Predictable result with changed characters, venue

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There was nothing unfamiliar with the final result. Considering the wide gap between the two sides there was hardly an element of surprise in watching Australia overpower Pakistan by 150 runs in the first Test at Lord’s with over a day to spare.

The match was won and lost on the basis of first innings and there was not much Pakistan could have done to prevent another defeat at the hands of their fancied rivals who possessed far greater depth and experience in the batting department.

It went to the credit of the Pakistan bowlers, however, to have tested the mighty Australian middle-order and cut them to size in conditions which were not ideal for free flowing strokes.

Australia, having been floored in both the Twenty20 Internationals prior to the start of the two-Test series, might have desired to win the first Test a bit more convincingly but in the end they must have been satisfied with what they really achieved even after not being in total control.

Simon Katich, who is not as flamboyant as Mathew Hayden or as secured as Justin Langer, rose to the occasion in both the outings to save his team from embarrassment. It’s not often that the trio of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey fails to dominate the bowling but it was one of those games where they were unable to dictate terms.

Australia collapsed in both their innings despite the heroics of Katich. They were unable to build a score they would have liked and it was left to their bowlers to expose the inexperienced Pakistan batting line-up which they did.

How often does one see Australia lose their way after being in the driving seat? They were in a commanding position after the 120-run third wicket stand between Katich and Clarke yet they struggled to post a total of 250.

Australia made amends by bowling Pakistan out for less than 150 that gave them a more than handy lead of 100 in what was more likely to be a low scoring affair.

The start to the Australian second innings was more assured than the first one but another middle-order collapse from a position of strength reflected the vulnerability of their top-class batsmen. It was really amazing to see Ponting, Clarke and Hussey perish so quickly one after another on the second evening.

Katich turned out to be unlikely bowling hero and even unlikelier bowlers stole the limelight. Shane Watson swung the ball appreciably on the second afternoon to rip through Pakistan’s batting and was rewarded with a five-wicket haul.

Then just as the sun came out and the batting conditions eased out Pakistan’s batsmen grabbed the opportunity of helping themselves for some runs which didn’t threaten the Aussies but the game was stretched to the fourth day.

Pakistan could have seriously considered themselves in a position to win the game even while chasing a fourth innings target of 440 if the opponents were anyone other than Australia.

The Pakistan batsmen took the off-spin of Marcus North for granted and obliged him with a haul of six wickets. Their act was not too dissimilar to the ones in Australia a few months ago when they had gone after Nathan Hauritz to gift him five-for a couple of times.

readmore »»

KPT hosts KPC badminton tourney

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The badminton tournament of the ongoing Karachi Press Club (KPC) Summer Sports Festival 2010 was inaugurated here at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Sports Complex on July 15.

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports & Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, was the guest of honour in the inauguration ceremony which was presided over by the chief of the Sindh Badminton Association (SBA), Raees Paracha.

Later the two senior bureaucrats, Shoaib Siddiqui and Raees Paracha, were escorted to the arena where they played a few rallies, turning back the years when they routinely visited badminton court.

The decision of the KPC Sports Committee to hold the badminton tournament of the Sports Festival at the centrally air-conditioned and well-maintained indoor gymnasium of the KPT Sports Complex was welcomed by all the participants.

After having staged the snooker, chess and scrabble tournaments at the club it was thought to provide the KPC members a chance to play badminton in the settings of KPT Sports Complex that not only possessed a court of high class but also had the perfect settings to host such an event.

The Chairperson of KPT, Nasreen Haq, was acknowledged during the opening ceremony for having promptly granted the approval of holding the KPC Badminton Tournament.

Engr Shah Naeem Zafar, who has been heading the sports department of the KPT for quite sometime, was also thanked for making the arrangements at a short notice.

In his brief speech on the occasion, Shoaib Siddiqui praised the initiatives of the Executive Committee of the KPC for having revived the Sports Festival which is now being supported by the sports department of the Government of Sindh.

