Hampshire will hope to hear in the next 48 hours whether star signing Shahid Afridi has been cleared to play a part in their Friends Life t20 title defence.
The Royals were forced to leave the all-rounder out of their tournament-opening seven-wicket win over Somerset last night after the Pakistan Cricket Board withdrew their consent for him to play in the competition.
Afridi's playing future is in doubt after the PCB suspended his central contract in retaliation to his decision to retire from international ranks in a protest against the way the governing body is run.
That has left Hampshire out in the cold after they splashed the cash to sign the big-hitter for their title defence.
Just an hour before last night's game the Royals released a statement confirming Afridi's absence, however, they also called on the PCB to over-turn their decision ahead of their next game against Surrey on Friday night.
"It is with regret that Hampshire Cricket announces that Shahid Afridi - the Royals' overseas signing for the Friends Life t20 competition - will not be available to play in tonight's match against the Somerset Sabres at The Rose Bowl," a Hampshire statement read.
"It follows the decision by the Pakistan Cricket Board to revoke their no objection certificate, thus withdrawing their consent for Shahid to take part in the competition.
"The club would like to make it clear that although we respect this decision we have been, and continue to, urge the PCB to rethink this matter, and we are keen to have Shahid playing for the Royals at some point in the season."
Former Pakistan skipper Afridi has claimed "interference" in team selection and yesterday even called on Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari to investigate the affairs of the board under current chairman Ijaz Butt's tenure.
Speaking to Pakistan's Geo News, Afridi said: "I would appeal to the president that cricket is an important thing in Pakistan and he should spare some time.
"He should see how the board is being run by Ijaz Butt."
The team's problems, Afridi claimed, included a lack of communication as well as favouritism among higher management officials, for which he blamed team manager Intikhab Alam and national selector Mohammad Illyas respectively.
He said: "I don't know what he has written but Intikhab should be honest enough to say all those things he has told me about (coach) Waqar (Younis). He tells me something, agrees with me on certain issues and then says something else to the board. It is very unfortunate.
"[Illyas] is someone who has done harm to Pakistan cricket. He is sitting in the lap of the chairman and creating problems in the team and for me."
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