Former Hampshire stars battling for T10 glory in Abu Dhabi

The 60-ball an innings competition - officially sanctioned by the International Cricket Council - features the likes of Shahid Afridi, Fidel Edwards, Imran Tahir and Sohail Tanvir.

There is also a smattering of English players such as Sussex quartet Luke Wright, Ravi Bopora, George Garton and Chris Jordan.

Yorkshire pair Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Adam Lyth, Notts duo Tom Moores and Samit Patel, Somerset’s England international Tom Banton, Isle of Wight-born Adam Hose (Warwickshire) and Laurie Evans (Surrey) are also taking part.

The tournament started last Thursday and concludes this coming weekend, with games only lasting 90 minutes and all being staged at the same venue - the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

West Indian big-hitter Nic Pooran has provided the main fireworks so far, blitzing 89 off just 26 balls for the Northern Warriors against Bangla Tigers.

Garton came in for the biggest stick, conceding 48 runs off his two overs as Pooran launched a fearsome onslaught with 12 sixes and three fours at an astonishing strike rate of 342.31.

Pooran arrived in the middle east after a stint in Australia with the Melbourne Stars in the T20 Big Bash League.

His six-sational innings helped Warriors post 162-4 off their 10 overs - more than some English counties used to score off 40 overs in the old John Player Sunday League!

Edwards was a popular figure at The Ageas Bowl - taking 185 first class wickets at 25.35 - and was lined up for another season of county cricket in 2020.

The pandemic scuppered that, though, and the ending of the Kolpak era has seen time called on his Hampshire career.

The West Indian - who celebrates his 39th birthday next Saturday - has only played a handful of games since his last Hampshire outing in September 2019.

Prior to the T10, his only competitive cricket came in the Caribbean T20 competition last August and September.

Afridi is even older than Edwards - he celebrates his 41st birthday on March 1, but shows no signs of retiring.

The former Pakistan all-rounder is one of world’s most peripatetic athletes.

The opening up of T20 as a global form of cricket entertainment has seen him become one of his sport’s premier ‘guns for hire’.

Remarkably, Afridi has played T20 cricket for over 20 different teams or franchises - including a handful of spells with Hampshire.

Not many cricketers can say they have played in T20 tournaments in England, India, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Caribbean and Canada.

You can also add the unlikely country of Switzerland to Afridi’s globe-trotting list, as he took part in a T20 ice cricket event at St Moritz three years ago!

Current Hampshire players Mason Crane, Chris Wood and James Fuller all took part in the 2019/20 T10 tournament.

Fuller played two games for the Maratha Arabians, who ended up winning the title with Australian Chris Lynn - once of Gosport Borough - their star man. Not only was he the competition’s top scorer - with 371, including a ferocious 91 not out off 30 balls - but he was also voted player of the series.

Ageas Bowl star Liam Dawson, meanwhile, was part of the Pakhtoons XI - as was Afridi - who lost in the 2018/19 final.

Banton is the only current England international playing in the current tournament, but back in 2017/18 Eoin Morgan helped Kerala Kings win the inaugural event.

The England skipper struck 63 off 21 balls as his side chased down the Punjabi Legends’ 120-3 total to win by eight wickets with two overs to spare.

Banton's Qalanders are currently top of their qualifying group, having won all three games so far. In their latest success, Jordan bagged 3-8 off his two overs in a 33-run victory over Deccan Gladiators.