“It’s really very heartening to find the media professionals taking to the sports field. I am sure they must be thoroughly enjoying the experience themselves. The smiling faces of the KPC members present here make me feel delighted and I think they are raring to go to the badminton court now after having demonstrated their skills in snooker, chess and scrabble during the past couple of weeks,” Shoaib Siddiqui remarked.

He made a special mention of former international athlete, Mohammad Talib, who attended the function on special invitation.

Rais Paracha, President, SBA, recognized the contribution of the media in the promotion of sports and he also welcomed the idea of having sports competitions between the working journalists.

Mr Saleem Paracha, Secretary, SBA, who conducted the ceremony in his usually exciting style before taking out the draws in the presence of Mr A H Khanzada, Honorary Secretary, KPC. A total of 28 entries were received for the tournament to be played on knockout basis.

Noman Khan, Babar Khan, Mohammad Saleem and Hamid Rahman were given a bye in the first round while the other participants were Kaleemuddin, Mohammad Aftab Ahmed, Ehtisham Ali, Mohammad Yasir, Abdul Qadir, Raja Kamran, Nabeel Ahmed, Waqar Khan, Mohammad Shahid, Syed Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Arshad, Jahangir Khan, Kamran Sahil, Sabir Mazhar, Qasim Khan, Afaq Mustafa, Tariq Hussain, Adeel Khan, Mohammad Ijaz, Ehsan Qureshi, Munir Aqeel Ansari, Syed Azhar Sultan, Jamal Khurshid and Ahmed Faridi.

readmore »»

MSAP conduct KPC chess, scrabble events nicely

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Anwar Mooraj and Mohammad Shahid emerged champions in the chess and scrabble tournaments respectively of the ongoing Karachi Press Club’s Summer Sports Festival 2010 being supported by the Government of Sindh.

The results were compiled and released by the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP), who organized the week-long chess and scrabble event with the collaboration of KPC’s Sports Committee, very nicely indeed.

Anwar Mooraj won the chess competition by securing eight points while Mohammad Shahid took the snooker title with a spread of +55.

A total of 10 KPC members participated in the chess tournament and they played nine rounds. Azhar Javed of Chess Players Association of Pakistan (CPAP), conducted the event with Shahzad Mirza, International Master, and Muhammad Umair Kausar, Coordinator, MSAP

Anwar Mooraj stood out with eight points while the trio of Mohammad Shahid, Hasan Mansoor and Nargis Khan had six points each. Aziz Narvi and Kamran Sohail were next on the list with five points each and they were followed by Mohammad Yasir, Afaq Mustafa, Hamid-ur-Rahman and Syed Javed Iqbal.

Mohammad Shahid won the scrabble contest with a spread of +55 while Mohammad Afaq (+70) and Irshad Ali (+59) finished second and third respectively. The event was conducted by Tariq Pervez, Director, Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) and Fahim Naqvi, Vice President, PSA.

Tariq Rasheed Khan, Director, MSAP, and President, Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), was chiefly responsible in making both the tournaments a success despite the lower turnout than was being anticipated.

A firm believer of professional management, Tariq Rasheed made things comfortable for the KPC Sports Committee by taking care of the entire technical side from start to finish. He posted a team of officials who were well versed in conducting such events. The intensity was not lost or even dampened by the spells of rains that also played a part in disturbing the originally chalked out schedule.

The MSAP officials did show the flexibility that was so essential in keeping the participants interested. The KPC members were allowed to incorporate changes in their schedule with the consent of their opponents in order to minimize the walkovers as the idea was to have maximum possible matches in the allotted time.

The MSAP representative, Azhar Javed, was also gracious enough to extend the chess tournament by a day to accommodate those who couldn’t make it due to an unusually long spell of rain that did cause considerable traffic jams at various locations.

So the chess tournament actually last five days instead of the originally planned four. All the participants were provided ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills on the chess board and we witnessed some interesting contests besides getting unexpected results.

