Pakistan celebrate beating England by 72 runs, Pakistan v England, 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi, 4th day, January 28, 2012 © Getty Images
As soon as the Mardan boy- Umer Gul bagged in the catch of the last Englishmen in the 2nd innings at Abu Dhabi to wrap up the 2nd 5-dayer against England, the entire electronic media in Pakistan got berserk. Without a seconds delay, maddening headlines about the triumphant effort of the men in green got the better of the “Memo-Scandal” at every news channel. The reporters started hitting the road to capture the patriotic slogans over the “humiliating” defeat of the “Goras” at the hands of “Desis”. And soon this turned into a façade of greetings and “critical analysis” of the “great win” by the “experts”, all of whom, who had already, before the start of the English 2nd innings, penned down the rationale for not only to sack Mohsin Hasan Khan but also to launch a comeback call to the mercurial fellow-Afridi into the Test Squad due to a disastrous batting collapse and a much anticipated loss of the locals at the UAE Capital. But now all of them were found hostage to the media channels, busy in approving the witty captaincy of Misbah, while some got carried away by calling Team Australia the next prey in line for the Pakistani Shaheens. This whole drama continued till midnight.
Amongst all the nationalistic tones, surprisingly, the most awaited voice of sanity came from the most unexpected “expert”- the Bad boy of Pakistan Cricket- Mr. Shoaib Akhtar. The speedster-vis a vis-the local historian of Cricket Dr. Nauman on PTV Sports actually did the post-mortem of the match in a very deserved manner.
Even a person with the lamest of the cricketing sense would agree to Rawalpindi Express that Pakistan as always should pay homage to their bowlers (this time the spinners’ duo) for turning the tables round at the 4th Inning. Akhtar rightfully held the opinion that even after the penultimate inning of the four Innings, Straus XI were in full capability to level the series, having had an authoritative batting line up to get to the meager target of little less than a 150 with almost 2 days to bat with. But credits to Left-arm Spinner cum overnight star-Abdur Rehman, who, in the 2nd innings, made the English Batsmen look wanting of what was happening off the pitch, which also served a face-saving for the Pakistan’s disastrous batting performance.
Having had a reputation of dealing with spin as bread and butter stuff, the manner in which the experienced duo Misbah & Younus, Mr. Professor and Taufeeq Umar making a comeback in the National Team, felt a prey to Monty Panesar (a mediocre spinner from England) in the 2nd Test, once again raised eyebrows over the batting strength of the Pakistan Squad. Now a counter argument of a batting collapse of the Best Test Team in the world (England) at the hands of Pakistani spinners on very similar tracks is not fair enough.
The Englishmen, who had already been stunned shock by the spectacle of Saeed Ajmal in the 1st Test, are not really known for their negotiation abilities with spinners and on such placid tracks you don’t really expect the English XI to bowl out a team twice in 5 days with swing and seem stuff in their repertoire.
At least having made these lifeless tracks, PCB should have now expected long relentless partnerships at the top order but every time, they have to face regret. Taufeeq Umar and Mr Professor with more than a 100 First class matches in their test record, should now learn to get the habit of getting into the magical 3 figures more often, at least on such docile wickets keep aside the fast & bouncy ones.
Misbah-ul-Haq hugs Mohsin Khan after Pakistan's series win, Pakistan v England, 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi, 4th day, January 28, 2012 © AFP
You know what is most exasperating? The foolish high regard of the cricket team’s performance in the recent past especially by the media and former cricket men. Okay fine, after all the dissing that Pakistan team had to face after the gory episode at Lords last to last summer, they had risen to the occasion very well but still one should be judicious while naming the team as “The Next Big Thing in Cricket”, as previous 4 Test victories that Pakistan have managed to grab also included those against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh while having only managed to draw a series with West Indies. And all of the matches were played at much like Pakistani cemented tracks except for the series with New Zealand. Therefore, this team is yet to be tested over fast and seeming wickets of Australia, South Africa and England to be called any a threat to their respective national teams.
