Florida Cricket Academy being set up with Customs Academy’s collaboration

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Karachi-based Customs Cricket Academy (CCA) has agreed to extend its total support to the Florida Cricket Academy (FCA) being set up in Fort Lauderdale. 

Naeem-ul-Haq, a former first-class cricketer from Karachi now having relocated in the town Orlando in the United States of America (USA), has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CCA, who have offered them every possible support in spreading the game of cricket.

“It’s very heartening to note that Naeem, one of our former colleagues at the Pakistan Customs, has worked his way to setting up an academy in Florida. We have gladly joined hands with the FCA, offering them all kind of technical assistance that they may be needing from time to time,” Jalaluddin, a former Test fast bowler and the Head Coach of the CCA, said in a recent conversation.

“Spreading the game of cricket is our mission. We have set an example in Pakistan by developing state of the art coaching facilities at the CCA. It’s must be quite exciting to develop similar coaching facilities in USA,” Jalaluddin, the first man to record a hat-trick in One-day Internationals, remarked.

Naeem-ul-Haq, having played first-class cricket for Pakistan Customs, Karachi and Pak PWD before his emigration to the USA, has had the dream to set up a cricket academy in his adopted country for quite sometime.

Naeem’s dream is now about to be fulfilled as he has already formed a not-for-profit organization that’s registered with the local authorities. He has acquired a piece of land in Fort Lauderdale located on the outskirts of the famous town of Miami.

“We have acquired on lease a portion in a park. We are in the process of laying artificial practice pitches for cricket and we plan to make the Academy functional this summer. We are confident of launching the FCA during the month of June or July,” Naeem disclosed during his recent visit to Karachi.

“At the FCA we would be offering training and coaching facilities to the youngsters in the age group of 12 to 17 years. We would be offering our services free of cost and we would even provide complimentary kit to the trainees. The FCA will run throughout the year with the weekly classes every Saturday while there will be sessions on Saturdays as well as Sundays during the summer vacations,” Naeem explained.

Naeem-ul-Haq will be the Head Coach of the FCA who will be assisted by former cricketers Rizwan-uz-Zaman, Ahad Masood and Waqar Malik while Raza Jafri of USA Grocers would be the main sponsor of the project.
Naeem, a qualified Level-II coach, felt that the establishment of the FCA could be helpful in turning things around in the USA for the development of the game.

“We would be coordinating with the educational institutions, schools in particular, for making our academy work. No sport can flourish until the educational institutions get into it by all means. We need to convince the institutions that cricket is a game hugely beneficial in character-building of youngsters,” the former cricketer said.

“There are a lot of people living in the USA who love cricket. Quite a few exhibition matches have been organized here over the years that proved successful as well. I think the opportunity is there. We need to work very hard indeed to get the ball rolling in the right direction. There are willing people across the country but we need to put our acts together if we are to make an impression in a big way,” he reckoned.

Naeem, whose elder brother Anwar-ul-Haq met with greater success in first-class cricket, was of the opinion that the Pakistan community in particular could be greatly interested in the promotion of cricket in USA.

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Sania Mirza foresees no problems in playing in Pakistan

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The tennis star Sania Mirza has recently rewritten history by becoming the first Indian woman to annex a Grand Slam title. Partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi, she won the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open 2003 by overpowering the duo of Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram 6-3, 6-1 in the final in Melbourne.

Indeed winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi was the best way she could have made a comeback in the international circuit after having been out of action for quite a while due to a wrist injury. 

"It is very special to win your first Grand Slam. After the injury it is a great way to come back. I am just living in the moment for now," the 22-year-old Sania Mirza was quoted as saying upon her return to India.

Sania Mirza, laid low by the wrist injury for the better part of the last year, has begun the new year on a high note and she looks determined to make it count. What a great start she has had to 2009, winning her maiden Grand Slam title in the very first outing.
Last year the wrist injury had forced her to withdraw from several matches and the Roland Garros and US Open Grand Slams.