The participation in the scrabble competition was even lower but it was very heartening to find Tariq Pervez handle the event very professionally without losing interest. In fact he was even prepared to coach the KPC members after they had played their matches.

The card room of the KPC, that hosted both the mind sports events, was wearing a festive look all along and one can hope for a larger pool of members participating in such contests in future.

readmore »»

NBP, KCCA strengthen ties to promote club cricket

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The decline in the standard of club cricket in Karachi over the years has been debated for a long time but thankfully some concrete measures have been taken of late to revive it and take it to another level.

Prof Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui, who was elected as the Honorary Secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) only recently, has been championing the cause of the revival of club for the past fours years or so and his tenure as Chairman of the KCCA Zone II had witnessed unprecedented activities throughout his area of jurisdiction.

Now when he has taken over as the Secretary of the whole KCCA there are hopes that he might be able to turn it around at the city level. It remains to be seen, however, how he tackles the ‘bureaucracy’ within the Association and if he’s able to spread the mission that he had initiated in his zone about four years ago.

The KCCA is fortunate to be blessed by a ‘loyal’ friend like National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) whose officials remain committed to carrying out its corporate social responsibility in letter and spirit.

It’s very heartening for the game of cricket that, primarily due to Iqbal Qasim, NBP has continued to support the KCCA in a big way and their joint efforts at the club level would certainly yield results.

“Four years ago our institution had felt that the club cricket throughout the country was facing problems. We at NBP decided to play our part in arresting the decline and initiated an event exclusively meant for the clubs. We launched the NBP-KCCA Premier League which has now become a regular annual event. We desire to make it a model tournament on the basis of which the teams of Karachi should be selected,” Iqbal Qasim, a former Test left-arm spinner now heading the Sports and CSR wing of NBP, remarked in the opening ceremony of the 5th NBP-KCCA Premier League.

“It’s a matter of great pleasure and satisfaction that NBP has joined hands with the KCCA to hold the Premier League for the fifth year running. I am confident that cricket will benefit immensely with this venture and new talent will emerge on the scene,” Prof Ejaz Farooqui, Secretary, KCCA, observed during his speech at the Karachi Gymkhana.

The details of the 5th NBP-KCCA Premier League 2010 were unveiled by Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari, President, KCCA, having been associated with the Association as Secretary for a number of years.

The total number of participating clubs are 28, having been divided equally in seven groups. The top team of each group will be advancing to the knockout stage, starting with the quarter-finals.

All the 48 matches of the tournament, to be supervised by the best available umpires, will be played on turf pitches and those will be 50-overs-a-side contests.

The winners will be receiving a cash bonus of Rs 75,000 while the runners-up will be getting a purse of Rs 50,000. There will be cash awards for the outstanding individual performers as well.

readmore »»

Neither Harbhajan nor anyone else can emulate magician Murali

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I don’t know in which frame of mind Muttiah Muralitharan was in while having singled out Harbhajan Singh as the only bowler capable of emulating his record haul of nearly eight hundred wickets in Tests.

The legendary off-spinner, who will be retiring from Test cricket in a few days time, was quoted as saying in an interview the other day that only Harbhajan, another champion off-spinner, was most likely to have a go at his world record tally in Tests and One-day Internationals.

"I think only Harbhajan can do this. I don't know how old is he and how long he will continue. But he is the only one who can achieve this feat in Test cricket," Murali was reported to have said.

Probably it might have slipped out of his mind that Harbhajan is already 30 years old whose tally of 355 wickets in 83 Tests is far too less than his haul of 792 wickets which is likely to go further up when he calls it a day after the upcoming Galle Test.

Ideally Murali would ideally like to get at least eight more scalps in his last Test to reach the inconceivable landmark of 800 wickets. If the vulnerability of the Indian batsmen against spin bowling is taken in account I reckon he should get those wickets if he bowls well enough.

