms for NSW provided that he is picked. He has stated before that he wants to play test cricket.

 

[thierry henry]

Is anyone else surprised at how well Afridi has aged? I'm starting to believe he really might only be 29. Should be about 34/35 by now shouldn't he?

 

[zaremba]

Chris Lewis played pure t20 a year or two ago.
Before him, Adam Hollioake.

Since when one has gone to prison and the other transported to Australia.

 

[Richard]

Neil Hancock was signed for Somerset purely for Twenty20 in 2003, the form's first season.

It was always inevitable that the format would become more specialised as time went on, of course.

As for Afridi, the sooner Pakistan are rid of him from Test and ODI cricket the better-off they'll be.

 

[AaronK]

I feel in the future we will see an increasing trend where player's would just look to concentrate on the shortest format.

thoughts?


if this ever happend.. i blame IPL and other 20 Twenty cricket leagues for it..

 

[Uppercut]

As for Afridi, the sooner Pakistan are rid of him from Test and ODI cricket the better-off they'll be.

Pffft. You're forgetting that he bowls. Really, really well these days.

 

[anoop4real]

He is one player who is fit for T20s...... IMO he will be a T20 specilaist.

 

[Xuhaib]

Is anyone else surprised at how well Afridi has aged? I'm starting to believe he really might only be 29. Should be about 34/35 by now shouldn't he?

In a TV show he admitted he is 2 years older then his listed age.

 

[thierry henry]

In a TV show he admitted he is 2 years older then his listed age.

lol really??

 

[thierry henry]

If this is so then why hasn't his DOB been changed on cricinfo etc

Waqar Younis had his DOB pushed back from 1971 to 1969 for no apparent reason that I'm aware of

 

[Xuhaib]

If this is so then why hasn't his DOB been changed on cricinfo etc

Waqar Younis had his DOB pushed back from 1971 to 1969 for no apparent reason that I'm aware of

Even 1969 is pushing it I doubt he was much younger then Wasim.

 

[Prince EWS]

Not quite yet but recently has made an announcement that he will be unavailable for test cricket since he wants to concentrate on WC in 2011 then he has gone on to sign contracts with Dolphins in SA and SA in Ausrtralia to play for them in their domestic 20/20 campaign.I have a feeling he will quite from odi's aftert 2011WC and just concentrate on T-20.

I feel in the future we will see an increasing trend where player's would just look to concentrate on the shortest format.

thoughts?

Andrew Johns TBH.

 

[Richard]

Pffft. You're forgetting that he bowls. Really, really well these days.

Really, really well is an exaggeration for mine, but I haven't watched that many Pakistan ODIs recently so I'm willing to reserve judgement on whether his bowling alone is good enough for ODIs.

 

[Richard]

In a TV show he admitted he is 2 years older then his listed age.

I'm surprised it isn't more than that TBH but as you said a while back, those of his extraction (Pathan) can age more quickly than those of most.

 

[speirz]

Andrew Johns TBH.

Played the odd 35-over game in the Newcastle competition.

 

[Richard]

If this is so then why hasn't his DOB been changed on cricinfo etc

Waqar Younis had his DOB pushed back from 1971 to 1969 for no apparent reason that I'm aware of

Waqar's was only changed after his retirement. The notion that he was 2 years older than his then-1971 listed age was first raised in 1996 but Waqar said the 1971 date should be left, demanding to know why it mattered whether he was born in 1969 or 1971. I guess as the years went on he relented.

I presume Afridi doesn't want his official DOB changed, for the time being at least.

 

[Xuhaib]

I'm surprised it isn't more than that TBH but as you said a while back, those of his extraction (Pathan) can age more quickly than those of most.

haha...yeah remember saying that and still support this theory as I have studied with quite a few pathan boys at school.Its a very recent interview where he confirmed his age.