Kamran Abbasi
WADA: less hectoring, more supervision, better evidence
Thank you all for a tremendoud debate on this important issue
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Thank you all for a tremendoud debate on this important issue. Understandably it has sharply divided opinion. It will continue to do so.
Some of you are disappointed and angry by my claim that justice has been done. My interpretation of justice is that it has two elements. First, a due process. Second, a just outcome arising from that due process. In this case, the process involved setting a board policy, educating players, monitoring their drug status, and then hearing both sides of the argument at the first tribunal. Each stage of that process was flawed (see entries in 'The drugged cricketer' category). That taken with the scientific problems with ascribing causation to the presence of nandrolone in urine (a situation that I believe is a major problem for WADA and one that it owes it to the world's premier athletes to resolve) and the players' insistence that they did not take nandrolone are sufficient reasons to give the players the benefit of the doubt.
In any organisation people look to blame those below them. It is a major failing of WADA's stance. Whatever the circumstances, the ultimate blame lies with the cricketers or athletes or tennis players, says WADA. This simplistic and idealistic view takes no account of ground realitites such as the education of sportspeople, the support they receive from their governing body, or the drug and product licensing and validation regulations in each country. A rigid policy does not even contemplate the doubts about scientific evidence. It for these reasons that sportspeople have been able to argue, with the support of lawyers, that they are innocent. WADA needs to understand that in the world of medicine and science certainty is a preciously rare commodity.
Let's take the example of medicines and other herbal products in the world's poorer countries, some of which happen to be big players in the world of cricket. The World Health Organization has a major concern over the licensing and manufacture of medicines in poorer countries. Globally, ten per cent of drugs are thought to be fake with far higher percentages in poorer countries. There are international guidelines but these countries do not have the infrastructure or the financial resources to implement them.
Full postJustice is done
Kamran Abbasi supports the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs from sport but the authorities need to produce better diagnostic tests and stronger evidence to support the validity of their tests
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Shoaib Akhtar says he can breathe again but so can Pakistan's prospects of lifting next year's World Cup. Despite a noble effort by Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir, Pakistan's bowling has a toothless look to it without its premier fast bowlers. Shoaib and Mohammad Asif are capable of taking wickets on any track, a priceless commodity. Welcome back.
Much will be made of their bans being overturned. I can hear the clamour already: "What do you expect from Pakistan cricket, every rule will be bent to protect their star players." Well, my view is that it is better for justice to be done than for the players to be the victims of a witch-hunt. And, let's be clear, several top stars have successfully pleaded a defence in this situation but with higher levels of nandrolone in their urine, take Greg Rusedski for example. The central problem with nandrolone, to my mind, is that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to end or harm any sportsman's career on the basis of it being found in a urine sample. I fully support the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs from sport but clearly the drugs authorities need to work harder to produce better diagnostic tests and stronger evidence to support the validity of their tests. Nandrolone is a particular problem.
These issues were complicated further by the ramshackle way in which Pakistan players were instructed about drugs. Inevitably there will be denials about the quality of information and the level of supervision that the players received but anybody who has glimpsed the inner workings of Pakistan cricket knows that there is face validity to the findings of the tribunal.
The problem with any hearing that attempts to be fair is that a proportion of people who are guilty will be found to be innocent. Better that, though, than the other way round. In this case, my view is that there was sufficient doubt about the method of raising awareness among players and the process of testing--and further doubt about the wickedness of the players' intentions--for them to be found not guilty. A bad process invariably produces a bad result, which was the outcome of the first hearing.
Full postAfridi out: a triumph of stupidity
Shahid Afridi out
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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This is a World Cup year. Pakistan are about to play their final home one-day series before that tournament. The campaign needs to be relaunched with a sense of optimism and an aura of positivity. Conditions in Pakistan are likely to be closer to the West Indies than conditions in South Africa will be.
Your star player, your talisman, your aggressor, your match-winner needs to rediscover his confidence. A combination of the West Indian attack and home conditions are an ideal formula to reinvigorate your champion and your campaign. The decision looks straightforward. The selectors, though, leave him out. Shahid Afridi out? The mind boggles and the logic wobbles. Nice one. Another triumph of stupidity from the men who want to be paid to do an important job badly.