If we continue to hail and go into raptures over our not-so-perfect national XI for what they have not yet delivered then we would only be doing bad to this resuscitating squad, in a similar manner to what Indian media and people have done to their National team. As a result of their high-ceilinged expectations and hype, both on part of the media and people, the world champions 2011 has let down their public in succession and that too in a very appalling way in England and now in Australia.
It’s high time we become conscious to be critical in a well thought-out manner so as to keep the men in green away from being a victim to the Vanity Fair.
Australian batsman Michael Hussy insists skipper Michael Clarke has the full backing of the side as he searches to rediscover the form that made the Baggy Greens the dominant test cricket side in the world.
Clarke has enjoyed success since taking over from Ricky Ponting, leading his side to four straight series wins, but has had his leadership skills bought into question over his handling of dropping opener Simon Katich, who accused Clarke of conspiring to keep him out the side.
However Hussey believes Clarke has taken brilliantly to the role and, and added that the team had to get behind him ahead of a difficult test series against South Africa that they are slight free bet underdogs for later this month.
“If you want to be part of this Australian team, you’ve got to go with the captain and we respect the way he wants to take the team,” Hussey told AAP.
“Even someone like Ricky who has been captain, he’s jumping on board as well and it just shows that the guys really do want to play for Australia, we do want to play under Michael and I think we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
“It’s been great for him personally – he’s really taken the role with a full head of steam. He’s very passionate about the role and he’s very clear in how he wants to lead the team.”
Clarke has overseen series wins against Sri Lanka in both test cricket and in the ODI format and Bangladesh and South Africa in the 50 over game, but the test series against South Africa is viewed as test of how far they have come since Ponting handed over the captaincy role, with Hussey describing the games that have split free bets as “huge”.
“If we can stick together and do the basics for long, long periods of time, which is what Michael’s philosophy is, then I think we can definitely come out on top,” Hussey commented.
“It’s going to be a huge series … it’s going to be great hard Test cricket which is what we all look forward to, but I’m confident.
“We’ve got a very important first-class (tour) match coming up in Potchefstroom [on Tuesday]. We’ve got to make sure we get into Test mode.”
Friends Life T20 - Image courtesy (http://www.ecb.co.uk)
The group stages of the Friends Life t20 are starting to come to a climax with teams looking to break into the top four and claim a quarter-final place. Hampshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire look to have sewed up their places in the next round after consistent performances but there are a whole host of teams still looking to qualify.
Alex Hales has scored plenty of runs to get the Outlaws off to a cracking start and the death bowling of Darren Pattinson has given Chris Read’s side a clear edge. The Royals are the holders and they continue to dominate with their three-man spin attack of Danny Briggs, Imran Tahir and Pakistan star Shahid Afridi – and are justifiably free bet favourites to make it to finals day this year.
Leicestershire have been the surprise package in the North Group with consistent performances with both bat and ball from Australian Andrew MacDonald while Josh Cobb and James Taylor have given the Foxes impetus at the top of the order.
Durham have an array of consistent performers including former England t20 captain Paul Collingwood and big-hitters Ian Blackwell and Phil Mustard. Martin Guptill has started to perform for Derbyshire along with 19-year-old spinner Tom Knight but they may fall just short.
Yorkshire have had to rely on Andrew Gale’s runs at the top of the order but his four half-centuries haven’t been enough for the Carnegie to reach the next stage and the likes of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire are also out of the running following abysmal campaigns.
Lancashire lost twice to Yorkshire but veteran spinner Gary Keedy has been a thorn in oppositions and Stephen Moore has finally started to replicate the form that saw him impress at former county Worcestershire. The Royals have relied on the bowling of Shakib al Hasan and Saeed Ajmal and the all-round talent of Gareth Andrew and may progress.
