Shaiza Khan spearheading the cause with conviction

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Shaiza Khan happens to be one of the trend-setters. She has been chiefly responsible for putting Pakistan women on the cricketing map of the world. Besides being an active cricketer herself she has excelled in the role of the administration of the game against the heaviest of odds.

She currently holds a world record having merited recognition in Wisden, the Bible of cricket. She rewrote history by capturing 13 wickets in a Test match, obliterating Australian Betty Wilson’s record of 11 wickets achieved way back in 1956. Her record haul also included a hat-trick, only the second in women's Test history.

Shaiza also earned the distinction leading Pakistan women's cricket team in their first-ever Test match as well as the inaugural One-day International. She has, in fact, led the country in 40 ODIs besides three Tests. The prolific leg-spinner captained the national team in the 1997 World Cup in India and the 2003 IWCC Trophy in Holland.

She had started playing cricket at a very young age and the passion grew while attaining secondary education in England. She played club cricket for Winchmore Hill in England while she graduated to league and county cricket just a few years later. She was still at school while making her debut for Middlesex in 1986.

She became the first non-British captain for University of Leeds, where she completed her masters in Textile Engineering during 1991-95.

Upon her return to Pakistan she proactively took up the challenge of organizing a proper women team that could make its presence felt on the international scene. She had the dual responsibility of looking after the administrative matters besides leading the team in the field.

Shaiza was the motivating force behind the launch of the Pakistan Women Cricket Control Association (PWCCA) a body that was founded in January 1996 and registered under the Companies Ordinance of 1984. Later the same year the PWCCA became affiliated to the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) as an associate member.

Shaiza led Pakistan in their first-ever ODI in New Zealand soon after the country was granted the desired status. She added another feather to her cap by captaining the team in their historic first-ever Test match played against Sri Lanka in April 1998 at Colombo.

In 1999 she had become the first overseas player/member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) when the membership opened for women after 212 years. She is currently a full member of the MCC.

As the Pakistan, she had toured New Zealand (1997), Sri Lanka (1998 and 2002), England and Ireland (2000) while she also skippered the national team in the home series against Holland (2001) and the West Indies (2004).

Although her focus of late has shifted on the administration of the PWCA, she remains an active cricketer and makes most of her stay in England during the summers.

Shaiza is a versatile entrepreneur working as Executive Director in the United Carpets Group of Industries. She has been one of the major financiers in the promotion and development of women’s cricket in Pakistan.

In fact it’s believed that the affairs of women’s cricket were totally financed by both Shaiza Khan and Sharmeen Khan during the first 10 years of PWCCA’s existence.

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Vital Five launched with great fanfare

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Customs Cricket Academy (CCA), founded by former Test fast bowler Jalaluddin in 1999, has distinguished itself by providing quality service. Currently celebrating its first decade of excellence, the CCA has also embarked upon the mission of spreading itself.

Headquartered at the Customs Sports Complex in Block 15 of Federal-B-Area, close to the UBL Sports Complex on Rashid Minhas Road, the CCA has recently established a base in the posh locality of the Defence Housing Society. A project by the name of Vital Five Club has been launched, based at the SKBZ Ground.

“The purpose of establishing Vital Five club is to give youngsters a chance to shine. The programme is a commitment for the development of cricket at school level in the eve of raising the standard of Pakistan cricket. This is a cricket carnival, which will give children the benefit of playing sports competitively. Team pairs competition for different age groups (8-10 years) (11-15), and (16-19 years) is planned, and schools are invited to take benefit from the set up,” Jalaluddin stated in his welcome speech during the presentation ceremony of an exhibition match organized to mark the opening of the club.

Jalaluddin, who is remembered for recording the first-ever hat-trick in One-day Internationals, highlighted the objectives of the Vital Five Club and announced the plan to revive school cricket. The club will be managed by the CCA, possessing qualified coaches and other support staff.

Jalaluddin, credited for developing a team of qualified coaches and trainers after having undertaken various ICC-accredited courses himself, has a firm resolve to revive the school cricket.

