PAKISTAN all-rounder Yasir Arafat has revealed personal fears that his own international board might block a planned return for a second stint of championship cricket this summer with Kent

Despite agreeing personal terms with the county weeks ago, the likeable 26-year-old had to endure a near three-month wait before the Pakistan Cricket Board finally granted him permission to rejoin Kent last week.

Speaking from his home near Rawalpindi on Monday, Arafat said: “It was a big relief to hear the news that I could come back to Kent.

“There is not going to be much international cricket in Pakistan for a while as teams are refusing to come here, I was worried that I wouldn’t be playing for a while so I was quite relieved to know I was returning to Kent.

“The board want their players, especially their fast bowlers, to be in Pakistan and have their training there for much of this year.

“They had a fear based on the problems they had last year when two of their premier bowlers like Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul went to counties and picked up injuries.

“They (the PCB) were planning on stopping players going to county cricket this year, but when I met up with the PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf after their governing body meeting he explained they had changed their minds. This was because only Danish Kaneria (Essex) and me at Kent had agreed county contracts.”