Kamran Abbasi
England step into Pakistan's shoes, as Pakistan step back
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
This week's England controversy was an amusing one for Pakistan fans. I'm unconvinced by the argument that Kevin Pietersen had to go because his views were leaked by the media, especially as he does seem to have had the support of much of the England team. Imagine Pakistan players being sacked, forced to resign, or disciplined each time their views were leaked to the media? There wouldn't be a player left to select.
Nonetheless, the ECB managed to perform a decent impression of the PCB by turning a containable scandal into a gargantuan crisis, unsettling the team, and losing a promising captain.
Full postLorgat's faux pas is a demonstration of weakness
The world of international cricket is already too small to bear the loss of emerging nations like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and established ones like Pakistan
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
India's unfortunate decision to cancel their tour of Pakistan is a serious blow to cricket in South Asia. The decision is a political one, and one I believe to be incorrect. Perpetrators of atrocities will be encouraged by the political divisions they create. Disharmony and conflict sustain them.
Cricketers and cricket fans have often shown that the regional instinct for friendship is greater than the desire to destroy each other. The only glimmer of hope is that the Indian government sees the wisdom in friendship but has judged the mood of its people will not tolerate a sporting encounter with Pakistan just yet.
Full postUnited we stand
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Cricket is a shared love of the people of South Asia but we share much more than cricket. I say this on my return from a conference of the South Asian Health Foundation, a UK charitable organisation that seeks to improve the health of the South Asian community. It is an organisation that I am fond of, and not just because I am one of the patrons. Each gathering includes many representatives of all South Asian nations and religions, yet we are never divided by nationality or religion. Instead, we stand united in seeking a better life for people who share our background.
This easy unity fills me with hope that even this horrendous week cannot destroy what the people of South Asia share, for what we have in common far outweighs our differences. Outside the fevered atmosphere of South Asia, the passion that surrounds those differences seems nonsensical and horribly misguided. Indeed, all South Asian nations are now victims of barbaric violence. We fight a common enemy: the murderers who seek to divide us.
Full postMiandad, Qadir, and Sohail: Can they do it?
While you might question the CVs of Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, and Aamer Sohail for their respective roles, you cannot doubt their passion for the success of Pakistan cricket
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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If you believe Pakistan cricket has recently failed to stand up for itself, expect all that to change. While you might question the CVs of Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, and Aamer Sohail for their respective roles, you cannot doubt their passion for the success of Pakistan cricket. In these troubled times, a little passion might go a long way towards breathing some fire into the bellies of Pakistan's cricketers.
Miandad's selection as Director-General is an unexpected one. Apart from some uncertainty about the role itself, Miandad could never be classified as an administrator. Yet he brings an attitude that will put Pakistan cricket on the offensive. He has already suggested that the ban on ICL players is unacceptable--a typical Miandad skirmish. Expect more.
Now that Pakistan cricket has a viable neutral venue to host international cricket--and the possibility of adding England to its list of hosts--the PCB can afford to be more bullish in negotiations with other cricket boards, the ICC, and broadcasters.
Full postTwo Pakistans, one result
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Two small ripples in world cricket were earth shaking in this solemn year for Pakistan cricket. The prospect of seeing one Pakistan team in action has been unlikely enough but like Lahore rickshaws on Mall Road, two came along at once.
In the end, it was tough to decide which victory was more satisfying? A three-nil sweep of West Indies signalled that the official Pakistan team might have some fight in it yet, even if that fight is on foreign shores. Meanwhile, Pakistan's administrative exiles, the Lahore Badshahs, reminded us why Pakistan cricket had become known for its random brilliance.
For me, the thrill of Imran Nazir's century was hard to match, and the joy on his face tipped the balance in favour of the Badshahs. Nazir was once predicted a bright future by Viv Richards. That future never materialised but his record-breaking innings reminded us why King Viv was fooled like the rest of us.