In the South Group, six teams are challenging for four spots. Kent have stayed in contact due to Azhar Mahmood and Rob Key’s runs and Surrey have an exciting team that could go all the way according to free bets
Somerset and Sussex will be in contention as usual with Marcus Trescothick and Luke Wright dominating bowlers from the off and, after a disappointing start, Essex have finally started to come good with Tim Southee, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara starting to perform consistently.
Ireland international Kevin O’Brien and Hamish Marshall smashed centuries as Gloucestershire recorded 254 for three, the highest ever domestic t20 total, but they could ignite their campaign while Glamorgan have promised a lot more than they delivered after re-signing paceman Simon Jones on loan from Hampshire and are unlikely to qualify along
Middlesex will collect the wooden spoon after a dismal campaign.
The business end of the group stages has really started to hot up and whoever qualifies will fancy their chances of reaching finals day in a competition that has entertained everyone.
Cook or KP - Image Courtesy (guardian.co.uk)
There has been much discussion since the introduction of Alistair Cook as England ODI captain earlier this summer with regards to whether he is the right man for the job.
The Essex man has come from being out of the side completely, to the most important man in on the field. Is this too dramatic a jump for someone who has yet to prove himself as a consistent ODI performer?
There are many that think it is. Earlier today he was out cheaply against Sri Lanka in his first game (England won convincingly but that is more to do with bowlers and conditions more tough test will come soon) and although this shouldn’t be all he is judged upon, he could certainly have done with a few more runs.
The main argument for the sports betting pundits in the ‘Cook shouldn’t be captain’ camp appear to be that he shouldn’t be in the side automatically because he isn’t in England’s best eleven on his batting alone.
Mark Butcher was speaking on TMS earlier today asking the question about whether, if you picked the best England team for 50-over cricket without thinking about who is captain, would Cook make it?
Aside from the captaincy issue, there is no problem at all that England want to give Cook a go in the shorter form of the game. He is a good replacement for the retired Andrew Strauss at the top of the order and his form in the test arena has been so incredible he is hard to ignore.
The issue really is with the captaincy. Should he be looked at as a leader by more experienced and proven ODI players like Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Eoin Morgan? Does he earn the respect in this form?
Perhaps the best way to judge the decision to make him skipper is to see who else England could have chosen. Let’s go through the team that was named to face Sri Lanka earlier today and rate their prospects as a captain.
AN Cook – Chosen as captain.
C Kieswetter – Not an option.
IJL Trott – Not a natural captain, although should be in side enough.
KP Pietersen – They turned to KP before, it didn’t work out. Would they risk it again?
EJG Morgan – Twenty20 vice-captain and Butcher’s preference to lead this team.
IR Bell – By no means assured a place in the side.
TT Bresnan – Injury prone, should focus on continuing to progress as an all-rounder.
SCJ Broad – Twenty20 captain, would be too much to take on the England ODI side too.
GP Swann – England’s best bowler, never going to be a captain.
JW Dernbach – Not an option
JM Anderson – Must have been considered, but not always a certainty for ODI side.
The point being made is that there weren’t any nailed on candidates for the role. England wanted Cook at the top of the order, made that decision, then looked at the captaincy.
With the options available, any decision they made might have been cruised. Cook is the future captain of the test side, so why not give him a go in this role?
Many sports bets being placed on the England v Sri Lanaka ODI series are going on a win for the tourists, but if Cook can get his team playing well and competing, it might keep a few of the doubters quiet.
Abdur Razzaq, The power not allowed to unleash properly
Today’s (26-Feb-2011) game is truly an Acid test for Pakistan due to many reasons you can consider. Either it is against home team and one of firm favorites (I rate Sri Lanka higher than India and Australia in World Cup 2011) or it is their first proper clash not only in World Cup but also after a long time (since South African series as New Zealand is in trouble these days). Another important factor is they will taste everything including swing bowling, freaky slinging fast bowling and toe crushing yorker (if Malinga the Salinga plays which he probably will) spin of legendry Murali, Mendis or Herath and a complete batting line up.
