Melbourne, Jan 13: Out of form Australian opener Matthew Hayden has decided to quit cricket after an outstanding international career of 15 years.

Hayden will be given a rousing farewell with a lap of the ground during the innings break at the Twenty20 match between South Africa and Australia at the Gabba on Tuesday night, FOX Sports reported.

"Today I'm announcing my retirement from representative cricket, effective immediately. I know that now is the time to move on," Hayden told reporters.

Vijay Mallya, owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has maintained that he has not yet finalized Rahul Dravid as the skipper of the Indian Premier League team.

Commenting over the media report that Dravid has been retained as captain of the team, Mallya said, "Who said so? After all, I am the boss of the team. I will decide who will be the captain."

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources have alleged that fast bowler Mohammad Asif did carry a small amount of opium when he was detained at the Dubai airport last year.

The official documents of the Public Prosecutor's office maintain that Asif cannot travel to Dubai.

It may be here recalled that after playing the inaugural Indian Premier League, the fast bowler had to spent 19 days in detention for possessing banned drugs.

Documents sent by the Public Prosecutor's office in Dubai proved that Asif had been deported last June for possession of 0.24 grams of opium.

Debutant opener David Warner declared his arrival into the global vista with a blasting innings of 43-ball 89 to help Australia beat South Africa by 52 runs in the first Twenty20 fight.  

Warner, who became the first Australian player to play in any format of the game without a first-class experience, raided the South African bowlers cruelly with seven fours and six clean hits over the ropes.

Set to chase a intimidating target of 183, South Africa was off to a terrible start and was bowled out for 130 with JP Duminy (78) once again proving his worth as a top quality batsman for the Proteas.

Johannesburg, Jan. 12: Former South African fast bowler Allan Donald, also known as the "White Lightning" when he was playing, still believes Australia needs veteran opening batsman Mathew Hayden for the forthcoming tough tours to South Africa and England.

London, Jan. 12 : England and Wales Cricket Board Managing Director Hugh Morris and ECB vice-chairman Dennis Amiss have said that when former skipper Kevin Pietersen declared in an e-mail he could not work with coach Peter Moores, Morris took the e-mail to be KP's resignation, but suggested that he take some time off to think about it.

Several people could probably have saved KP - including Morris, Flintoff and other team-mates if they had been more supportive - but ultimately the strongest drive for his removal came from ECB chairman Giles Clarke.