Looks a bit like the cat is out of the bag at last with news breaking today that I have signed a 2 year deal with the ICL to play for the Michael Bevan coached Chennai Superstars. From a personal perspective I am hugely excited to have the opportunity to play again- something I have been thinking about for the past couple of years and which became a real possibility last year with the launch of the ICL and IPL leagues in India. Although I never really expected to get another shot at professional cricket it is one of the advantages of retiring at as young an age as I did (30)- if things change you are still young enough to have another go at it. The other key consideration for me has always been that I didnt retire because I didnt want to play anymore- for me it was a commercial decision- I needed to make the break and get my business career underway and start looking after my future. The fact I can now return to the game that I love is due to the fact that the businesses are now well established due to a huge amount of hard work over the past 4 years from not just myself but also from my partner Stu Beadle, our NZ and Australian Master Franchisees Louise Dunn and Michael Bevan and all of the many franchisees who make up the APM team. Without the support of our Senior Management team I would not be lucky enough to be able to pursue the opportunity to play again although there is a Mortgage Broking flavour to it- we have been keen to expand the business into the Indian market place for the past 12- 18 months and so this will be a key focus for us strategically over the next few years. In line with this APM will be a key sponsor and we expect to be able to generate significant opportunities as a result of this and ultimately to establish APM in India as a major provider of mortgage solutions to India's rapidly growing middle class.

As you can probably gather from the amount of money on offer for its cricketers India is currently awash with cash and with the size, scale and infastructure to continue to grow as one of the worlds major economys which augers well for its mortgage market.

On a more personal note I am also looking forward to playing in front of my boys- Boston (11) and Astin (4) neither of whom have ever really seen me play. Astin recently dragged me down to the local sports shop to buy him a cricket bat (he's lobbying for a helmet currently) and appears something of a natural on the evidence to date- it will be nice to give both him and Bossy the opportunity to be a part of my career.  

To be honest I feel a bit like the cat who got the cream- especially with so many of my old mates involved as well. It will be something of a Black Caps reunion and we've even managed to drag Stumpa (Steve Rixon) up there. We were thick as thieves when he coached us and I'm looking forward to picking up that friendship again- might have to drag him out to the nets for a 'session' with the gloves on- just for old times sake. Throw in Cairnsy, Macca, Harry, Nath, Bondy and co and at least I wont be short of good company...