Let me look little closely into all those factors:
- Sri Lanka is Home: Yes even if Pakistan’s home in this World Cup is Sri Lanka but they can’t claim it against real home team. And for two teams equally placed in strength (almost) home advantage does really count a lot. Sri Lankan’s will be ecstatic today. Sri Lanka know the conditions little better than Pakistan. Taking about conditions:
- Alien Conditions: Yes Permadasa which was notoriously getting infamous for being unfair to team chasing in light has got renovated, increase of stands, improvement in outfield but most importantly a new re-laid pitch in the middle. So we don’t actually know how it will behave. But Sri Lankan know a little bit about it as they had played a domestic one day tournament here recently. It might not matter much in the end but it is something the home team will be boosting about and can help making plans or Toss.
- Complete Bowling Unit: Sri Lanka really is a complete bowling unit. Add Malinga the salinga in last match XI and got pace attack capable of swinging it early on and restricting with accurate death bowling later. Spin has variety in Murali, Mendis, Herath (left arm). This will be bowling unit to face after some time for Pakistan which also means the improved batting unit of Pakistan will be under scanner.
- Powerfull reliabale batting: Sri Lanka has quite a few reliable batsmen n their ranks. If Dilashan and Tharanga can provide an electric start (not quite as electric as Sanath and Kalu 1996 but good enogh) Sanga and Jaya will bat for long time but at a good pace with their elegance, grace and calculated risk. Than Samaraweera, Kapugedera and Mathew are capable of accelerating it in the end. Importantly they can play pace and spin equally well. Tough job for Pakistan not so balanced bowling unit.
- Overall Superior: Those days are gone when Pakistan was considered the best Asian / Sub-Continent team as they have dominated Sri Lanka for a long time but recently Sri Lanka is very consistent and professional unit. Expect them to give you a tough any where any time.
- Problems with Pakistan: Not much I must say which is pretty good thing to think of. But yet there are some and interestingly for a team known for winning matches just due to their bowling this time bowling is a bit of worry instead of batting. First of all new ball is always a concern when you are opening with Abdur Razzaq in these conditions and Shoaib is a a trump card we all know he will either get wickets or will leak lot of runs or both. Saeed Ajmal is sitting out and they are prefering Abdur Rehman just beacuse he had can hit some balls too? Maana is a good bowler but you can’t keep Ajmal out on these pitches this is lame. Team need another full time bowler in it but golden question is where?
- Batting Batting Batting: They have strengthan the batting (too much?) as Razzaq is batting at #8 which is if fascinating but at the same time is odd. Combination is also a worry as think tank also want to seprate super slow (harsh?) reliable Misbah and Younis.
- Special case of Razzaq: Yes he is becoming a very special case as in 8 out of 10 matches you think at the end of the match what Razzaq was doing in this team. 5 overs and a burst in last 5 overs, he doesn’t deserve it he is a much better player than this. I believe if he has been used properly he can reduce a need of an extra batsman. I can even open batting with him but #3 is ideal position for him (1999?) if not than he should and must come before Afridi done and dusted, I am livid with how he has been used. A special player need a special role in team.
All of above if makes this match a first big high profile clash of the World Cup 2011 it also make it a true test of the strength of Pakistan team. It will indicate where they as a team stand what they are lacking and what is needed to be done. Now I simple hope the match is not a bloody one sided affair after all this bragging of mine haha oh and they were saying something about rain in Colombo which I really don’t want to hear. Rains and Sri Lanka not a good idea!!
Interesting thing about today’s match is if just invert the above it will almost be true for Sri Lanka. I don’t like predicting much but I would say Sri Lanka has 65% chances of winning this.
Enjoy the weekend!!!
