Kamran Abbasi

Just when I thought it was safe to hibernate for a month, Pakistan cricket reminds us that its stupidity knows no bounds. This is a little tricky to write since I know the people involved but there are a few of points I can make quite clearly:

1 I know Bob. I find it difficult to believe that he is racist, even if he is would he call somebody a "Blackie"? The only people I've ever heard use that word I'm afraid are people from South Asia. It reminds of the time I was done for a driving offence and the policemen read out a statement that he said he had taken from me which used language I knew I would never use.

2 I know the sports editor of Dawn. I find it difficult to believe that he would publish a piece without something to back it up. The quality of Dawn's sports pages has improved no end over the last eight months or so.

Well done to South Africa. They have outbatted, outbowled, outfielded, and out-committed Pakistan. Having said that, the way Pakistan have played most of this series it wouldn't have taken much to do so. The fact that South Africa have been exceptional has added to Pakistan's embarrassment. Indeed, the last two games have been a complete shambles.

Pakistan give the impression of a team without spirit, strategy, or spine. They are going backwards in all departments. This is as dejected as I've ever felt before a World Cup campaign and I've been lucky enough to witness all of them. Pakistan's progress from the last World Cup looks at the moment to be precisely zero. In a month's time, in different conditions, it might be a different story. That would be typical of Pakistan and they certainly have the players to turn it around. But when the failures are so abject and so persistent I worry about the leadership.

Bob and Inzy need to invigorate their troops, inspire them to greater heights, make them fight for every moment of their existence. The current Pakistan team looks lethargic, uninspired, and unwilling to fight. Worst of all the whole show looks unprofessional. If day in day out I was letting down 160 million people at home and many millions more abroad, I'd be embarrassed. Indeed, my shame might drive me to fight for those millions of people rooting for me.

Where is the shame? We need to know it's there, because I tell you boys there's plenty of embarrassment out there. Pakistan were once famous for being cornered tigers but they are now frightened rabbits. Where is the shame boys? Where is the pride? You might carry it in your hearts but you also need to wear it on your sleeves.

In a few hours the World Cup squad will be announced and something has been bothering me since we started the debate on who should be in and who out. What's bothering me is this: Pakistan's bowling attack can have a toothless look to it, particularly if Shoaib Akhtar is injured--and who knows what might happen if Asif's niggle becomes more serious?

One of the reasons Pakistan won in 1992 and Australia won in 1999 was that a legspinner was a threat in the middle of the innings. It wasn't a case of the opposition milking the bowling, instead they had to bat for their lives. Some commentators--including many of you on this blog--have called for Kaneria to be selected. Given the uncertainty with Pakistan's other wicket-taking bowlers, I'd say that the clamour for Kaneria is a just one. This might spell bad news for Abdur Rehman or Azhar Mahmood, but I'd make one essential change to my squad and Kaneria would make the cut. Let's hope he's there. Defending against Kaneria in Test cricket has been possible but attacking him in the one-day game might be a different matter altogether.

Kaneria has been a conundrum. He should have been tried earlier. Some of you will say that this is a mark of my insanity or evidence of my desperation but Kaneria could be the matchwinner that Pakistan's bowlers can rally around. Will Bari, Bob, and Inzy do it?

Pakistan's performance today was of a team with nothing to fight for. It was the kind of effort--a complacent one--you might have feared the day after the World Cup squad is announced not two days before it. The batsmen played with a bizarre timidity and lack of application that left the bowlers nothing to defend. The pitch was not the minefield that Pakistan seemed to be imagining it to be. Of course, South Africa bowled and fielded magnificently but that is the kind of fielding effort that needs to be overcome to win the World Cup.

If Pakistan's selectors were seeking some kind of signal as to what to do they didn't get it. Instead, what is clear is that with a month to go before the World Cup, Pakistan have problems. And the main one is this: while Pakistan teams are known for their unpredictability, the performance of this group of players fluctuates so wildly that it is hard to imagine how they could put together a consistent enough run to lift the trophy. Wind back to 1992 or 1999 and Pakistan teams might have come a cropper here and there leading up to the World Cup but they were able to put together sequences of victories that made them genuine challengers.

One reason for this current pattern though is the dramatic variation in personnel through injury. Any success that Woolmer and Inzy have had was forged through consistency of selection but this South African tour has been a joke with players shuttling between South Africa and Pakistan as if it were a commuter trip.

