Kamran Abbasi
Twenty20 selection: Reasons unknown?
The best cricketers can perform in any version of the game and Yousuf is a top international batsman
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
I'll keep this short because I'm fed up of Pakistan's cricket administrators spreading dejection instead of hope.
1 Only last year Mohammad Yousuf broke a record belonging to Viv Richards. Now Yousuf is no Richards but he is the closest this Pakistan team will get. The best cricketers can perform in any version of the game and Yousuf is a top international batsman. His batting powers more than compensate for any fielding shortcomings. I'm baffled, he's shocked, and the selectors already sound confused.
2 Yousuf's replacement is Misbah-ul Haq, a player who often promises much in domestic cricket but fails to look the part on the international arena. As my colleague, Osman Samiuddin suggested, if a new batsman was required it should have been a new hope not an old has-been.
Full postRuin of The Razzler
A year ago contemplating a Pakistan Twenty20 team without Razzaq would have been beyond reason.
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The news from Pakistan's current training camp confirms an inconvenient truth about one of its most enigmatic players: Abdul Razzaq is failing to live up to expectations. The Razzler began with a hesitant bang in the 1999 World Cup when Wasim Akram had him batting at number three and bowling like an attacking bowler. Razzaq had an intriguing batting technique that saw him block his opponents like Chris Tavare before unleashing a violent assault worthy of Shahid Afridi.
Over the years he has developed into a destructive batsman in one-day cricket, left leg planted out outside leg stump followed by a true swing of his blade. And it is this assault technique that has kept him on the international scene for the decline in his bowling--from pacer to trundler--has rendered him impotent in Tests.
Pakistan's cricket fans have mostly hoped that Razzaq would pull it around. Despite his failure at Middlesex, his spinach-induced illness, and his infuriating bowling you imagined that Razzaq would wake from his reverie. He might still but at this moment he seems further from redemption than he has ever been.
Full postFast bowlers, Kerry Packer, and the power of role models
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Reading Mohammad Asif’s interview on Cricinfo—with his reference to the diet of the Punjab—reminded me that we are far from a convincing explanation for Pakistan’s relative abundance of fast bowlers compared with India. Asif’s explanation, which happens to be a common view among many people both sides of the border, is unsustainable. India and Pakistan are countries divided by a line drawn by humans not by dint of physical or dietary attributes. Indeed, India has had several bowlers who have periodically touched high speeds. Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar are examples.
I have an alternative theory: the power of the role model. In the early years Pakistan enjoyed the luxury of higher quality swing and seam bowling than might have been expected of the fledglings of world cricket. You couldn’t, however, have called them express pacemen. Sarfraz Nawaz, the godfather of reverse swing—and probably much else besides—was nothing more than fast medium from an enormous crazy-horse run. His rookie partner was a medium pace inswing bowler, Imran Khan.
When Imran and the other glitterati of Pakistan cricket joined Kerry Packer’s circus, they mixed with the game’s best and fastest bowlers. Clearly Imran was highly self-motivated and focused, but the Packer experience helped him understand the standard he and his country had to reach to compete at international level.
Full postHenry I, the Australian King of Pakistan
Now, by all accounts, Geoff "Henry" Lawson, has been chosen to wear the crown of thorns
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
When Bob Woolmer died, the world's media venomously declared that no foreigner would coach Pakistan again. Dr Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan board, prematurely decided on a local man. But when the shortlist was revealed, it exclusively comprised foreigners--all Australians. Dav Whatmore suffered the fate of a favourite; his enemies conspired to bring about his fall while rumours circulated that Pakistan's players would not like his hard work ethic.
Now, by all accounts, Geoff "Henry" Lawson, has been chosen to wear the crown of thorns. Being a classically tough Australian paceman, he might just relish the pricks he will encounter. Let's hope so. This is a time for optimism and good wishes.
Lawson's great strength is that he has made a success of leading with a positive attitude. Pakistan cricket has been least successful when in its defensive moods before Imran Khan and after Wasim Akram. His advantage over Pakistan's other foreign coaches--and his competitors this time around--is that he has most recently played international cricket. He also lives and breathes the Australian way, which has become the road all other cricket nations now seek.
Full postSaqlain's conversion of convenience
For Saqlain was once a spinner who held the world in his mesmeric grip
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
More and more of us enjoy an existence of divided loyalties. You might live in England or Australia but support India or Pakistan for reasons of birth or ancestry. With the same birth or ancestry you might support England or Australia. These are differences and preferences of the heart we should celebrate. It is possible to be a fully committed British citizen and support Pakistan at cricket.
When it comes to who you would play for the calculation becomes more pragmatic. Those same India and Pakistan supporters living in England, for example, would mostly jump at the chance of playing for England. It is already happening--and rightly their loyalties switch quickly and emphatically to their country of residence.
Some talented cricketers are groomed in one country and then switch loyalties to another, taking up their qualification rights at the start of their international careers. Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Symonds are two recent examples. If you have a choice at the start of your international career, then lucky you.
Full postWADA and out: no winners in the drugs scandal
Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif can heave a massive sigh of relief
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif can heave a massive sigh of relief. You can be sure that if their case had been heard at the Court for Arbitration for Sport their plea of ignorance would not have been received sympathetically.