She represented India at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, in the women's singles and doubles events. In singles, she retired in the round of 64, while she was trailing 1-6, 1-2 against Iveta Benešová of Czech Republic. She teamed up with Sunitha Rao for the doubles event. They got a walk-over in the round of 32, but lost to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina by 4-6, 4-6, in the round of 16.

Talking to a group of covering journalists from Pakistan, she had remarked during the Beijing Olympics that she would like to play in Pakistan where she has also great fan following. She didn’t foresee any problem if invited to participate in any tennis event in Pakistan. She spoke very highly of the talents of Aisam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s premier tennis player of the recent times.

Hailing from the historic town of Hyderabad, Sania Mirza had started playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional at the age of 16. She made her debut in the India Fed Cup team, winning all three singles matches. She won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, in the company of Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.

She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She holds the distinction of being the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament. 

She had become the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In 2004, she had finished runner-up at the Asian Tennis Championship.

In 2005, Sania Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. She became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. 

She won the silver in the women's singles category and the gold in the mixed doubles partnering Leander Paes in the 2006 Asian Games at Doha.

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Jerome Taylor’s sensational spell revives cricket in Caribbean

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

A superb exhibition of fast bowling from Jerome Taylor sent England crashing to 51 all out on the fourth afternoon of the first Test at the Sabina Park, Kingston, which the West Indies managed to win by an innings and 23 runs.

It was one of the greatest bowling spells of all time that changed the complexion of the game within a matter of minutes. It prompted an extraordinary buzz at the ground that had been non-existent on the Caribbean islands for such a long time.

Cricket came alive during the course of that magnificent spell of nine overs from Taylor during which he claimed five wickets for 11 runs. At 26 for seven England were in danger of being bowled out for the lowest-ever score in Test history. The last three wickets could have tumbled within the next few deliveries had Taylor retained some more energy to go for the kill.

The withdrawal of Taylor from the attack enabled England to very nearly double their score with Andrew Flintoff delaying the inevitable.

There was hardly any hint of any such drama to follow when England had gone to lunch at 11 for two in their second innings, adrift by only 63 runs.

But what happened after the resumption was truly sensational. The crowd at the Sabina Park that had been quiet for the past three days when they mostly watched absorbing stuff suddenly came to life when Jerone Taylor sent the off-stump of Kevin Peitersen for a walk.

Having topscored in England’s first innings with 97, Pieterson was beaten by pace when he missed the attempted flick and had to watch his off-stump cart wheeling for the next few moments.

It was the defining moment of the game. The celebrations began with his dismissal and they continued unabated until the final wicket was taken. There was tremendous excitement with every ball and one was reminded of the 1980s when the West Indian cricket team ruled the world.

The memories of the good old days of the West Indian cricket were revived. It was after ages that they had played such aggressive cricket to force their opponents to submission so decisively.

The spectators, as they used to do in those glorious years, were completely involved in the proceedings, expecting something to happen every ball. They were dancing, cheering and gossiping as England kept losing wickets at regular intervals to add fuel to the fire.

Jerone Taylor was the man of the moment. Operating at around 90 miles an hour his every ball was bang on target, attacking the stumps and giving the batsman no respite. He hardly bowled a loose ball in the spell, not giving any width nor pitched anything on the leg-stump. It was superb exhibition of sustained fast bowling.

The credit was also richly deserved by the young left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who did a great backup work while Taylor was busy castling the batsmen. The left-armer not only dried the runs but also picked up wickets to create more pressure on the batting side. He picked up four wickets in each innings to emerge as the joint highest wicket-taker in the game alongwith Taylor.

Cricket after all is a team sport. It was an incredible victory and the West Indians may not forget it for a long time.

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Pakistan cricket to come alive with Australian series

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ijaz Butt, having just returned from Australia, has expressed the confidence that the Australians would indeed honour their commitment of playing the ODI series against Pakistan in the Middle East.
Ijaz Butt reckons that he has had a fruitful meeting with the officials of Cricket Australia (CA) in Melbourne earlier in the week. Upon his arrival in Pakistan he has confirmed that the Australians have committed to play in Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the months of April and May.  
The PCB Chairman is shortly expected to announce the dates of the five-match ODI series besides a couple of Twenty20 Internationals after consulting the local authorities in the UAE. 
The weather in the UAE would not be ideal for cricket in April and May but the PCB will not mind doing it because the Australians don’t have alternate dates to squeeze a series against Pakistan.

