Cricket Tournaments

Pakistan Cricket Team

Amidst the entire hullabaloo over the spot-fixing episodes, and allegations and counter-allegations flying left, right and centre, the ODI series between the tainted Pakistan and England seems like a completely futile experiment. And, and if to add to the woes, the ODIs itself are being investigated by the ICC. To make matters worse, Ijaz Butt has come out with unproven allegations against the England team, plus there has been a spat between Wahab Riaz and Jonathan Trott.

Every that could have possibly gone wrong has taken place in the last few weeks between England and Pakistan. Yet, the series has continued for some inexplicable reasons, even after the players themselves have publicly acknowledged that they would be relieved once the series gets over. And when the result of a tournament doesn’t matter, there’s something horribly wrong which has to be set correct.

Also, this isn’t the time to malign the already under-fire game. The media, the ICC as well as the players, past and present, must not come out with ‘sensational’ revelations just to be in the news or settle personal scores. For true lovers of the sport, this is the time to come out and support the game, i.e. if they believe that only a handful of them are among the culprits.

The timing of the controversy is ironically not ‘spot on’, what with just under 150 days left for the World Cup to get underway. But then, it must be seen as a bit of good that this happened before the mega tournament and not too close to it. What the ICC anti-corruption unit as well as the PCB should do now is to swing into action and work at a rather rapid pace. They do not have much time on hand to reduce the damage done to cricket. And since this is not the first time that match-fixing has reared its ugly head, the punishment for the guilty should be stringent.

One might say that if some like Mohammad Amir is found guilty, he should be let off with a severe warning considering he is still in his impressionable years. However, that might set a wrong precedent for the coming generations and so be it Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif or Amir or anyone else from any other country proved culpable of the crime has to be shown the door; this needs to be done to reduce the damage done to the name of the game. It might still not be enough though, and a lot more efforts are needed to get the game back on track.

First things first, the boards of each respective teams need to make sure that the player representing the country has a clean chit as far as such illegal acts are concerned. Also, they must be sure that he is worthy of playing for the country and also that his chances of getting involved in filthy deeds are minimal. Sounds irrational. However considering the current scenario, it is important that players are given some sort of a ‘character certificate’ before donning national colours.

There is not much the ICC can do except trying their best to curb corruption. After all, the betting mafia is so widespread. The problem thus needs to be dealt with at the grassroot levels.

Asif

The recent allegations of spot-fixing as well as match-fixing on the Pakistan cricket team have taken away the sheen from what was an otherwise intriguing Test series. It was a shame to see players from both sides (Pakistan and England) just going through the motions on what turned out to be the last day of the Lord’s Test, owing to the clouds surrounding the game. It wasn’t Test cricket, and if the current storm isn’t dealt with an iron hand, the game will never be the same again.

The one-day series between Pakistan and England may be going ahead as scheduled, but one wonders how many will have the trust to watch the matches, believing cricket is a ‘clean’ game. Yes, that’s the gigantic task the ICC and PCB have in front of them at the moment.

Leave the game aside, first and foremost, a thorough (in the true sense) investigation needs to be conducted into the happenings in the Pakistan dressing room, as well as on and off the field during the notorious period. And once they get to the bottom of it, the harshest punishment needs to be given. Pakistan failed to do this when the ‘inaugural’ match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000. It was out in the public very soon that the judge and the PCB weren’t lenient towards certain players and allowed them to get away lightly. As a result of which, apprehensions remained over whether the game was indeed cent per cent clean.

Now, with the latest accusations on the Pakistan players, a lot of fingers will be pointed at what transpired in 2000… if only they had dealt with the situation in a more transparent manner. But then, one must also remembered that there were big names involved, without whom it would have been difficult for Pakistan cricket to move forward. As such, there would have been immense pressure on the authorities concerned to do the fine balancing act. And so, a couple of scapegoats – one at the end of his career and the other whose international journey was over as soon as it got underway – were quickly identified.

Pakistan Team

The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for Pakistan. No team is willing to tour the nation owing to security concerns. The one team that did show some bravado in the recent past, were greeted with bullets and returned home injured and hurt, apart from realising how foolish their decision was. Following the gloomy incident, the country also lost its right to host its share of World Cup games. This was succeeded by the now revoked life bans and fines, a result of the disaster Down Under. The only high point for Pakistan in recent times was their Test win over the Aussies after a mighty 15 years. But even that has faded into distant memory what with the catastrophic loss in Sydney also coming under scanner.