Full postPakistan's rusty millionaires
It's been a barren few months
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
It's been a barren few months. While India has stormed to the top of world cricket, Pakistan has almost been blasted out of it. In the course of those mad months, Pakistan has not only lost any hope of hosting regular international cricket, but it has also lost two of its most precious stars, Mohammads Yousuf and Asif.
These are deep, perhaps irreperable wounds, made more painful by a self-destructing start from Pakistan's new cricket administration. Ejaz Butt and Intikhab Alam might excite the sweet sellers of Pakistan but they do little to sweeten the vast majority of Pakistan cricket fans.
Yet, where there is life there is hope. And Pakistan meander back onto the international stage today, forced to relaunch their international programme on neutral territory. I don't care. It's great to see Pakistan's team back in proper international competition. They will thrill and disappoint in equal measure. They will lose as much as they will win. But we can gladly return to some cricketing drama because we've had our fill of the political and administrative catastrophe.
Pakistan's cricketers often play like millionaires, rash strokes and wild deliveries produced with such regularity that they might have been practising them. In this tournament they will be rusty, and the verdict may depend on the hunger of the newly-made millionaires in the West Indian team.
Full postMalik's unholy redemption
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
It seems there is no limit to the wonky logic that pervades Pakistan's cricket administration. The decision to lift the ban on Saleem Malik was barely supported by a whisper of reasonable argument. If that wasn't unprincipled enough, the Pakistan Cricket Board looks to have endorsed his redemption by appointing him head coach of the national academy.
Malik was a magical cricketer, sublime wrists and an eagle's eye made him a joy to watch. Imran Khan labelled him a flat-track bully but Malik outgrew those jibes to become a batsmen for a crisis. Yet he became the biggest victim of Pakistan's match-fixing inquiry, a career ended prematurely in disgrace.
Full postPlayed none, lost none, you're fired
The stats speak for themselves: Pakistan haven't played a single Test match this year
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The stats speak for themselves: Pakistan haven't played a single Test match this year. In these circumstances you might wonder how the coach could have failed. But failed he has, according to the scapegoat logic of the new Pakistan Cricket Board regime. True, it is hard to say that Geoff Lawson succeeded, but it is equally hard to say that he has failed. The evidence is insufficient for either argument to be tenable. Hence, the treatment of Lawson is one of the most diabolical chapters in the painful modern history of Pakistan cricket.
If that wasn't enough, his replacement is likely to be Intikhab Alam, a man whose coaching days ended before many of the current generation of Pakistan fans were born. Indeed, how much he "coached" in the modern sense is open to question. Turning to Alam is a further sign that the PCB is without imaginative solutions, and without any understanding of what today's professional sports administration requires.
Full postDebate for the future 3: Button it Mr Butt
The chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board holds a mesmeric attraction for glory seekers
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board holds a mesmeric attraction for glory seekers. Each time a new head is appointed, the great unwashed hope that a man with wisdom, ideas, integrity, and discretion is chosen. Invariably, we are disappointed.
A particularly worrying prognostic factor has been the desire of a new chairman to share each half-baked opinion with the peoples of the world.
PCB chairmen seem to forget that in our web 2.0 society, every utterance is broadcast around the planet in milliseconds. Perhaps I misjudge these men of verbal diarrhoea? They are probably doing it deliberately to extract every morsel of attention that they can from us dumbstruck souls.
Full postDebate for the future 2: The English option
I have never been a fan of neutral venues but the predicament of Pakistan cricket calls for pragmatism
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
I have never been a fan of neutral venues but the predicament of Pakistan cricket calls for pragmatism. Pakistan's cricketers require regular international competition. Another year of desolation, like 2008, may condemn Pakistan cricket to a slippery slope that cannot be climbed.
Hence, Pakistan must embrace neutral venues for countries unwilling to travel there.
The second question, however, is where to play. The dustbowls of the Gulf create a depressing, energy-sapping version of Test cricket that is no advancement on playing in Pakistan.
Full post