Pakistan desperately needs more cricket and the PCB, for obvious reasons, is very eager to host the Australians. The cricket enthusiasts in Pakistan are keenly awaiting the series between Pakistan and Australia.

Cricket in Pakistan would certainly come alive with the series of ODIs and T20 Internationals. It would have been a bigger treat watching the Aussies perform on the grounds in Pakistan but in the prevailing circumstances the contests between the two sides would be welcomed even on neutral venues.

It’s not going to be the first when Pakistan would be hosting Australia in neutral territories. The bilateral Test series between the two countries in 2002 was played in Colombo and Sharjah. 
A large number of Pakistani expatriates living in the UAE would certainly be most delighted with the news of the series between Pakistan and Australia taking place there. It will be a source of great entertainment for them as it would be for the millions of Pakistanis who would be following the action on television.

The upcoming series with Pakistan would certainly limit the availability of Australia's one-day players from participating in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but one should not forget the fact that the cancellation of the series between Pakistan and Australia around the same time last year had provided them the opportunity to take part in the inaugural IPL.

Pakistan’s performance in the recently held ODI series at home against Sri Lanka was not very encouraging but they would sense greater chance of scaring the Australians who themselves have had a very poor run in the ODIs of late.

The Australians have been struggling in the ODIs in particular, having gone down to the third place in the ICC rankings after having been at the top for the last many years. The recent slump in form of the Aussies opens a window of opportunity for Pakistan, also in the rebuilding phase.

On the basis of their current form, or the lack of it, there should be some fierce contests between Pakistan and Australia particularly on neutral venues where the ball may not be bouncing as much as it does on the Australian pitches.

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Indian juggernauts too good for Sri Lanka

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Even the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan and the failures of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh couldn’t stop India from dominating the fourth One-day International and more importantly inching closer to a rare whitewash over Sri Lanka.

Any other team in the world at the moment, including Australia and South Africa, could have been derailed in the non-presence and non-performance of their key players but not this Indian side that has far too many match-winners in its ranks.

Gautam Gambhir made the most of the opportunity of opening the innings once more and his knock of 150 was the highest on the Sri Lankan soil in ODIs. The left-hander, however, was picked up soon after reaching the landmark.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was unlucky to have missed out on a hundred which was there for the taking. He looked every inch a top-order batsman having the capacity to change gears according to the situation.

It was for the first time when Dhoni had promoted himself in the batting order, a move that paid rich dividends. He arrived at the crease when Sehwag was removed cheaply soon after having escaped narrowly only the previous ball. It looked for a moment that the pitch might be a little different in character but the big partnership between Gambhir and Dhoni dispelled all such apprehensions.

The Indians lost three wickets in quick succession against the run of play and they had to rebuild through Gambhir and Suresh Raina. They did score briskly but there was no late flourish as usual and the Indians had to settle with a score of 332 whereas 350 was always in sight. 
It took Muttiah Muralitharan 9.1 overs to finally take the wicket that finally put him at the top of the tree in the history of ODIs as well. It was wicket number 503 for the champion off-spinner who went past Wasim Akram’s record of 502 scalps.

Gambhir was the victim that earned Muralitharan the record. Although the wicket didn’t matter much in the context of the game for India had already posted a big enough score that looked perfectly defendable with a potent bowling attack at their disposal.

But it was a moment to cherish for Muralitharan and his supporters present at the Premadasa Stadium. It was yet another memorable moment in the career of the great off-spin bowler who has been the architect of many Sri Lankan victories in the past.

Muralitharan has now become the leading wicket-taker in Tests as well as ODIs. Besides his outstanding skills with the ball his mental strength is an object lesson to the youngsters watching him. 

