England can still do it after debacle at Headingley

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Australians have been rewarded for their persistence and positive approach that helped to wipe out England in a matter of two and a half days in the fourth Test at Headingley and the Ashes 2009 now stands at 1-1 with just one more game to go.

England, one up in the series, had to endure quite a few unforeseen problems at the start of the game and they couldn’t overcome them even after Andrew Strauss had won the toss and elected to bat.

The decision of Strauss to bat first reflected the confidence he had in himself and his boys. He appeared to be in aggressive frame of mind with an eye of sealing the series before the fifth Test. In normal circumstances he would have been expected to go into the game with four bowlers and playing an additional batsman.

There was certainly a temptation to bowl first but the England skipper with the great form he’s in chose to put runs on the board. Having included off-spinner Graeme Swann in the playing eleven he must have set his mind on a wearing track on the fourth and final day. Little would have he known that the match would be over inside three days.

It turned out to be a disastrous first morning for England and it was nothing short of a nightmare for them to have been bowled out for 102. It’s not often that the team could stage a comeback after being knocked over so cheaply.

The Australian bowlers made the most of the lively strip by pitching the ball up and the England batsmen were found wanting in coming to terms with the movement in the air and off the wicket. Peter Siddle turned out to be the star with a quick five-wicket haul.

With Strauss perishing early and no Pietersen or Flintoff in the middle-order the Australians knew they were in with a very big chance of routing the hosts. Someone like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff would have driven those over-pitched deliveries to the fence but the ordinary mortals like Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell neither had the technique nor the heart to counterattack.

The fourth Test was actually won and lost on the first morning when England was bowled out for 102 in their second innings.

I am not sure what prompted the England think-tank to attack the Australians with short-pitched stuff. The half trackers were dispatched merrily by the Australian batsmen who are at home in pulling and cutting.

Skipper Ricky Ponting set the tone with attacking batting and Michael Clarke followed suit. Marcus North played another gem of a knock and the brisk scoring further demoralized England.

The Australians knew the match was in their bag with a monumental first innings lead. Mitchell Johnson reproduced his bowling form that eluded him in the earlier games of the series to further compound England’s problems.

There were some heroics in the later part of England’s second innings that certainly entertained people and also proved the point that their top-order batsmen were guilty of not having applied themselves.

England, I feel, can still turn it around in the decider at the Oval because there’s not much to pick between the two sides.

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Where’s ICC Anti-Corruption Unit?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that suspected bookmakers were staying on the same floor as the Pakistan players in the team hotel in Colombo.
Salim Altaf, the PCB's Chief Operating Officer (COO), was quoted as saying that the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the ICC had a representative in Sri Lanka who was looking into it.

"He will obviously report back to the ICC and I see this taking some time. We will wait for his report," he was reported to have said.

The PCB had approached the ICC after Pakistan lost the three-match Test series as well as the five-match ODI with a couple of one-dayers still to be played during their ongoing tour of Sri Lanka.

Back home Pakistan’s successive defeats in Sri Lanka were being viewed with shock and suspicion because the triumph in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in England was fresh in minds of the people.

The ICC didn’t waste time in acknowledging the report being received from the PCB as one of their spokesmen, Brian Murgatrord, confirmed that the body was aware of the issue at the hotel.
"We can confirm the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit is aware of the matter and will deal with it as appropriate," he was quoted as saying.

The ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit would have hardly got any time to deliberate on the issue before the last two ODIs produced the most unexpected of results and there were people believing that there’s something fishy in the turn of the events.

Sri Lanka, having won the first three ODIs so convincingly to seal the series, lost the last two games with the heaviest of margins thus taking everyone by surprise.

Not sure if the Sri Lankan cricket authorities would be interested in pursuing the matter but it’s for the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit to have a re-look at the events of the last two ODIs in particular.