The saddest part is that a promising youngster, and the future hope of Pakistan cricket, Mohammad Amir, finds himself in the middle of the storm among others. The other Mohammad’s (Asif) name cropping up was least surprising since he has proved his notorious streak plenty of times in the past. However, all the names either need to be cleared or indicted. This investigation and its outcome cannot go the way of 2000. Else, the crowds would slowly but surely start doubting the credentials of this beautiful game. On the contrary, the harshest punishment needs to be meted out if anyone is found guilty. They should never be allowed to step on to the cricket field for their country ever again. After all, they knew what they were getting into and cannot feign ignorance.

It would also be in the interest of the game for those under suspicion to be kept away from the international arena till the matter is completely sorted out. One isn’t pronouncing anyone guilty as yet. However, if the players have a clear conscience it would be in their interest as well to step back and allow the law to take its course. Certainly, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their cricketing expertise under such a volatile atmosphere.

A famous saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. The opposite holds true in context of cricket’s latest controversy.

Only Pakistan could have done it. After restricting New Zealand to a well below-par 133 for 7, Pakistan managed to mess up the chase despite a sensible, unbeaten 67 from opener Salman Butt and some monstrous hitting from Abdul Razzaq towards the end.

The Pakistani opener was left stranded thanks to some inexplicable batting from the other end, as the Kiwis escaped to a one-run win. Earlier, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori rescued his side with the bat, with a typically fighting 38 after the early loss of wickets.

Still, at the halfway stage, it seemed a far from competitive total. But, with Pakistan once again in the mood to commit hara-kiri, it proved just about enough.

Pakistan’s best chance was when Butt and Razzaq joined forces following the batting collapse and played some intelligent cricket. Razzaq batted patiently in the initial phase of his innings before exploding.

He smashed two massive sixes and a four off Vettori in one over. While he was relatively quieter against Shane Bond, he did manage to smash one that nearly cleared the stadium.

Thanks to his mighty hitting Pakistan were left needing to score at just over eight runs an over in the final three overs, an easily achievable task in T20 cricket.

However, the renowned fighters that they are, the Kiwis fought back. Nathan McCullum bounced out Razzaq to keep his side in the hunt. At the other end, Butt crossed his half-century and kept finding the boundaries in between the singles and dot balls.

11 were needed off the last over, and the responsibility of bowling it was handed over to Ian Butler, who had been miserly until then. It was a mixed bag from Butt as he swung two for boundaries and missed two from the first four balls.

The fifth ball saw a yorker length delivery that the left-hander couldn’t do much with, but steal a bye. And so, Abdur Rehman was on strike with two needed off the last ball.

Butler bowled one on a length and a swipe from Rehman only managed to travel as far as the fielder, Martin Guptill at deep square leg.

Ironically, Rehman was the one who bowled Pakistan into a good position earlier in the day. After Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder had started off aggressively, it was Rehman who put the brakes on the innings.

Rehman troubled all the Kiwi batsmen, but none more than Guptill, who looked all the sea before the misery was ended by a diving catch by Umar. Things got worse for New Zealand as McCullum, who had calmed down following the loss of wickets, top-edged a sweep shot for 33.

Soon, the loss of Ross Taylor saw the batting side slump to 58 for 4, before Vettori did some amount of damage control.

Pakistan remained favourites to win as they began their chase. However, apart from Butt and Razzaq, they never ever looked in control any sort of rhythm. When their captain Shahid Afridi fell in the 10th over, the score read a miserable 58 for 5.

The disaster began when Kamran ‘wonder why he is in the team’ Akmal failed to pick a slower ball from Kyle Mills, and inside edged one. Mohammad Hafeez then fell to a rising delivery from Shane Bond, and soon Mills sent back Umar Gul for a first ball duck.

Misbah-ul-Haq (in the same boat as Kamran) scratched around for 13th balls and gathered only 3, before being trapped in front of the stumps. With the top four falling cheaply, all eyes were on Boom Boom Shahid Afridi.

But, the skipper too fell to a superb diving blinder from Nathan McCullum and thus proved no matter how badly the opposition performs, they can always better the worse.