Enough is Enough
Yeah that’s right Enough is Enough sometimes. Middle East people already knew it. Aussies knew it as soon as Ashes was over. But why shouldn’t I knew it already. It has been 5 months since I last time bragged about something here on CricketVibe. All that time I was looking for some inspiration to do it again but couldn’t find any. Why would I need inspiration you will ask? Well something happened in England exactly when Pakistan had started to do well looked like building a team a captain a good bowling attack and all that but than 3 Idiots did it (some will say they didn’t but let say they did it and I will tell you why), after that every inspiration soaked out of me. I didn’t stopped following cricket not even Pakistan but due to some other things combined I coudn’t write anything even though a lame one.
Why now? Well Enough is Enough. World Cup is here, 3 Idiots have been penalized, Pakistan is again on rise (probably 
), cricket is healthier, hype is on as it is India hosting World Cup and they are favorite (I disagree) so that is better time to spread some filth of mine on the great great web 
Enough is enough with spot-fixing the players have been penalized after a proper law process so I am not here to judge if they were guilty or not but I believe if I would have been in their place and I had done nothing wrong I would have come out and denying it with loud voice but all three of them didn’t deny it at all or at least in words and tones which will mean that they were really denying it. All they were doing was just making lame excuses specially Salman Butt. So leads me to believe that there was something fishy which means even if it hurts to see Aamer getting 5 years ban it is still right to do it.
Enough is enough with ODI being dead or not. ODI World Cup is upon us which is not yet thrilling but will be as it will progress and ODI will do well. ODI is a much better format than T20 if you really want to see some cricketing skill in execution. It is still more often thrilling than T20 and more gripping contest. It just need to get rid of some things that are causing trouble like a 7 match ODI series (what the hell?) better pitches and more attacking play.
Enough is enough PCB, Ijaz Butt PLEASE!! spare us.
Enough is enough being lazy and not being pro-active having all those excuses for not having time or inspiration to write, when you enjoy it you just do it. And if somebody doesn’t like it there is a X button on your browser, Thank You!
PS: I have been trying to kind of launch a forum which is an experimental work with an open source software called “bbPress“ from same group of people who build “WordPress“. I have developed a World Cup discussion forum here (CricketVibe World Cup Discussion Forum) and I was feeling pretty lonely there so I though do you mind paying a visit may be?
[NOTE: This is not an official Sprite Cricket Next site, this is just a common cricket site which like to update you about exiciting cricket events. In case of any queries regarding Sprite Cricket Next please contact Sprite CricketNext near you location. Locations detail can be found at the end of this post]
All the voices coming from cricket world about flood relief and fund raising games with Pakistan have sadly disappeared after bloody spot-fixing saga. We have been axing our own feet from along time without even realizing it. Still there is lot of work going on inside and outside Pakistan and people are coming out with motivation and purpose. I came to know such events which involve cricket too. Earlier it was Ramadan T20 cup in Karachi (won by Afghanistan Youth Club, amazing) and now Sprite Cricket Next.
Sprite Cricket Next recently collaborated with the credible Karachi Relief Trust [KRT] to organize a night cricket tournament at a cricketing facility near boat basin, in an endeavor to raise funds for the flood victims. Indeed the aim of the event was to raise enough money specifically for KRT’s Pak Pani Project to deploy the EPA certified, 99% effective (at removing viruses, bacteria and parasites) life straw family instant microbial purifiers to all flood affected regions within Pakistan.
Here are some Images of Sprite Cricket Next events.
Small Box with a BIG purpose
Between Sprite Cricket Next’s technology infused platform and the Karachi Relief Trusts’ inspired organization, the even succeeded in raising more than half a million rupees for the victims.
Sprite Cricket Next - Mock Pitch
Speaking about the event, co organizer, Junaid Aziz said:
“The tournament was conceived as an impromptu opportunity to play some great cricket… while significantly contributing to a noble cause. All proceeds from the tournament, which I am proud to say are in excess of PKR 5 Million, went towards KRT’s Pak Pani Project”.