I don’t think anybody, either a spinner or a fast bowler, would be able eclipse his record haul of Test wickets in foreseeable future. It may stand for stages until and unless the cricket boards decide to shift their focus to Test cricket which is something very unlikely to happen given the fact that now even 50-overs games are being considered long enough and they might be replaced by 40-overs contest.

Harbhajan will of course become the most accomplished spin bowler in the world after the retirement of Murali but it doesn’t just not practically possible for anyone to overtake the record set by the champion Sri Lankan off-spinner.

In the same interview Murali has admitted that it would get increasingly difficult for spinners to chase his records.

"In the current scenario Test cricket is dying. One-day cricket does not have bright future. Only Twenty20 is going to survive. So it will be difficult for any slow bowler to survive so long," he said.

Harbhajan, undoubtedly, has been a class act all along but expecting him to think to go after the records set by Murali is not fair I think.

Murali and Harbhajan have remained the two top off-spinners of the world for quite sometime just as Shane Warne and Anil Kumble were the two best leg-spinners on the international scene for a long time.

With Warne and Kumble already having retired, Test cricket will become poorer with the exit of Murali. Harbhajan will be the senior most quality spin bowler on the international scene and it remains to be seen for how long he will be able to cope with the pressures of continuous cricket.

readmore »»

Shahid Afridi feels confidence level can help Pakistan immensely

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Encouraged by the success in both the Twenty20 Internationals the Pakistan captain Shahid Khan Afridi has a right to believe that his team can topple Australia in the upcoming two-Test series as well.

Pakistan and Australia will renew their Test rivalry at Lord's on July 13. The Aussies have had an outstanding record against Pakistan in the recent past but who will know it better than Shahid Afridi that history and reputation can be taken for a ride very quickly.

“I think now that we have regained our winning habit we must work harder to maintain it and make winning a habit. I knew sooner or later we will win back-to-back matches because we have been performing well since the Twenty20 World Cup but missed out in close matches," the Pakistan observed in an interview.

“Test cricket indeed different to the T20s. There is indeed a marked difference and we have to be aware of this but the good thing is that a win is a win in any form of the game and this series win should serve a confidence booster for us ahead of the Tests," he added.

"Obviously we will miss their experience. I wanted them in the team for this tour and I tried my best to see they were in the team but for different reasons this couldn't happen and it is unfortunate," he responded when asked about the absence of senior batsmen, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan.

Shahid Afridi, whose aggression in the field has been instrumental in lifting the spirits of his teammates, has backed his younger members of the side to grab the opportunity with both hands.

It remains to be seen if he manages to lift his boys in the Test matches like the way he did in the T20 matches. It’s a common belief that the shortest version of the game suits Pakistan both technically and temperamentally. Whether they would be able to improve in the Test arena is a big question mark despite the high confidence level.

The Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis, feels that his team can take a lot of confidence into the Test series.

"I think these two wins are really going to help us to get into the momentum. Test matches are a different ball game fair enough, but with victory behind you it always helps," he reckoned.

Nobody can dispute with Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis about the confidence level being sky high but realistically Pakistan need to play much more consistently to overpower Australia in the two-Test series.

Pakistan’s bowling resources appear adequate which gives them a very good chance of bowling Australia out two times during a match but what about putting runs on the board. We have seen on numerous occasions that the Pakistani batsmen are vulnerable to balls moving in the air or off the pitch.

The youngsters, having little experience of coming to terms with high quality pace and swing bowling, would be tested and it will be a big bonus if they come good in the English conditions.

readmore »»

Can Pakistan do it in Tests as well?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Well who would dare ruling Pakistan out of the Test series now after they have got the better of Australia in both the Twenty20 Internationals? Obviously there’s a world of difference between the two formats but there’s one thing called momentum which is very much with Shahid Afridi’s men at the moment.

No matter how inexperienced or shallow in strength they may look on paper I don’t think Pakistan are ever out of a contest until they are actually beaten. They have had this tendency of coming back from the dead and shocking their most fancied of rivals over the years.