Full postYousuf's humility deserves the record
Forty-seven runs separate MohammadYousuf from the top spot, an unlikely opportunity for a man once known for his lazy elegance
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Mohammad Yousuf stands on the threshold of history. Today--barring a stunning fightback from the West Indian tail, an unusually fruitful opening partnership from Pakistan, or freakish weather--Mr MoYo will get his chance to break Vivian Richards' record of most runs in a calendar year. Forty-seven runs separate Yousuf from the top spot, an unlikely opportunity for a man once known for his lazy elegance. There is, of course, nothing remotely laid back about his approach now. Yousuf has replaced lazy elegance with lofty elegance. He is a batsman who makes hard work look easy. He has shown that you can mix cricket with religion--each to his own I say. And his recent display of humility and insight has nudged me into rooting for him to take the record, despite my personal estimation that no batsman has ever matched King Viv.
Yousuf dealt with this particular comparison expertly by stating his own reverance for cricket's greatest master blaster. I agree with Yousuf: there is no comparison.
The second comparison foisted upon Yousuf is the one Inzamam-ul Haq discussed in his newspaper column. Yousuf, said Inzy, is the best ever Pakistani batsman, better than Javed Miandad, and better than Inzy too. Can this be true?
Full postThe science behind Ponting's decision
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
In one of this blog's irregular forays into foreign territory, allow me to apply a different Pak Spin to the interpretation of Ricky Ponting's decision not to enforce the follow-on in Brisbane.
Cricket Australia, unlike the Pakistan Cricket Board for example, has been monitoring injuries in domestic and international cricket for over a decade. All credit to the people working on this research programme. One of the conclusions of that research--see Cricket Australia's Injury Report 2005--is that enforcing the follow-on in international matches can increase the risk of injuries to bowlers.
Full postIs there a twist to Sami's tale?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Mohammad Sami, who most people want to bowl like the wind, has lived through something of a twister in the past few months. He began the England tour as Pakistan's premier (fully fit) fast bowler and ended it as if he had ended his international career. He watched helplessly as he was first overlooked for the Champions Trophy--even once Shoaib and Asif returned in shame--and then was bypassed for the West Indies series. With nowhere to go, Imran Khan's most advocated bowler, hit some form in domestic cricket. In England, Sami had lost his fire and his confidence. But the logic of his late introduction into the squad is that he is certain to play, otherwise why bother?
Sami is a cat who has had his nine lives. This is an unexpected opportunity for the lost Pakistani paceman. His selection, though, sends several signals. First, Sami has been rewarded for a blip of form in domestic cricket. Second, the Pakistan coach and captain have little faith in Samiullah Niazi, else why call up Sami? Third, there is no real talent waiting to burst through and lead the Pakistan bowling attack, else why not experiment now? And finally--and this is a possibility I find most fascinating--perhaps the selectors don't need to blood anybody new because Asif and/or Shoaib will be returning sooner than expected.
Sami, though, needs to send some signals of his own. The smoke that rises from Karachi must say: "I am Mohammad Sami, Pakistan's lost paceman. I have returned with fire in my belly, passion in my heart. My mind is focused, my thinking clear. I will release the shackles that have bound me. I am Mohammad Sami unbound, Pakistan's rediscovered champion. I have returned as Sami the Spearhead not Sami the Sloth. West Indies must beware and Lara will tremble." It might be a long shot but hope is eternal. Is there a final twist to Sami's tale?
Full postThe nervous 190s: a nice problem to have
When Mohammad Yousuf grew his beard he also grew in stature
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
When Mohammad Yousuf grew his beard he also grew in stature. His stunning performance this year places him second only to Vivian Richards, a batsman so great that it seems indecent that anybody might surpass him. Another 149 runs at Karachi and Yousuf will nudge ahead of King Viv's record of 1710 runs in a calendar year.
Before any of you point out that more Test cricket is played these days, Viv set his record in 19 innings, Yousuf is on 17. Whether or not Yousuf's transformation from a gifted wastrel into a grafting wonder is anything to do with his religious conversion is a moot point and something that it will never be possible to prove convincingly. But it is clear that Yousuf has become a phenomenon.