Meanwhile Askari XI registered an exciting 14-run victory over Showbiz XI in the festival match played in connection with the inauguration ceremony of Vital Five Club at the DA College Ground in DHA Phase VI.

Put into bat, Askari XI, led by Lt Gen Tariq Wasim Ghazi, scored 195 for the loss of wickets in the allotted 25 overs. Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan smashed a breezy 38 while Col Billa made 48. Hockey Olympian Islahuddin contributed 21 before retiring after Saleem Yousuf had kickstarted the innings with a brisk 49.

The damage was controlled by the Showbiz XI skipper, Adnan Siddiqui, who took wickets with Haji Ashraf, Faisal and Waqar being the other successful bowlers.

Chasing a formidable target of 196 in 25 overs the Showbiz XI lost a few early wickets but the situation was retrieved by Haji Ashraf and former hockey Olympian Qamar Ibrahim.

There was another mini-collapse following the departure of Qamar who made 36 but Haji Ashraf kept his side afloat until he was run out for 56. Col Billa sealed the fate of the match with three quick wickets as Showbiz XI were bowled out for 180.

Sindh Sports Minister, Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, who was the chief guest in the ceremony, presented Man of the Match award to Saleem Yousuf of Askari XI while Haji Ashraf of Showbiz XI and Col Billa of Askari XI were adjudged the best batsman and the best bowler respectively.

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Recalling Tendulkar’s debut 20 years ago

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was a Wednesday on November 15, 1989. I was still very sad and depressed having lost my closest friend, Ali Rizwan, in a tragic road accident just four days ago. I was not in the ideal frame of mind to cover the Test match but it was my duty to do it for The Frontier Past the leading national newspaper published from Peshawar.

The Indian cricket team had come to Pakistan after five seasons. There was a lot of buzz and excitement leading to the start of the four-Test series at the National Stadium, Karachi.

There were a lot of side stories doing the rounds. Krishnamachari Srikkanth was appointed the Indian captain for the first time after the removal of Dilip Vengsarkar in controversial circumstances. The celebrated all-rounder Kapil Dev was ready to play in his 100th Test match.

Pakistan were to award a Test cap to Waqar Younis, carrying the big reputation of being a lethal fast bowler. He was to complement the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir, three of the greatest bowlers in world cricket those days.

But the news catching the imagination more than anything else was the induction of a 16-year-old lad called Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian playing eleven. He had been drafted in the side that was announced in the evening before the start of the Test match. Mohammad Azharuddin was missing in that eleven with Raman Lamba having been included in his place.

The drama began as early as on the first morning when Azharduddin started plucking a few incredible catches as Pakistan were sent into bat by Srikkanth.

Everyone wondered how Azharuddin was there in the field when not mentioned in the original playing eleven. Although officially it was described as a toe injury that kept Lamba out of the game there were speculations that the high-ups of the Indian Board had intervened after learning about the composition of the team.

While the spotlight remained on Azharddin for having picked as many as five catches in Pakistan’s first innings in which Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakhar bowled exceedingly well but all eyes were on Tendulkar when India began their reply on the second afternoon.

Tendulkar was expected to bat at number five but probably the loss of early wickets prompted skipper Srikkanth to hold back his teenage sensation for a while. He finally made an appearance at number six position with India reeling at 41 for four.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were firing on all cylinders with Imran Khan setting attacking fields as he had plenty of runs in the bank. The pressure was on India when Azharddin was joined by Tendulkar.

Everyone in the media box and elsewhere in the stadium was awaiting Tendulkar, about whom they had heard a lot of being a schoolboy wonder. People pushed each other to get a better sight of the teenager entering the middle.

Tendulkar controlled his nerves splendidly and the 15 runs he scored did make many of those watching him that day realize that a special talent had arrived on the horizon. Obviously very few of them would have imagined him claiming every conceivable batting record in the years to come.

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Qualification in World Cup celebrated like title triumph

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan emerged triumphant in the FIH World Cup Qualifiers in Lille, France, that has earned them the qualification for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010. But the impression being given in the country is that Pakistan have already annexed the world title.

The officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), sitting in the corridors of power, even managed to have a congratulatory statement issued from the office of the head of the state hailing the victory in the recently held tournament.