Muralitharan’s world record certainly gladdened the hearts of the local fans but they must have been disappointed to find their team falling apart in the run chase once more under the floodlights. 

The Sri Lankans got off to a flying start but they lost the momentum with the fall of wickets and there was not much the middle-order could have done to turn the tables against a disciplined bowling attack that was backed by agile fielders. 

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Tendulkar’s victimization continues as does India’s dominance

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sachin Tendulkar must be wondering if he would be granted the opportunity of getting some runs in the ongoing ODI series which India has pocketed in style with two games to spare. The hat-trick of his victimization was completed at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 3 during the course of India’s 147-run win over Sri Lanka.

Tendulkar has been wrongly or mischievously given out by the umpires of different countries on numerous occasions in his two-decade long illustrious career but it’s probably only for the second time in his career when he has been meted out unfair treatment on a trot.

One series that comes to my mind in which Tendulkar was singularly targeted was in Australia in 1999-2000 when he was also the captain of the team. India relied so heavily on him in those days and the tough umpiring calls cost his team all three Tests that summer.

Things have changed now. Tendulkar indeed remains Tendulkar even today, having lost none of his passion or zeal to score, but presently he is one of the stars in the side that is studded with match-winners.

For the third time running Tendulkar was given out lbw to a delivery that was drifting past leg stump. It’s incredible really that he had been declared lbw in dubious fashion in the earlier two games as well. I am not sure why the umpires are not following the law of giving the benefit of doubt to the batsman whenever they are not completely sure if the ball would be hitting the stumps.

Tendulkar must be feeling frustrated because he’s in such great form and raring to have a go at the bowlers. We could only see a glimpse of it when he smashed a six off a free hit because that was his only scoring shot of the day. Who would blame him for getting only 18 runs in three matches when he has been sent back to the dressing room rather controversially every time.

Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag more than adequately made up for the early loss of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. The double-century third wicket stand broke the hearts of the Sri Lankan bowlers and a record total was always on the cards.

Both Yuvraj and Sehwag mauled the bowlers at will and their spectacular centuries put India in a commanding position. Left-handed Yuvraj hammered 117 off 95 balls before becoming the victim number 502 for Muttiah Muralitharan enabling the great off-spinner to equall Wasim Akram's world record of one-day wickets.

Sehwag was no less explosive while scoring 116 off 90 balls. India were poised for a total in the region of 400 when he was run out in the 35th over at the total of 265. But skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked out of sorts and even Yousuf Pathan’s 33-ball half-century could not take the score beyond 363 in 50 overs.

Sri Lanka hardly stood any chance of reaching the target of 364 although stranger things have happened against India in the past. With three lively fast bowlers at their service the visitors had no cause to panic while defending the huge total.

As expected the pace trio of Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma sealed the fate of the match by rising to the occasion in the first 20 overs of the Sri Lankan innings. The stage was set for the young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha to make an impression when he was handed over the ball after the powerplay overs. He bowled superbly to grab four wickets including that of Kumar Sangakkara, who topscored for the hosts with 83.

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Media-shy Younis Khan in the hot seat

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Reportedly it took the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ijaz Butt, only a few minutes to convince the reluctant leader Younis Khan to take up the national captaincy unconditionally.

The PCB was certainly in a spot of bother after the heavy loss to Sri Lanka in the third and final One-day International at the Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore, and as we have so often seen in the past the captain was made the scapegoat.

Shoaib Malik, who was granted a fresh vote of confidence by the PCB not so long ago, was axed and they obviously needed a new skipper to do the job for the team, starting with the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

The point to be noted here is that the captaincy was offered to Younis Khan because he seemed the only player having a secured position in the team. He was not chosen for the job because of his leadership skills or anything like that. 

The PCB didn’t have any other option at this stage. With Shoaib Akhtar battling injuries Mohammad Asif engaged in tribunal hearings and Mohammad Yousuf having joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) there was no high profile cricketer available to take up the leadership of the national team.

