Omar Kureishi

I learnt the fine art of fruit-picking when I was a student at the University of Southern California

When I used to cover cricket as a reporter, there was the obligatory curtain-raiser, the scene and scenery and some weighty words on the wicket and how it was likely to play

There is, first of all, the slight matter of thanking the Pakistan Cricket Board for conferring on me the honour of naming the media centre of the Qadhafi Stadium after me

Under the lights, the team bowling second was clearly at a disadvantage because of the dew factor and in Lahore, the lights had also attracted dragon-flies, moths and other flying insects

Just as well that New Zealand beat India, otherwise the Pakistan cricket public would have crucified its team

There is the possibility that we might see a Pakistan-India final in the ICC Knockout tournament in Nairobi and should that happen, both teams will have deserved to get there, judging by their performance so far

I have been closely associated with two games, cricket and squash and it has been my good fortune, indeed a privilege, that I count among my friends, two of the greatest players of these two games, Imran Khan and Jahangir Khan

Two sad moments in cricket, one sadder than the other

I attended a function organised by the Brotherhood Society to present Wasim Bari with a gold medal for his services to cricket

Pakistan has won the Test series against Sri Lanka with an emphasis that would suggest a no-contest

I watched the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test match as a part of professional duty and the West Indies-England test match for pleasure

There seemed little doubt that Pakistan was the best team in the Asia Cup in Dhaka and for a change handled the pressure of being 'favourite' without either getting complacent or choking

As I write this, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will meet in the final of the Asia Cup

The emergency meeting of the ICC was, as expected, full of sound and fury but the bottom-line was that it signified nothing

I am writing this on the eve of ICC's emergency meeting on match-fixing

We must learn to accept defeat but this does not mean that we should make a habit of losing

We must accept at the face-value Wasim Akram's decision to voluntarily step down as captain though I would have tried to persuade him that the team needed him not only as a player but as the skipper particularly since Pakistan is re-building its team

Both the test series and the Carlton & United triangular have been very poor advertisements for Australian umpires and indeed the ICC match-referees

There is, first of all, the matter of Wasim Akram's 400 (plus) wickets in one day internationals

Ex-test cricketers used to be like fading film stars, living off memories and hard pressed to make two ends meet