Team HMB - Sprite Cricket Next
A total of 10 independent and corporate teams participated in the night cricket tournament with the winning team, Habib Metropolitan, taking home the trophy. Sprite Cricket Next introduced to the tournament their technology infused ‘Gulli’ cricketing pitch, whereby participating payers and members of the audience were encouraged to test their skills on the pitch, set up with a Speed gun (courtesy of ‘Pitch Vision’) which was used to measure the bowling speeds of anyone who chose to bowl on this pitch.
Bowling on the Sprite Cricket Next Mock Pitch
Teams - Sprite Cricket Next
Winning Team - Sprite Cricket Next
Sprite Cricket Next Contact Information:
Karachi:
- Colony football ground saudabad malir near rabban dada nehari wala, khokra park 1 number road
- Pak star stadium/ground colony graveyard, khokra park 2 number road.
- Malir football ground, kala board , malir tank stop
Lahore:
- Nach gar ground, gari shahu near burt hall
- Ground b block, wadhat colony main road
Hyderabad:
- Public school ground hyd, unit number 2, main road
- Wapda colony ground, near gidu chawk, inside wapda colony
- Pakka killa ground, Hyderabad
- Nursery park/ground unit number 6 latifabad near hilal-e-ahmar
Please contact these places directly for your participation in this amazing event.
[Now this post was almost getting rotten after staying so many days in draft, so I am finally going to post it somehow even I don't feel like posting]
I still don’t know what to write about the latest shit happening in Cricket specially Pakistan Cricket. After reading, listening and thinking a lot about it, I still don’t have my own thoughts, I still can’t make of anything out of it. May be it is too clear to have a different view about it or may be it is too blurry to make anything out of it.
Desperate time for pure cricket fans like me who will cheer cricket, win or loss doesn’t matter much as far as there is good cricket to satisfy them but this time it has hit cricket and it has hit badly. I have gone through lot of soul crushing Pakistan defeats but nothing can destroy the soul of a cricket fan than this cheating.
It is hell of a discussion which is already cut loose every where and I and lot of you already have enough of that so I don’t feel like going into that.
Here I am just going to put a conversation between some purest Pakistani fans after the hell broke loose. This might be an oridinary conversation for some but it can be a worth a notice or two for some if you feel it as a fan.
Let me first introduce you with the characters of this conversation because without this it is not going to make any sense. Two of them are my little brothers and other are little cousins and this is real conversation happened between them.
- WiserKid: A 13/14 year old school going kid, loves to play cricket and loves to watch it.
- CleverKid: A 12 year old more cleaver kid with more knowledge, more talkative. Latest generation more into tech stuff and video games than real games.
- WonderingKid: A 13 year old genius but didn’t had enough exposure to the outer world due to lack of environment and his very weak eyesight, can hardly see TV beyond 4 feet.
- YoungerKid: A 7/8 year old kid, very lively and special personality trying to learn the world around him.
Scene:
Sunday afternoon I was back in my home town in my home with family, we had a cable out yesterday so I really didn’t know the state of ongoing Lords test last thing I know was Mohammad Yousuf made a duck in first inning. It was still half an hour before the play will start for the fourth day of the test. Going through the usual routine of changing channels after every 2 minutes I stopped at a new channel for a while and that is when I got shocked to read the news ticker, my first reaction was oh match fixing blames once again what happened yesterday? Than news bulletin started and rest of the story you all know.
In the meantime match also got started, all four kids mentioned above were also sitting there watching match they also had heard the news and WonderingKid and YoungerKid started to ask about what is going on about Pakistan team in news. Someone explained them “Amir and Asif took money (lot of money) to bowl no balls!” and look at me for confirmation and I could only smile.
Than they went on with their own talk which went like this:
YoungerKid: oh, so they pay money for bowling no balls too?
WiserKid: Yes they bet on them.
YoungerKid: haha they first ask them to bowl a no ball and than bet on them, thats thats cheating.
WonderingKid: So this is not allowed right?