It’s hard to comprehend a team, having excelled in the earlier part of the series, playing so unprofessionally or loosely to bring about massive defeats upon themselves. Obviously it’s not easy even to lose a match by a heavy margin and a lot of effort is needed for this exercise as well.

The figures do tell a story. Sri Lanka won the first ODI by 36 runs while defending a total of 232. After routing Pakistan for 168, the hosts won the second game by six wickets with 38 balls remaining. Pakistan posted a total of 288 in the third ODI but Sri Lanka romped home by six wickets with 21 balls in hand.

The most dramatic of turnarounds then began. Pakistan, helped by 29 wides, reached a score of 321 in the fourth game. It was a perfect batting strip of R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the hosts were expected to give a befitting reply. But they bundled themselves out for 175 in 36.1 overs to lose the match by a staggering margin of 146 runs.

The history of the previous game was repeated in the fifth and final ODI at the same venue with the hosts crashing to 147 all out in 34.2 overs while chasing a target of 280 to lose the match by 132 runs.

Cricket remains an unpredictable game but why it becomes so predictable at times is anybody’s guess. The ICC must ensure greater discipline and stricter laws should be enforced to counter such events that bring the game to disrepute.

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Zaheer to miss Champions Trophy due to IPL injury

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The priorities of the movers and shakers of the Indian cricket remain unclear. It’s not easy to judge what really are the objectives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)? The element of clarity of thought looks missing.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has probably done more disservice to the cause of the Indian cricket rather than bringing home glories. The massive commercialization of the game has severely hit their injury-prone cricketers and the performance of their team has declined in major competitions.

The BCCI had succeeded in holding the second edition of the IPL in South Africa earlier this year but it cost them the world Twenty20 crown. As was being speculated the IPL worked to India’s disadvantage and they failed miserably in defending the title they had annexed a couple of years ago.

Now India’s chances of reclaiming the Champions Trophy has taken a serious blow with their spearhead Zaheer Khan being ruled out due to the shoulder injury he suffered while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He had fallen on his shoulder while fielding and was subsequently advised rest.

Zaheer, one of the most experienced fast bowlers in world cricket, is out of the Champions Trophy after having undergone a major shoulder surgery in South Africa a few weeks ago. It would come as little surprise if he’s also forced to miss the seven-match home ODI series against Australia in November-December.

The BCCI officials, however, maintain that Zaheer was responding well to the surgery and he was expected to return to international cricket by the end of the year and could play in the home series against Australia.

"Zaheer had an arthroscopic labral repair in his left shoulder on July 13 done by the Johannesburg-based Dr Mark Ferguson. He is undergoing rehabilitation in South Africa and is recovering very well. He is expected to return to international cricket by the end of this year," the BCCI media release revealed.

It was further announced that Zaheer would be arriving home on August 9 for about 10 days or so before returning to South Africa for further rehabilitation on his shoulder.

Zaheer aggravated the injury during the World Twenty20 and had to undergo surgery in South Africa in July, causing him to miss the four-match ODI series in West Indies.He has been advised a minimum of three months' rest. Ferguson, who carried out the surgery, has successfully treated Sachin Tendulkar and former India players Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble in the past. 

The 30-year-old left-arm quickie has had fitness problems on quite a few occasions in the past as well. It goes to his credit that he has managed to stage a comeback successfully more often than not after a layoff.

He had looked at the peak of his career last season. In tandem with Ishant Sharma he formed the most lethal new ball attack in the world, setting up quite a few victories for India. His absence will be sorely felt.

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Tendulkar owes match-winning knocks more than runs

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Not many people would disagree with the fact that Sachin Tendulkar has not been able to do justice with the talents he possessed. He was capable of scoring more prolifically and more consistently than what he has managed to do in about two decades in the international arena.

In a recent interview the master batsman was quoted as confessing that he’s not satisfied with his achievements and hoped to accumulate 15,000 runs and win the World Cup in 2011.