Pakistan won the toss and from the outset looked a different unit today largely due to change in captaincy. It was Shahid Afridi who was captaining Pakistan in place of Mohd Yousuf who was rested due to a niggle. The Pakistani’s decided to bat on a good looking pitch but, Ryan Harris continued his golden rise in international cricket as he got Salman Butt poking at one away from his body.

Harris struck in the first over itself. As if that was not enough Mitchell Johnson bowled a delightful over and got rid of Khalid latif caught and bowled again for a duck. Pakistan were caught reeling at 2 for 0. Younis khan and Shoaib Malik hung around for quite a while before Younis khan fished at one from McKay only to be caught by Haddin. Pakistan were in dire straits at 17 for 3 in 10 Overs.

The next 3 Overs were maidens. Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik stitched a 60 run partnership before Mitchell Johnson put on show a brilliant bit of athleticism to run out Shoaib Malik. Fawad alam was next in; and the duo just like the last two matches put on a decent partnership of 82. Wickets fell in a hurry soon then after with Akmal, Afridi and Ahmed all departing in a space of 5 Overs. In the end it was Fawad alam’s brilliance that enabled Pakistan to reach a fightable score of 212. Alam made 63.

It was a pretty modest total and the Aussies looked pretty upbeat about the task ahead of them. They lost Haddin and marsh pretty early on in the piece. Cameron white soon followed suit. But, the trend of the summer continued as it was a culmination of contributions that won Australia the match and not a single stand-out performance (barring Cameron white’s scintillating 100 in the 1st ODI). Today, it was ponting and hussey who were to steer the ship home. Ponting made 55 before he holed out to Umar Akmal at long on. Australia looked a little skeptical in their approach and were continually losing wickets.

Michael hussey has been instrumental in winning Australia the series. He’s made decent contributions in all the matches and his versatility must be lauded. Put the man in at number 4 or 6, over number 20 or 45—Michael Hussey seems to have the game to do it for Australia.

And so he did today. Hussey saw Australia through with the tail ending up on 40 of 46 balls. Australia needed 12 of 12 at the end of the batting power play with Hussey and Hauritz at the crease. Hussey took rana for 9 off the pen ultimate over with some positive running and lusty hitting. It was 3 off 6 when Hauritz was trapped LBW by Rao.

Ryan Harris was Australia’s number ten and he seems to be doing nothing wrong at the moment. He had a swipe at his first ball and managed to clear wide mid-on for a couple.

A lot of drama was seen in the finale of the match. Firstly, it was Shahid Afridi who was seen biting the ball twice which was caught on camera. Reports later suggested that Afridi pleaded guilty to the charges laid down by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Afridi has been banned for two T20 internationals which means he will miss this Friday’s clash at the SCG as well as the one against England.

The act was caught on camera and the umpires were informed so on their microphones and the ball was immediately changed. Another striking incident was when one of the spectators charged at Khalid Latif. Thankfully, for latif there were no injuries. A very embarrassing moment, for Cricket Australia considering such incidents have been happening quite often. Australia won the match when Harris was caught off a waist high no ball at mid off.

Australia clean swept the Pakistani’s not just in the ODI series but also in the test series. What remains to be seen is whether Pakistan would be able to manage a single win on this tour?

Cameron White

Start of season, Australia back in green and gold—more green then gold. 1st ODI of the summer. Pakistan VS Australia at the wooloongabba. Pakistan for a change won the toss and decided to bat. They were off to a rollicking start. Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt got off to an explosive start.

They put on 62 before Akmal was foxed by a Watson slower one. In came Younis Khan; his first international game in about three months and understandably he looked scratchy. Salman Butt took off from where Kamran Akmal left off and was soon the aggressor. He pulled, made room and smashed ‘em over cover all be it with a streak of luck—Butt was taking the attack to the Aussies.

Finally, Ponting brought on Bollinger back who was hustling in. He banged one in and Butt miscued the pull which went straight up in the air to be caught by Haddin. Bollinger accounted for Yousuf as well when he bowled a brilliant short delivery which bounced over chest height from just at good length.

Yousuf defended it; the ball bounced behind him and was bowled. Quite a dismissal! Umar Akmal looked in splendid form before he played a lose shot outside the off-stump and was taken by Haddin. Soon, wickets fell quickly and Pakistan were at 227 for 7 struggling to make it to 250. However, Afridi had other ideas. He smashed the ball to all parts of the ground. His 26 ball 48 consisted of 3 sixes and 5 fours. His cameo enabled Pakistan to reach a sizeable total of 274.