The manner in which Qasim Zia and Asif Bajwa have been operating after having overthrown Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, nothing could be ruled out. They have become the hockey rulers who don’t approve the idea of consulting former Olympians and seasoned campaigners who brought more glories for the country than these two gentlemen could not even imagine.

The PHF is not being ‘governed’ much differently than the oft criticized Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The only apparent difference between these two bodies, headquartered in close vicinity in Lahore, is that the PCB is a one-man show and in the PHF there are two brothers in arms calling the shots.

No authority or governmental body can dare questioning Asif Bajwa, the PHF Secretary, enjoying total support and backing of President Qasim Zia, the hockey Olympian-turned politician.

Will these two worthy officials of the PHF care to explain didn’t it cost millions to take the team to France whereas they could have settled the issue by winning the Asia Cup in Malaysia earlier this year.

Pakistan would not have been needed to travel all the way to France had they overpowered South Korea in the Asia Cup final. The winners of the Asia Cup were to directly qualify for the World Cup.

It was the failure of the team in the Asia Cup final that jeopardized their chances of playing for the World Cup and they had to take part in the Qualifiers in Lille where they did it by the skin of their teeth.

Pakistan still needed to win the competition to avoid elimination from the World Cup although the teams participating in the Qualifiers in Lille were not highly rated or prolific ones.

They accomplished their mission after winning the tensely fought final against Japan 3-1. The lady luck was smiling on Pakistan who managed to overcome a much improved performance from the Japanese outfit. It turned out to be a much closer contest than anticipated.

Poland, who had overpowered Pakistan in their league meeting, finished third while hosts France, Russia and Italy shared the next three positions.

Pakistan became the 10th team to have qualified for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 with Australia, Canada, England, Germany, India, Korea, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain having secured their berths earlier.

A couple of more spots are available and will go to the winners of the second World Cup Qualifier, having started in Invercargill, New Zealand, and the third one, which starts in Quilmes, Argentina, in the coming week.

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PCB now gambling with Yousuf

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Two wrongs don’t make one right. Isn’t it? Yet the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or is just its Chairman, Ijaz Butt, conveniently ignore this basic rule. Controversy has been a part and parcel of the Pakistan cricket for a long time but there have been far too many in the recent past.

The appointment of Mohammad Yousuf as the skipper of the national team for the upcoming tour of New Zealand seems yet another blunder. The PCB is unclear in its mind too hence there’s no announcement yet if he will quit the job after three Tests and hand over the reigns back to Younis Khan.

There is a lot of chaos and confusion at the moment. The indecisiveness and shortsightedness of the PCB Chairman is making things more complicated with every passing day. His inability to deal with the matters professionally is taking its toll and his insistence to take decisions on his own is bringing the Pakistan cricket to disrepute.

Yousuf is not much different a character to Younis, with whom almost every member of the team was dissatisfied and unhappy, when it comes to captaining the side. Both of them remain reluctant leaders.

If Yousuf or Younis were natural leaders, one of them would have been handed over the captaincy upon the retirement of Inzamam-ul-Haq. That was the reason the then Chairman of the PCB, Dr Nasim Ashraf, had to induct Shoaib Malik as a skipper, a move that brought mixed results.

At least Shoaib had some leadership skills and his body language in the field was generally positive. He did carry a stigma of having thrown away a domestic match in mysterious circumstances he possessed the drive to carry the team forward.

Shoaib was removed by Ijaz Butt, who managed to convince Younis, who was unwilling to accept the job earlier, to take over during the course of the home series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. It wasn’t the wisest of move to bring about a change of guard during the course of a series.

Younis caused more headaches to the PCB with the only relief having come when the team won the ICC World Twenty20 against the heaviest of odds in England this summer. But with so much cricket going on Pakistan was humbled in Sri Lanka soon afterwards and there were all sorts of dressing room stories doing the rounds.

Younis, with his conduct or the lack of it, was chiefly responsible in earning bad name for the PCB even at a time when the nation was celebrating the Twenty20 conquest. He was found wanting in handling the media upon his return from the triumphant tour of England and there were negative headlines because of his haughty attitude.