"I am not pleased yet with what I have done. Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs. He said he would be angry with me and would come and catch me if I didn't. I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement, but that is not the only aim,” Tendulkar observed while mentioning victory in the World Cup in 2011 as his other big cricketing ambition.

Tendulkar, having scored 12773 runs at an average of 54.58 in 159 Tests, should face no problem in getting another 2,227 runs that will help him in cross the barrier of 15,000 runs. That how many games he would require to reach the landmark to be seen. If the form doesn’t desert him, he should be able to do it in less than 30 games.

But more than the runs flowing from his bat, his fans wish him to play more match-winning knocks than what he has done so far. They have cheered him all along, endured his lean patch once in a while. Now they expect him a late flourish from him.

Fitness has remained an issue with him for quite sometime now despite his claim that he has been consistently playing with pain.

"I always play in pain, all the time. I played with a broken finger for the last three months, but you know when pain is manageable or not, and most of the time I can do it. I can still do what I did when I was 25 but the body is changing, so your thought process has to change too. I have had to change how I think, which is about taking less risk,” he said.

Tendulkar doesn’t agree with the observation of John Buchanan, a former Australian coach, who thinks the ‘Little Master’ has now become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork.

"It is only his opinion; John Buchanan doesn't have to be right all the time. If I couldn't handle short deliveries, then I wouldn't still be scoring runs. Maybe he needs to change his opinion. There must be something very wrong with all the bowlers around the world that they have allowed me to score so many runs,” Tendulkar contended.

The good news for Tendulkar’s fans is that he’s not thinking about retirement yet. "I will know when it is the right time, I won't have to be dragged away. I am the person who will make the decision and I will know whether I still belong," he asserted.

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England appear on course of regaining Ashes

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It’s always great fun watching encounters between the traditional rivals, Australia and England. With both the teams eager to give more than their one hundred percent the spectators get their money’s worth and the television viewers are more than happy with the recreational value.

One of the most fascinating features of the contests between the two nations is the involvement of the people. Although there are other avenues of recreation available there’s no love lost for the game of cricket.

The fixtures between Australia and England become even more exciting when the two teams are more or less equal in strength as is the case in the ongoing Ashes series. There’s very little to pick between the two sides and all the three Test matches so far have produced cricket of the highest class.

England lead the series 1-0 by virtue of their historic victory at Lord’s. With two more Test matches to go, the hosts cannot be sure of regaining the Ashes but in the prevailing circumstances the Australians will have to do something extraordinary to stage a comeback.

We are in the middle of yet another classic Ashes series. The Australians dominated the first Test but they were denied victory by the last England pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar.

England called the shots in the second Test but the big partnership between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin on the fourth day opened up the game and its fate was not sealed until Andrew Flintoff delivered that superb spell on the fifth morning. Believe it or not it had taken England three quarters of a century to register a Test win over Australia at Lord’s.

Ricky Ponting, in the post-match interview, conceded having been outplayed by the determined England side showing great character and resilience after the narrow escape in the previous game.

Australia took to the field in the third Test with fierce determination to square matters at Edgbaston. They made the bold move of dropping the out of form young opener Phillip Hughes, who was being compared to Don Bradman not very long ago.

Mitchell Johnson, having performed so consistently against South Africa in the home and away series last season, too must have come perilously close to losing his spot because of his indifferent form in the first couple of Tests. The Australian team management could not dare dropping Johnson for the third Test.

The indecisiveness in the Australian camp due to the loss of form of two of their key players was understandable. The injuries didn’t help their cause either and they couldn’t enter the Edgbaston Test in the attacking frame of mind that used to be their hallmark in the past.

Although the match was drawn in theory England won on points in the rain-affected third Test., even in the absence of their star batsman, Kevin Pietersen, who will not be in action in the last two Tests either due to health problems.

England, in fact, were pushing for second successive victory on the fifth and final day and it was Michael Clarke who prevented the Aussies from dipping further. It would have been harder for Australia to retain the Ashes, if they were blown away in the third Test as well.