Pakistan and South Africa might not have played much international cricket against each other but when it comes to controversy they are sure making up for the Apartheid years. Now Shahid Afridi will sit out the rest of the one-day series cursing his stupidity. Whatever provocation he received from the spectator - and Chris Broad was right to speak to Cricket South Africa about the abuse of Afridi - there is no excuse for thrusting a cricket bat at anybody.

Afridi's behaviour was dangerous and irresponsible and he deserves to pay the price. But at the same time he also deserves to play in Pakistan's World Cup campaign, which luckily begins with two official World Cup warm-up matches. This means that Afridi could well be available for the opening encounter of this year's World Cup, the match against West Indies, if the warm-up matches count. At worst, Afridi will miss only one crucial World Cup match, the other being against Ireland.

Afridi, like any good spinner, is maturing with age and the spin option he offers means that he has more than one reason to be in the team. Pakistan should back him for the World Cup as a bowling allrounder with the ability to turn a match on its head with bat and sometimes ball. The wickets in West Indies should suit him.

Darrell Hair is at it again. Creating a fuss, drawing attention to himself, and generally displaying the indignation of the most righteous man in the world of cricket. But self-righteous is the word that best describes Mr Hair, because the majority of people do not share his view of how we was treated.

Anybody who was involved with events at The Oval knows that Mr Hair was the man responsible for the ball-tampering verdict against Pakistan, Mr Hair was the man who stopped the match from being resumed despite requests from cricket boards and the ICC, and it was Mr Hair who was the senior umpire taking responsibility for the decision-making.

There was a moment when Pakistan's one-day series could have got even worse, and it happened early on. Kamran Akmal had been trapped LBW, shouldering arms, and the pressure was on Imran Nazir on his overdue return to international cricket.

The pitch was bouncy and South Africa were keen to test his mettle. Imran responded by pulling every short ball that came his way. With venom and a strong bottom-hand, he plays an exciting pull shot. A Pakistani batsman was prepared to go toe to toe with South Africa's fast bowlers, and crucially he did it with confidence and skill. In fact little has changed about Imran's approach except that he looks more in control.

Now is the time for anguish, pain, inquisition. When cricketers underperform we see their sins laid before us, especially if we've managed to acquire ourselves a high-definition widescreen television. Yet it's the men who scurry around in the shadows that worry me. Most Pakistan supporters had hoped for a regime that would stabilise the international team. Events have conspired against the current cricket board, of course, but the last few months have produced more questions than answers. Here are some issues that are troubling me:

1 Dr Nasim Ashraf promised: "By the start of the new year, I want the board to turn a new leaf and work under the new constitution." Where is it?

Back in September of last year, despite Hairgate and despite players returning from injury, Pakistan's World Cup formula was looking near-perfect. Few people could have imagined what followed but Pakistan approach this crucial one-day series with a formula that keeps being scribbled on the blackboard, rubbed out, and created anew. This cannot be a happy situation with the World Cup a few weeks away.

Obviously, there are myriad reasons why Pakistan find themselves in this predicament. Yet Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul Haq must decide quickly on the combination that wil best serve Pakistan in the Caribbean. Autralia, who might have been in turmoil with players retiring, are reinvigorated. Whereas of the possible pretenders to the title, India and South Africa look to be striding forward while Pakistan are regressing.

Unlike some commentators I enjoy 20/20 cricket, a form of the game that is closest to the one played by most amateurs. We mustn't be snobbish about it. But we mustn't overinterpret the recent result either. Pakistan essentially fielded six players who had been either twiddling their thumbs or returning from injury. The early conditions didn't help. And the crash, bang, wallop of 20/20 can be dominated by a couple of stellar performances.

It is hard to imagine that the substantial partnership of Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul Haq will see another Test match. One or both will certainly be gone before Pakistan rejoin the battle later this year.

Now is the time for a verdict, and it is this: Pakistan have improved steadily under their leadership, from a position of near free-fall Pakistan are battling for second place. The home citadel--overrun too frequently in the past--has been strengthened once more. Indeed, the subcontinent has become a field of success for Pakistan. Great work.

But the litmus test of any Pakistan side is how it fares in Australia, England, and South Africa. In all three arenas Pakistan have failed--althought the failure in South Africa was a narrow one. The biggest cause for concern is the one that Imran Khan loves to trot out and that is the failure of openers.

This is a harsh judgement--and I have great fondness for both of them and many of the failings are not theirs but the system--yet in the eyes of history the bare unmitigated results will stand out and shout their verdict: great job, could have done better.