Afridi, Asif miss national training camp for club cricket

Lahore, May 26 (UNI) Placing club over country, all-rounder Shahid Afridi and pacers Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul Hasan have chosen to stay away from Pakistan's ongoing 12-day conditioning camp for the tour of England.

The camp got underway here yesterday minus captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who will be leading a Pakistan XI team against Asian XI in Jeddah for an exhibition match, and coach Bob Woolmer, who has gone on leave to promote his book back in his home South Africa and is expected to join the camp in the next two-three days.

Another notable absentee was maverick pacer Shoaib Akhtar, whose fitness is likely to be tested during the camp, which would be followed by another training camp here.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had earlier announced 21 players for the camp but only a few turned up as most top cricketers were busy with commitments in England and exhibition matches Dubai.

Afridi, Naved-ul-Hasan and Asif will join the team in the training camp to be held after this conditioning camp.

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