Having escaped with a draw at Edgbaston, Australia will have to lift their game in order to turn the tide in the remaining couple of matches. The momentum is with England and Andrew Strauss is in no mood to give it away.

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Wasif’s lively presentation provides I-Lead a head start

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I-Lead, a joint venture of the Habib University Foundation and the Ministry of Youth, Government of Sindh, looks an ambitious project at the takeoff stage. The launch ceremony at the Habib Public School on July 14 allowed the two partnering organizations to share the salient features of the programme with an audience that comprised of brilliant young athletes, sporting icons, seasoned sports journalists and stakeholders in the sports administration.

The panel discussion featuring the sporting greats was to be the showpiece event of the launch ceremony and it indeed was but the lively presentation by Syed Wasif Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer, Habib University Foundation, was no less brilliant. In fact the presentation was a perfect prelude to the panel discussion.

So the I-Lead project was actually launched with Wasif Rizvi’s presentation on Value of Sports and Physical Education for a Society. The wealth and depth of knowledge on sports possessed by the presenter allowed him to keep the audience involved in the proceedings and trust me there was not a single dull moment in it although the topic he was speaking on was rather dry.

A couple of things stood out in the presentation. One was the well-drafted script rather the resource material using their definition. Secondly it was the wonderful delivery punctuated with anecdotes. 

It’s never a straightforward task keeping the audience involved or absorbed while describing the stuff that’s not very exciting or entertaining. That’s one of the reasons why very few lecturers, professors or teachers are remembered by the students.

Even the presenters well versed with the art of keeping the audience glued to their seats occasionally lapse when confronted with a subject not having much recreational value. So hats off to Wasif Rizvi for having taken the responsibility of doing the tough job on behalf of his team and rising to the occasions. This was a classic example of leading by example.

Now let me turn to the presentation itself in which I-Lead was explained as Inspiring Leadership, Empowerment and Development in Youth Collectivism and Sharing and Togetherness. It was pointed out that Broadening Horizons from Healthy Individuals to Healthy Society was the objective.

Wasif Rizvi threw light on the usual perceptions of sports. He described the virtues of playing sports. He very rightly observed that sports is more than useful tool for enhancing national unity and he cited the recent example of Pakistan’s triumph in the ICC World Twenty20 event that resulted in celebrations in every nook and corner of the country with every segment of the society, not necessarily enjoying the most cordial of relations at other times, took out to streets to share the moment of glory together.

He spoke about sports bringing sense of belonging, pride and commitment. He believed that sports provided a way to promote sense of a cohesive community and it was a mean towards active lifestyle.

Wasif Rizvi made the point that sports was a medium to learn life skills with the athletes getting the opportunity to come across teamwork, goal setting, hard work, sense of responsibility and conflict resolution. He added that sports was also a medium to attain emotional maturity as one learnt winning and losing being the part of the game.

He emphasized that sports was a tool to revive the spirit of a healthy society among youth with 4Es, Educate, Engage, Enlighten and Empower. 

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Immediate sacking of Intikhab Alam, Yawar Saeed demanded

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

A senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, has demanded the immediate sacking of coach Intikhab Alam and manager Yawar Saeed who are presently in Sri Lanka with the national team.

"In view of Pakistan team's pathetic performance in the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka, I demand sacking of Intikhab and Yawar with immediate effect," Dr Shah, who is also Sindh Sports Minister and President of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), said in a statement issued to the media the other day.

“The combined age of the two gentlemen (Intikhab Alam and Yawar Saeed) is 150 years and they have failed miserably to deliver. They must be called back home and new coach and manager should be sent to Sri Lanka before the next ODI to revive the spirit of the team," he remarked in the strong-worded statement.

Younis Khan's Pakistan team, having suffered their first-ever Test series loss in Sri Lanka, and are now trailing 0-3 in the ODI series with two more games to play.

The recent reports of the presence of some bookies at same floor and having dinners and teas with unnamed players of the Pakistan team have caused more controversies back home.
 