Not many people back home demonstrated faith in the Pakistan team when it left the shores of the country to combat two of the strongest outfits in world cricket today, Australia and England in what was expected to be a forgettable summer.

But a lot has changed in a matter of just two days and Pakistan have suddenly come into the contention from nowhere.

“They are going to be tough opposition in the Test match. They' are going to have a very good attack, so our batters have to be at our best with the Duke ball that I'll imagine they'll get to swing, in conditions where, if it's overcast, it's going to be quite tough. I think we're in for a really good Test series,” Michael Clarke observed after his side was floored in both the T20 games at Edgbaston.

Clarke, who had led Australia to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean just a few weeks ago, sounded a warning to his teammates for the Tests after the drubbing in the shortest version of the game.

"If it's overcast here, I think they'll swing the ball nicely and they've got some pace as well. I think the Duke will help them. Conditions play a big part in England as to how much swing there is. If it's overcast there's generally a bit of swing the whole day. Hopefully the sun's out," Clarke, who will be the vice-captain to Ricky Ponting in the Test series, stated.

The Australians have had bitter experiences with the swing of the red Duke ball having caused considerable problems for their batsmen in the English conditions. They may not easily forget the banana swing in the summer of 2005 that had cost them the Ashes after a very long time.

The Pakistan fast bowlers may not possess that kind of experience or expertise of excelling in the English conditions as the likes of Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison had to rattle the Aussies but you never know when they exceed expectations.

After the debacle in the T20 series the Australians will not make the mistake of going into the Test series half-heartedly as one might have thought given the edge they enjoyed over Pakistan.

The Australians had whitewashed Pakistan in every format of the game at home last season but that seems to be history now.

readmore »»

Condon warns against complacency

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sir Paul Condon, having headed the ICC's new Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU) for nearly a decade, feels that cricket would only have to get complacent for a few months or a couple of tournaments for those bad days to come back very quickly.

“I am certainly not leaving in a complacent frame of mind that everything is hunky dory, but I believe it is a different game with different attitudes and a different awareness these days, so I am pretty confident about the future, even though there's far more cricket now and it's more commercial,” he said while preparing to hand over his duties to the former Northern Ireland police chief, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Condon, who had a seven-year stint as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, had been appointed the head of the ACSU in October 2000, reckoned that there has been a seismic shift in attitude from players towards fixing in the last 10 years.

“If we go back to those bad old days of the late 1990s, it's easy to forget that cricket was pretty much in crisis. Its credibility was in threat, and so was its commercial viability. Sponsors were pulling out because it was clear there had been a whole series of fixed matches in every form of the game, from Test cricket to World Cup tournaments,” he said in an interview.

“The corrupters were literally going into the changing rooms, and in some instances were influencing team selection and ordering what events should happen on the field. One player contacted, and was contacted by, a fixer several hundred times in the course of a Test match, and no matter how friendly you are with someone, that's just not something you'd do. Now we have a regime in place of no use of mobile phones, and controlled access to changing rooms,” Condon remarked.

“There were some initial moans, but on the whole the players have been very supportive. They are aware of what can go wrong, but it's in their interests not to get sucked in. There is a lot of legitimate money around cricket these days, and players know full well that they don't need to get drawn into grubby deals for US$20,000 here or there,” he added.

He predicted that it might not be possible to entirely eradicate fixing from the game of cricket.

"It is a wonderful game, but if you were designing a game to fix, you would design cricket, because it is a whole series of discreet events, and every ball you can bet on. You can't guarantee a throw-in or a free kick in soccer, but if you're a corrupt player, you can guarantee to do certain things at key moments and if you can bet on that you can make a lot of money. Corruption in any walk of life, whether it's politics or business or sport, is about human frailty and weakness, and opportunity. Most cricketers are totally sound in their integrity, but one or two still mix with the wrong people,” he explained.

He maintained that Twenty20 cricket represented the biggest challenge to the integrity of cricket for probably 10 years.

readmore »»