In truth, though, there are no winners. Shoaib and Asif will have to endure snide remarks for the rest of their careers. The ICC has been shown to be impotent beyond events that it officially organises, a sorry state for a sport's governing body. WADA flexed its muscles and discovered that they are no bigger than those puny bumps possessed by Montgomery Burns. And the PCB has bizarrely claimed a triumph when it set off this whole farce with a badly executed hearing and then staged a pantomime over the appearance of Shoaib and Asif in the World Cup.
There is no place for performance-enhancing drugs in sport but we don't want miscarriages of justice either. The PCB, ICC, and WADA have all contributed to this failure of process. It can't be allowed to happen again but it will unless all three organisations make sure their processes are aligned.
Full postIfs and Butts
Now the young man is vice-captain, a tribute to his potential both as a player and as a thinking cricketer
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
I was lucky enough to watch Salman Butt on debut. The immediate observation was this was a young player with a tremendous amount of time and hence--almost paradoxically--able to play the ball wonderfully late. A bright future as Pakistan's star opener beckoned. Since then Salman has delighted and dumbfounded. Some of his best efforts have come against Australia while last summer he was sent home early from England after a disappointing tour.
Now the young man is vice-captain, a tribute to his potential both as a player and as a thinking cricketer. Youth must have its day, of course, but there seems to be an unseemly haste about his appointment. Salman is yet to secure his place in the team. There are many other not-so-old candidates knocking around (and I go back to my advocacy of the two vice-captain theory). And the signal that the PCB is trying to send out with his appointment is a needless one.
Salman Butt's most valuable role for Pakistan is as a formidable opener. The vice-captaincy is a trifling thing that can be gifted and withdrawn on a whim. It is not a guaranteed route to the captaincy. This latest wonder of decision making may create unnecessary pressure, and harm Salman the Batsman and ironically Salman the Future Captain.
Full postDav's the man
Dav's the man from this Australian shortlist, but as usual the PCB has managed to supervise the process in such a way that you wonder how they ruled out some of the other promising candidates?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Pakistan's coaching saga is possibly rushing towards a dramatic conclusion. I say 'possibly' because few predictions can be made with certainty in the realm of Pakistan cricket. Yet the final shortlist looks to be of three Australians, albeit one of them is of Sri Lankan origin. The subtext is that the PCB has decided a foreign coach is the answer to Pakistan's woes, a view I find perplexing since the prime imperative should be to appoint the best candidate from wherever. Bob Woolmer's major difficulty was that he was unable to get under the skin of the players' culture and hence it became possible to marginalise his influence.
Of the three remaining candidates--and you might reasonably ask what became of Aaqib Javed, Tim Boon, and Javed Miandad?--the man for the job has to be Dav Whatmore. He knows the Australian way but he also knows Asia. He has succeeded with both Sri Lanka (World Cup winners) and Bangladesh (World Cup giant killers) in different ways. He has yet to coach one of Asia's big two but the leap should not be beyond him. Indeed, it is a great time to coach Pakistan with a young captain and young team ready to be shaped into something more substantial.
Dav's the Man from this Australian shortlist, but as usual the PCB has managed to supervise the process in such a way that you wonder how they ruled out some of the other promising candidates? Dav Whatmore, welcome to the whacky world of Pakistan cricket.
Full postTo sue or not to sue, an unworthy question
Now that the Jamaican police have reversed their verdict on Bob Woolmer's death his family can complete the mourning process
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Speculation about the possible cause of a high-profile death never ends and it my just be the trigger for a legal dispute--take the example of Princess Diana whose family endured a further television documentary this week. Unreasonable media intrusion or reasonable public interest? It is a debate that forces polarisation.
Now that the Jamaican police have reversed their verdict on Bob Woolmer's death his family can complete the mourning process. And if anybody should sue for damages it should be them, although you suspect they will have too much dignity to begin down that road.
This blog doesn't have a great record of agreeing with Nasim Ashraf and disagreeing with Imran Khan but on this occasion I say Chairman Ashraf has made the right call. While a gut reaction does urge some kind of retribution for the way Pakistan's players were publicly vilified--and the British media, even some 'thoughtful' broadsheet writers, were some of the worst--the sensible response is to let the matter rest. If nothing else then out of respect for Bob's family.
Full postThe Afro-Asia Cup: An exercise in futility
Cricket's administrators are already in disrepute yet they remain shameless
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
This has been a miserable year for cricket.
Bob Woolmer's death--murder or natural causes--has been horribly compounded by the pitiful charade played out by policemen, pathologists, and journalists speculating on the cause of death. Being uncertain about cause of death is not a new phenomenon. Doctors and pathologists in a hospital near you are inevitably dealing with the same confusion, even about patients that had every pulse and breath monitored closely for days prior to death. Imposing certainty on medical practice is an exercise in futility. From the facts released to the public I don't think it is possible to know how Bob died, which makes you wonder why his body was released for cremation before the issue was settled?
The World Cup was probably the worst in history, a consequence of greed and myopia that engulfed the ICC and the host organising committee. A World Cup that meanders on and on without the home team and their spectators joining the party is a blow to cricket as a major international sport. Another exercise in futility. Even Australia's brilliance wasn't properly rewarded when the final ended in farce.
Full post