Dr Shah, a member of the PCB Governing Board, has also demanded investigations into the alleged presence of unwanted elements in Pakistan team's hotel.

He charged that both Intikhab Alam, a former Pakistan captain, and Yawar Saeed, have failed to exercise control over the team that has resulted in the disastrous performance with both the Test as well as the ODI series having been conceded. 

Dr Shah did not mince words in stating that the same Pakistan outfit could have performed much better and the outcome of the series had been different if they were managed professionally.

Meanwhile Yawar Saeed, Pakistan's manager in Sri Lanka, has denied reports that the players were "approached by suspicious characters" at their team hotel during the two Colombo Tests earlier this month. He was quoted by a newspaper saying that some of the players had complained to him about the presence of undesirable people in the team hotel. 

"Yes we were told by some of the players that a few suspicious people approached them during the Colombo Tests. We lodged a complaint with the hotel management, and they immediately shifted all of us to another floor of the hotel,” Yawar Saeed was quoted as saying.

 
"No such thing happened. There are usually many other guests at the hotel, who want autographs and photographs with the players, and then maybe invite them for a coffee or something. I just instructed the players not to go out with people they didn't know from before. And that is the usual protocol,” he clarified later.

"No bookie has approached me. If ever one does, I will catch him and hand him over to ICC because these people have destroyed the game," Pakistan captain Younis Khan asserted in a television interview. 

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Twittering Hughes needs to learn lessons

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There’s absolutely no harm in using the social networking sites as means of communicating thoughts to a wider audience but one has to draw a line what’s to be shared publicly and what’s to be strictly avoided.

Even the celebrities, besides the stars in the making, now consider such sites being of some use to them but the wiser ones are selective in sharing their thoughts because the idea, more often than not, is to gain popularity rather than start a controversy.

I am not too sure what exactly was in the mind of Phillip Hughes, a 20-year-old Australian opener into his first year in international cricket, when he chose Twitter, one of the most popular social networking sites, to ‘break’ the news of his axing from the playing eleven for the third Test against England at Edgbaston quite a few hours before the start of the game in wet conditions on July 30.

What Hughes had probably overlooked is the fact that the matters discussed in the team meetings are for their own consumption only and the stories need not to be told outside the dressing room or the hotel wherever they assemble for the brainstorming.

Neither the decisions taken in team meetings are meant to be announced by the individuals. It’s the responsibility of the team manager or the media manager to take care of hassles. A cricketer is meant to concentrate only on his own game and contribute to the team in the best possible manner.

Hughes might have been a bit too upset by the decision of the Australian team management to sideline him after the failures in the first couple of Tests in the ongoing Ashes battle. With the Australians trailing in the series one can surely understand their eagerness to catch up before it’s too late.

Hughes has to learn his lessons quickly. He not only needs to improve his technique with the bat in order to regain his place in the team but he also has to acquire wisdom before he’s caught in even greater mess.

The premature disclosure of Hughes that he was being replaced by Shane Watson for the Edgabaston Test appears to have caused embarrassment to Cricket Australia as well and it remains to be seen if the enterprising left-handed opening batsman faces any disciplinary action or he’s just issued a warning.

His manager, Neil D'Costa, who looks after the Twitter for Phillip Hughes, has come out with an explanation that the time difference between the countries led to the confusion and created the controversy.

D’Costa clarified that he was in India while the Twitter matters were being handled in Australia and the Test match in question was being held in England. Well he should now exercise more caution not only in selecting the right contents but also crosscheck abut the timings.
Hughes has to improve as well with coach Tim Nelson not mincing words: "He does need to go away and work at his game. He probably exceeded our expectations initially with the success he had in South Africa, and the way he played.”

Hughes, who was being hailed as the new Mathew Hayden after the dream start to his career in South Africa, has to work exceptionally hard now to score the heaps of runs at the international level in the manner he had done for New South Wales and Middlesex.

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