Australia were hit hard early by Mohd Aamer who bowled a brut of a delivery to Shane Watson. Australia were soon reduced to 37 for 2 and then 84 for 3 with no major contributions from the top 3. Pakistan were bossing it. Cameron white, the blonde bombshell from Victoria came in and along with Michael Clarke put on a 102 run stand bringing Australia right back into the contest.

Clarke eventually fell for 58 run out by Rana Naved. But, there was no stopping white as he continued on his merry ways. At the 40th over mark Australia still needed 75 of 60. Pakistan could still make a match of it. The next over by Afridi changed the course of the match. The over went 1, 6, 6, 6, 1, 1.

Ferocious hitting by White! Absolutely Brilliant! His first six was a waft over mid wicket. His second was another swing towards cow-corner (a very flat one). The third, best of the lot—took it from length and hammered it over the straight long on boundary. It was the flattest of the flattest—not more than 10 feet above the ground. The equation was simple then 54 of 54. Australia cruised home with Cameron White (105) getting to his second ODI century (1st at home). Michael Hussey yet another not out to him and more importantly yet another victory for Australia.

Salman Butt

Salman Butt’s third century and his first in four years ensured that Ricky Ponting did not enforce the follow on as Pakistan were bowled out for 301. Australia went in to stumps at 59 for 1 at the end of the third day’s play with a healthy lead of 277.

Pakistan were in dire straits when play resumed but, it were the old foes Butt (102) and Malik (58) who put on a 129 run stand for the 5th wicket which gave the Pakistan total some much needed respect.

Malik batted well in his comeback innings and was decisive with his footwork. Salman butt was exquisite with his shots through the offside and seemed to pierce the field at every attempt he made in doing so. Butt did well to reach a hundred, however his captain wasn’t seen cheering his century.

On display were typical “Asian wrists” as the duo flicked their way to lunch unscathed. The Australian bowlers were disciplined but results never seemed to come until Ponting brought on part timer Simon Katich who accounted for Salman butt and Debutant Sarfraz Ahmed within two overs.

Australia looked all set to enforce the follow on when Pakistan were reeling at 248 for 9. However, the last wicker pair of Umar Gul and Mohd. Asif put on a 50 run stand thus putting enough doubt into Ponting’s mind about the follow on. The Australian pacers were far too short to the tail-enders especially with a new cherry in hand.

After the second day’s play Ponting was quite intent on enforcing the follow on. However, the last wicket partnership took its toll on the Australian seamers as they took a 106 Overs to bowl out Pakistan. In spite of the two major partnerships in the day Pakistan’s batting left a lot to be desired.

Pakistan are missing a number 3; Pakistan are missing YOUNIS KHAN. Ponting then decided to have a bat although the weather forecast over the next couple of days isn’t too good; thus ensuring the match will last five days. Australia lost Shane Watson to early in the mix leaving the score at 1 for 1.

A rare flop for Watson who has had a wonderful season with the bat. Ponting (25*) and Katich (33*) batted through to stumps leaving Australia in a commanding position at the start of day4. The surface looks a good one to bat on as shown by the inability of the Australian bowlers to clean up the tail.

Australia must declare with a sizeable lead between Lunch and tea tomorrow if they want to complete a whitewash. They must consider the unpredictability of the Pakistan batting line-up and the trueness of the surface. The fourth day’s play promises to be an intriguing one.

Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke continued on their merry ways as play resumed on Day 2 of the 3rd test match at the Bellerive Oval. The duo started the day with Australia in an imposing position at 302 for 3.

The Australian dominance continued as they built up a 352 run partnership with Ricky Ponting scoring his fifth double century (209) and Michael Clarke making his highest test score. (166)

Ponting resuming on his overnight score of 137 looked flawless but was let off again when he drove Kaneria and the ball flew through Farhat’s hands at cover.

Just like the first day; Day 2 also belonged to Australia and the duo of Ponting and Clarke were instrumental in ensuring so. The partnership finally ended when Clarke padded up the wrong line to Kaneria which saw his off stump knocked back.

Pakistan prolonged with their negative line of bowling wide outside the line of off stump; eventually getting the better of Ricky Ponting who slashed at one only to spoon it to his opposite number at cover.