CeleverKid: yeah and they will loose a match too if you give them a lot of money.
WonderingKid: oh shit! Who took the money?
WiserKid: Asif, Amir, Akmal and Butt.
YoungerKid: Akmal and Butt can not bowl a no ball? They don’t bowl!!
WiserKid: They took it for their batting so that they will get out early, you stupid!
CleverKid: hahaha they will get out early anyway why waste money on them, stupid Mazhar.
[Meanwhile Pakistan's wicket fell at regular intervals, I am omitting their comments on each player and his wicket except a few interesting one. Amir is in for batting.]
YoungerKid: look look Amir is here for batting.
WonderingKid: Who stupid will give money to Amir, he can’t bat.
WiserKid: Idiot! they give him money for his bowling.
[Amir got out.]
CleverKid: What he will do with that money? Will he buy a new bat?
YoungerKid: He should get a good hair cut first!
[Umar Akmal hit Swann for a six]
CeleverKid: Aaah!! thats a slap in the face, thats how you play it. You bastard Swann!! take it.
WiserKid: Finally, he is batting.
WonderingKid: He didn’t took money?
YoungerKid: He will took it from his brother Kamran they will share it like we do sometime, right?
WiserKid: This is very bad.
CelverKid: So they are not as bad as it seems they just do it for money, bastards!!
WonderingKid: I was thinking why Kamran Akmal can’t catch even with those big gloves, I think I can catch too with those gloves.
YoungerKid: We will still not make wicketkeeper, you will still bad than Kamran, hehehe.
WonderingKid: But I will not take money , I don’t need money, ok I need some but i have enough for that.
WiserKid: aha but how will you buy that bike with your pocket money, thats not enough?
YoungerKid: oh shit so Amir want to buy a bike? Why don’t he asks his father? He must not be studying well but just playing cricket so his father must be angry, right?
All Three: oh Shut Up!!!
They went on like this for a while but I don’t remember much of what they said as my mind was spinning at 1000 cycles per second as I was wondering what kind of message they are sending to these young kids, how will they act when one of them will become next Amir? There were lot of thoughts coming and going making my evening painful. My thoughts were more for future than past like:
- What will happen to bloody rebuilding of the team
- Now people will have more than enough reason to accuse every Pakistani match a fix and Pakistanis will be in front of that group.
- Who will believe in Pakistan team and its players?
- So I thought this summer went well, 2 win out of 6 and team rebuilding wasn’t bad but just than bull shit happened.
All I and almost every fan want is that at least this time around they should catch the beast of Match Fixing and/or Spot Fixing by balls and shove it to roots if they really have some love for the game.
- If there has been some shit happening, get to the root of it and not only players but so called agents, bookies and mafia should be exposed.
- As far as Pakistan is concerned they should not only be harsh with players but it is high time PCB management should be sacked and if this opportunity is lost there is no chance that Pakistan cricket will come to terms in next 2 or 3 years.
- And If all this is just a media conspiracy or some thing else as there has been it should also be properly exposed and forces behind it should be exposed as it is not only destroying Pakistan cricket it is also destroying the game of Cricket and its credibility.
- There is a special case of Mohammad Aamer that such a rare talent should not be wasted like this, I am not sure if law will provide him any such relaxation or we should provide him some relaxation at all.
My gut feeling is:
Nothing is going to happen again, there might be few bans few punishments, few conspiracies, few judgments but this mess will still be mess at the end of it or even worse. There is so much shit under it that ICC doesn’t have the guts to get into it. While others either don’t have interest or does have such interest that they will try to keep a carpet on it.
But fans of the game will be left amused, bemused and disappointed.
- And finally I am allergic to this bull shit.
Mohammad Yousuf: It is not easy to take it on the face!
Got you!! I was just kidding it not curious at all. It was a very simple and straightforward thing which was only made complicated due to management nonsense and team politics and it is Pakistan which can only produce such things.