The lady luck smiled on Younis again when Pakistan created an upset by making it to the semifinals of the ICC Championships Trophy in South Africa. But the unexpected loss to New Zealand opened another Pandora’s Box and the skipper was in the news for the wrong reasons yet again.

The PCB Chairman put his entire weight before Younis and agreed to all his terms and conditions, a few of which were unfair. But when the pressure built up and the boys stood up in Abu Dhabi, Ijaz Butt didn’t back the man whom he had lent overwhelming support just a few weeks ago.

Yousuf was initially reluctant when approached by the PCB Chairman in Abu Dhabi to take over with the short tenure being the point of contention. Out of his wisdom Ijaz Butt kept the matter pending and no mention was made about Younis getting the captaincy back.

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Younis makes himself and PCB a laughing stock

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It’s certainly the bad luck of the whole nation that they have had to endure a man as inconsistent in temperament and conduct as Younis Khan to be the skipper of the cricket team.

I have raised the issue on numerous occasions that Younis doesn’t possess the leadership skills hence he didn’t qualify to captain the national team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), plagued by administrative problems from top to bottom, hasn’t had the guts or the capacity to deal Younis in the desired manner leading to one controversy after another in the recent past.

Since Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of the PCB, is believed to be making all the decision on his own, disregarding the Governing Body, he must be entirely blamed for not having dealt with the situation in a shrewd manner.

The PCB Chairman, under fire on various fronts, had chosen to put his entire weight behind the temperamental Younis on the eve of an important series against New Zealand, beginning with the One-day Internationals in Abu Dhabi.

Ijaz Butt, for reasons best known to himself because he didn’t care to take anyone in confidence, not only bowed to the demand of Younis to appoint him as the captain until the 2011 World Cup but he went overboard in pleasing the skipper by ditching his own personal friend Yawar Saeed.

It may be recalled that the PCB Chairman himself had persuaded Yawar to carry on the job when the latter had sought a break. Younis, however, prevailed over the Board helmsman to remove his long-time mate just a few days before the departure of the team to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Younis had reasons to feel triumphant for the removal of Yawar as it opened the way for Abdul Raqeeb to accompany the team as manager instead.

Younis desired complete authority and a management team of his choice. He wanted to exercise the kind of authority that Imran Khan had during his time. He was desirous of calling the shots on his own.

Now after only three-match ODI series he has withdrawn from the tour of New Zealand requesting a break from cricket. He has caused embarrassment not only to the PCB but to the Pakistan cricket in general.

Had he traveled to the UAE riding a camel? How did he tire without having played a single big knock in the ODI series? How did he run out of steam when he didn’t have to do much running around in the team?

These are the questions Younis must be made to answer in public. He is not captaining a club team or a departmental outfit. He is or rather he was leading the national team. He must be made accountable. His change of mind hurts the cause of the team. His inability to lead by example creates bad taste.

The PCB will do a service to the game if they could take Younis out of their plans. They should not be backing an individual who is found wanting in handling the pressure. He should rather be considered a case for permanent retirement now.

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Countdown to mega event begins

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The World Cup remains the most prestigious of all the cricket tournaments and the International Cricket Council (ICC) regards it as its flagship event.

The first-ever Cricket World Cup was staged in England in 1975. It was described as an instant success and England went on to host the event in 1979 as well as in 1983. The other cricket playing nations then expressed the desire to organize it and the ICC has had to follow a rotation policy since then.

The World Cup came to the sub-continent in 1987-88 and it reached Down Under in 1991-92. It returned to the sub-continent in 1995-96 with England hosting it again in 1999. The action moved towards Africa in 2002-03 and the flame of cricket reached the Caribbean Islands for the first time in 2006-07.

Now the sub-continent will be the hosts once more in 2010-11 with the tournament to be held from February 17 to April 2. The countdown for the mega event has begun and the functionaries of the ICC and the Tournament Organizing Committee are ready to meet the challenge.

A ceremony was held in Mumbai on November 9 in which the fixtures of the 2011 World Cup were allowed well in advance.