By agreeing to lead the team without having any second thoughts apparently, Younis has saved the PCB from any further embarrassment because there could have been another crisis in case of his refusal.

Younis has been one of the most successful number three batsmen of the recent times. Although his up and down approach doesn’t always give the impression of him being as rock solid as Rahul Dravid or as enterprising as Ricky Ponting, believe me he has a record that would make anyone proud.

He has scored nearly 5,000 runs in less than 60 Tests at an average of almost 50. Most notably he has also scored 15 centuries in 58 Tests, besides 20 half-centuries. It’s an outstanding record by all means.

His stats in the ODIs are impressive as well with over 5,000 runs under his belt and he has been the architect of many famous victories registered by Pakistan over the years.

He was considered a future Pakistan captain when appointed the deputy to Inzamam-ul-Haq during the 2005-06 season. He also impressed many with his captaincy skills whenever pressed into service in the absence of the imposing figure of Inzamam.

But Younis could not handle the pressures of captaincy when he was offered the job in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. He resigned abruptly before agreeing to take up the assignment the following day. It had become clear that he was not the man for the job and the ensuing debacle in the Champions Trophy didn’t come as a surprise.

Younis declined to lead the team when the post became vacant following the exit of Inzamam in 2007. He didn’t win many friends at home by having turned down the captaincy to concentrate on his county cricket engagements with Yorkshire.

Having had a controversial run as a captain, Younis had to face queries of all sorts from the media. He was found wanting in tackling the ticklish questions and his response didn’t impress many. He has been observed running short of ideas once too soon and it remains to be seen if he has improved in this area. 

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India overcome umpiring blunders to go two up

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
The standard of umpiring may have improved in general over the years but the Indians have continued to be at the receiving end more often than any other team. What a pity that Sachin Tendulkar became the victim of a dubious umpiring decision for the second match running.

Even more disgusting was the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh. He was in complete command of the situation, having done all the hard work against the champion spinners. Just when he was readying himself for the onslaught he got a shocker of a decision that signaled the end of his innings against the run of play.

The credit goes to the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who kept his boys motivated despite having 50 to 75 runs short of the total they would have posted in normal circumstances.

India’s total of 256 still proved good enough to win the day for them primarily due to two reasons. Their bowlers remained charged up during the entire length of the Sri Lankan innings displaying self-belief and strength in character. Then the home batters were found struggling in coming to terms with the quality bowling.

The inconsistency of the Sri Lankan top-order batsmen must have been at the back of Dhoni’s minds when he came out to defend a not too formidable total. The Indian fast bowlers, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, went hard at the home batsmen and the fancied trio of Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillekartne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara was back in the dressing room with very little on the board.

The fourth wicket century partnership between skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Thilina Kandamby revived the Sri Lankan hopes but the Indians bounced back in the final overs to deny the hosts the chance of squaring the series.

The ever-improving Ishant Sharma was at his best when his team needed him most. So was Zaheer Khan, who had an ordinary opening spell. The two Indian fast bowlers rose to the occasion in the closing stages of the game and even the gutsy Kandamby, returning undefeated on 93, could not change the course of the game.

The youthful Indian side once again proved the point that they have mastered the art of handling the pressure, an area their predecessors were found wanting it. The resilience of the present lot keeps their opponents under stress.

Talking about stress, it were the umpires rather than the bowlers who were instrumental in limiting India to 256 in 50 overs. The Indians showed remarkable improvement in their technique while negotiating the spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis but they were undone by a couple of umpiring blunders.

The early loss of Sachin Tendulkar, declared lbw on a ball heading down leg, was covered up by the duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir who set up the platform for a huge total.

Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina led the recovery after the dismissals of Sehwag and Gambhir in quick succession. Skipper Dhoni kept the momentum going in the company of Yuvraj and India were sight in a total well over 300. But Yuvraj was given lbw when he actually got a big inside edge onto his pads. This decision completely derailed India’s progress and Sri Lanka cashed in on the opportunity by drying up the runs in the last 12 overs that yielded little over 50 runs.

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