With Inzamam's dip in form in Test cricket, Yousuf has emerged as a serene and silky leader of Pakistan's middle order. His batting has acquired a surreal quality whereby his calm state of mind dominates proceedings. Yousuf's touch and timing is such that his bat caresses and kisses the ball to the boundary, a sharp contrast to the wonderful brutality of Viv Richards.
Full postAll right now for Pakistan's openers
The opening slot has been Pakistan's most troublesome, and in the recent past has been hogged by a series of left-handers, the legacy of watching Saeed Anwar and Brian Lara
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The opening slot has been Pakistan's most troublesome, and in the recent past has been hogged by a series of left-handers, the legacy of watching Saeed Anwar and Brian Lara. Unfortunately for Pakistan, no left-hander has hinted at permanency. Salman Butt has lots of time to play his shots. Taufeeq Umar is sometimes capable of great application. And Imran Farhat looks the most accomplished--but only before he gets anywher near the crease for an international match. The failure of openers has been held as the biggest failure of Bob Woolmer. The reasons are complex. There is plentiful ability but inadequate learning. Cricket, as we all know, is a game of the mind as much as it is a game of hand and eye. It may be time for the rule of the left to give way to the might of the right.
One half of the problem, at least, looks to be solved. Mohammad Hafeez has been impressive and influential since his return to international cricket and has quickly established himself as the more secure of Pakistan's openers. Hafeez has shown the right attitude, a willingness to scrap when he needs to.
This strength of Hafeez has been a failing of Imran. Pakistan's most frequent opener is an impressive and stylish cricketer. He has an astonishing array of attacking strokes with which he can seize the initiative in a trice. But he can lose it just as quickly. Imran is only ever a moment away from madness. He has squandered a glorious start too often with a needless swish or a hopeless swipe.
Perhaps the sad conclusion is that this talented young man does not have the right mindset for international cricket. Whether he plays at Multan or not, Imran must be running out of chances. The return of Yasir Hameed is imminent. A right-handed opening combination of the two Hs, Hafeez and Hameed, is the one Pakistan must try out quickly. It is one that could do the job in both forms of cricket. Yasir's aggression might well compliment Hafeez's application.
Full post"Stupid Indian" is racist, Mr Sutherland
You might wonder why Pak Spin has strayed into foreign territory but I have two dogs in this fight
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
You might wonder why Pak Spin has strayed into foreign territory but I have two dogs in this fight. First, I'm a British Asian like Monty. Second, calling somebody a "stupid Indian" is abuse that crosses national boundaries simply because it is more about colour, culture, and religion than it is about nationality. If the Australian who abused Monty had called him "stupid" or a "stupid Brit/Pom/Steelback" he might have just about got away with it. But the reference to Monty's Indian roots is a reference to race and I'm afraid, Mr Sutherland, that it is a racist comment.
On the same day that the UK minister for sport urged a war on racism, in the same sport that, according to the ICC, has a zero tolerance policy towards racism, and on the back of an embarrassing tour by South Africa, it is highly improper for the chief executive of Cricket Australia to dismiss the racist taunts at Monty Panesar as "not too much racist."
James Sutherland owes Monty and the England team an apology. He also owes the ICC an explanation. Let's hope one is demanded of him.
Full postWhy a rush to judgment for Shoaib and Asif?
"Rush to Judgment" might be the title of a book about the conspiracies surrounding the assassination of JFK, but it's a phrase that also neatly sums up the first hearing into the alleged drug use by Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
"Rush to Judgment" might be the title of a book about the conspiracies surrounding the assassination of JFK, but it's a phrase that also neatly sums up the first hearing into the alleged drug use by Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Now that lawyers have been called in by all sides--an eminent one by Shoaib, an English one by the PCB, and an ex-cricketer by Asif--the process has inevitably been slowed down. The fact that Shoaib's lawyer is asking for more information from the PCB underscores the point that he and Asif were underrepresented at the first hearing. The fact that the PCB has appointed its own lawyer makes you wonder about the neutrality of the appeal hearing? And the fact that both players are currently banned makes you wonder what the rush is all about?
Amid this flurry of legal activity, the credibility of the first hearing is eroding by the minute.
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