There has been lot of heated debate around Yousuf’s inclusion to Pakistan team which turned little bit sweat yesterday after his assured fifty on comeback and its effect on Pakistan batting line up.
There are always two parts of that debate out of which one is astonishing and cricketing and other is equally disgraceful. But we should keep them separate and treat the debate as well as the Man Muhammad Yousuf accordingly to avoid any bullshit going around.
Here is my take on them:
- Yousuf batting class, skill, status and his importance for Pakistan current batting line up.
- No body will in his right mind disagree with this that he is a class and will ever be till his actual retirement, and team absolutely needs him to be around.
- Results are already abvios not only statistically but also logically and there has been a lot said about it already,
- Yousuf as a character in dressing room or around the team, there is too much mess which is around almost every Pakistan senior player who had played some matches for Pakistan in last two years. There is a very thin line between lies , blames, realities and bullshit and we can’t trust any of them so I think it useless to discuss it until some one in real sense of the word inquire it and brings out the real facts, which is very less likely to happen.
- Currently, It all depends on how current management, including clowns like Yawar Saeed and Ijaz Butt plus more importantly team, captain Butt and coach accepts him between them.
- As far as Yousuf is concerned I think he clearly know he doesn’t have a chance of another captaincy stint so he will not bother with it until a captain will deliberately tried to boot him from team as it happened couple of time in Younis era due to his pathetic rotation policy.
- There has been some positive signs as Salman Butt finally accepted Yousuf in team after initial reluctance and Waqar and co didn’t make much fuss about the consultancy issue with PCB of sending Yousuf or not
- Yousuf was looking at ease with most of the team and specially captain as I have seen him discussing plan in the ground between overs and guiding youngsters during batting, but these are all only signs you can never know whats going on beneath it.
Younis Khan - Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan need forces combined!!
Now Yousuf need to realize his role, which is to steer Pakistan batting and guide those wobbling young batsmen around him so that when he will left there must be at least two or more ready products instead of hit and trial for Pakistan test team. Environment and base is all set up it is just that they need to persist with that and keep the politics away as much as possible.
As cricket fan, readers, writers and intruders we should decide which part of this debate we are going to discuss and what is in it? We should keep a line between above two and respect Yousuf accordingly, if you have problem with him in team politics keep it to that don’t disgrace him or in fact yourself, trying to deny his status and class in Pakistan batting line not only current but All Time. Be warned!!
A perfect platform is set for a cracking series decider at Lords. There are two or three more days between the start of fourth test and now and as a cricket fan and a Pakistani fan as well I hope no more drama folds out of the team otherwise I don’t see any possible change in 3rd test team for Pakistan. Let cricket win at the end!!
This is a bizarre act of nature or history or whatever you would like to say it according to your own cake and pie that:
Exactly four years ago after tea in Oval test between Pakistan and England at 20th August, 2006, Pakistan denied to take field after being accused of ball tamparing by on field umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove. They awarded 5 runs to Engalnd and changed the ball after Umar Gul dismissed Cook with a nasty reverse swing.
Hair - Inzamam, The Oval Test 2006
Now after four years, same day same venue same teams and little bit of same situation. England was in spot of bother that time and is once again are. Today Pakistan bowlers did that was feared and denied that day, they managed to steel the grip of the match from England looking in control just before tea. This time it was not Gul it was Mohammad Amir, who did swing it and swing it late and caused a spectacular England collapse. But this time around there was no Darrell Hair who can decide in minutes without any proof that there was some ball tampering happened, so there was no drama.
This is still insane people don’t accept the fact that reverse swing is also a skill which could be also be achieved naturally without doing anything wrong and there are lot of people doing it these days. But it is a very difficult skill and it very much dependent on lot of factors including bowler ability to environment plus state of the ball.
Anyways, once again thank God there was no Darrel Hair to destroy the face of cricket and give it jolt in trying times and I hope this match as well as this tour will go along as nicely as it has been so far.