Sharad Pawar, Vice President, ICC, and Chairman, Organizing Committee, very rightly pointed out that the match schedule announcement would allow all stakeholders to start planning their tours.

“The announcement of the match schedule for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is an exciting development as not only does it allow all our stakeholders to start planning their tours but it will also remind everyone that we are getting closer to the staging of the biggest event in world cricket, where the leading cricketers from all over the globe will battle it out for the top prize in the game,” he remarked.

“The sub-continent offers some great facilities for the cricketers, spectators, sponsors and media, and with some brand new stadia to be built and others to be upgraded, the match schedule will allow the venues to focus on the task at hand to plan and implement their preparations and ensure they are ready to welcome the world to this beautiful, historic and cricket-loving region in 2011,” Pawar noted.

The ICC Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat, believed that the announcement of dates was an important indicator of the excellent progress they were making towards staging their flagship event.

“The match schedule will allow the teams, commercial partners, spectators and media to commence with planning their tours. Preparation of venues and safety and security planning continues and I am confident that the host countries will showcase our great sport with its great spirit in the best possible light,” he observed.

“The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be the ICC’s next 50-over tournament after the highly successful ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa. And with plenty of high-quality matches played since that event concluded last month, I’m convinced that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in the sub-continent will further cement the status of ODIs and once again illustrate one of cricket’s greatest strengths – that with Tests and Twenty20 Internationals alongside ODIs, we have three viable, vibrant and successful formats of the game at international level,” the ICC chief added.

“The sub-continent has hosted high-quality events in the past, including two ICC Cricket World Cups in 1987 and 1996, and we are committed to stage another world-class event in 2011, one which will be memorable and enjoyable for all,” Tournament Director, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, said.

“However, the announcement of the match schedule will mean that the venues hosting the matches will have to meet their timelines to ensure everything is ready for what we believe will be a superb spectacle and a great advertisement for the sport which has a huge following in the sub-continent,” he pointed out.

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Pakistan not to host a single game

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The ICC World Cup will make a return to the sub-continent in early 2011 but Pakistan, having being proactive hosts in 1987 and 1996, will not be having a single match on their soil this time round.

The fixtures of the World Cup 2011 were announced by the ICC in a ceremony in Mumbai on November 9. It’s first time in history that Pakistan has not been allotted matches when the World Cup has come to the sub-continent. The 1992 champions, Pakistan, would be playing all their league matches in Sri Lanka.

The 10 full member countries of the ICC alongwith four associate members, divided equally in two groups, will be taking part with the top four from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The Group A comprises of Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya while the Group B contains India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands.

A total of 49 matches will be played in the World Cup 2011 with India hosting 29 matches, including the final, a semifinal and a quarter-final, Sri Lanka 12 matches, including a semifinal and a quarter-final, and Bangladesh eight matches, including the opening matches, and two quarter-finals.

During the 43-day event spread over three countries, a total of 13 venues will be used and the 2011 event is a week shorter than the 2007 edition.
The inaugural ceremony will be held in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on February 17 where the opening match of the tournament will also be staged a couple of days later featuring the host nation and the 1983 champions India.

The quarter-finals will be played in Dhaka on March 23 and 25 in Colombo on March 24 and and in Ahmedabad on March 26 while the two semifinals will be played in Colombo and Mohali on March 29 and 30. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host the final on April 2.

It has been clarified that Pakistan would be facilitated to contest the final in Mumbai should they qualify. The organizers have specifically made a mention of Pakistan because Mumbai has always been a city they have had to avoid playing for a number of years now.

Sharad Pawar, the Chairman of the 2011 World Cup's organising committee, has stated that India would welcome them to play at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai should Pakistan make it to the final of the tournament.

Pawar expressed the optimism that there would be no hurdles if Pakistan made it into the final of an event like the World Cup.

"There is no exception whether it is Pakistan or any other country. I am confident the sport-loving population of this country will welcome anybody who reaches the stage,” he was quoted as saying in Mumbai.

Pakistan would be needed to play in India during the course of the 2011 World Cup only if they go all the way to the final.

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