Ponting seemed relentless on Pakistan not just with his batting but kept them on the field for a 143 Overs before he finally declared with Australia having piled up a massive 519 for 8.

Pakistan started off steadily with the opening combination of Salman Butt and Imran Farhat putting on a rare 50 partnership before Imran Farhat succumbed to a Peter Siddle delivery.

Farhat (38) drove away from his body only to be caught behind by Brad Haddin. Pakistan’s Make shift no.3 Khurram Manzoor who was brought in for this match failed to score as peter Siddle accounted for him four balls later.

He attempted to play a drive away from his body and was caught by Ponting chest height at second slip. A very lose shot for an opener (slotted in at no.3) especially an out of form one who was playing his first match in 48 days.

The wickets were much needed more so for Siddle than Australia who had an average of 68 before he pouched these two wickets.

The skipper Mohammad Yousuf was third to go when after a push through mid off he ran hard for the third but was refused late by a overly-casual Butt eventually leading to being run-out at the striker’s hand. Unfortunately for Yousuf it was Mitchell Johnson with his rocket arm chasing the ball.

Pakistan’s frustrations continued when Umar Akmal who took off for a single was sent back only to walk back to the pavilion. At the end of the day Pakistan were down and out at 94 for 4 with Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik at the crease.

Pakistan are still 425 runs adrift Australia and need another 225 to avoid follow on. Australia expectedly should come hard on Pakistan tomorrow morning as Ponting would want to ensure the follow on with the forecast being a bit jittery and considering that the Australian team are on a two month break from tests.

Ricky Ponting roared back to form with a superlative double hundred and Michael Clarke registered his highest Test score of 166 as Australia looked set to hand another whitewash to the helpless, self-destructive Pakistanis, two days into the third and final Test at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

Replying to Australia’s mammoth first-innings score of 519 for 8 declared, Pakistan kicked themselves in the foot to have themselves struggling at 94 for 4 at the end of the day’s play. Things looked slightly positive when Imran Farhat and Salman Butt added 63 for the opening wicket. But everyone, including the Pakistanis themselves, knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

The destruction mode was set into action when Farhat, on 38, chased a wide delivery from Peter Siddle, who has been Australia’s least effective bowler in the series.

The result was a simple catch, accepted gleefully behind the wickets. In the same over, Khurram Manzoor, the new number three for Pakistan was also sent back by the Aussie pacer. Manzoor, went for a cut shot way too early in his innings and only managed to slice one into the slips.

With two wickets down, Pakistan were already in the doldrums. But the sorry part was that the worst hadn’t yet arrived. The last two dismissals of the day must have undoubtedly given Butt a horribly sleepless night.

Skipper Mohammad Yousuf wanted an extra run and was rather adamant about it. However, Butt had other ideas and simply refused to complete the run. The end result – Yousuf was stranded short of his crease for just 7.

Not surprisingly, he left only after a long stare at Butt which literally translated into – how dare you do that to me? But , Butt wasn’t done! He meted out similar treatment to Pakistan’s best batsman in the series, Umar Akmal.

The talented youngster wanted a single. However, while Butt responded initially, he back-tracked at the last minute and Akmal had nowhere to go but head back to the pavilion.

If Pakistan want to make a come back into the game now, Butt will have to play a miraculous knock with plenty of help from the others. But for that, he will first need to get over the horrendous mix-ups.

Before the Australian bowlers, it was the Ponting-Clarke duo that made it Australia’s day. The duo, which had come together after the Aussies had lost three early wickets, ended up adding 352 runs for the fourth wicket.

This was Australia’s sixth-highest partnership for any wicket in Tests. Runs came thick and fast. The Pakistani fielders once again aided the Aussie batsmen. Ricky Ponting, who was dropped by Mohammad Aamer on naught on the opening day, got another reprieve on 167, when Farhat dropped a chance at cover. The miss only epitomized Pakistan’s woes.

The grand Clarke-Ponting stand finally ended when Danish Kaneria cleaned up Clarke from around the wickets, the batsman padding up. Ponting left after scoring 209, caught by Yousuf in the cover off Aamer while trying to up the ante.

Brad Haddin and Marcus North notched up cameos before Australia declared and the bowlers took over. Ponting knew he had enough to trouble Pakistan. And he was proved exactly right.