Kamran Abbasi
Good riddance to Calamity Butt
Ijaz Butt is a miracle man. It was a miracle that he survived so long, and a greater miracle that Pakistan cricket survived him
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Ijaz Butt is a miracle man. It was a miracle that he survived so long, and a greater miracle that Pakistan cricket survived him. One consolation from Butt's reign of blunders is an appreciation that Pakistan cricket is a resilient enterprise, capable of withstanding any number of escapades at the precipice of destruction. Butt's failed suicide mission has affirmed that Pakistan cricket's demise will only come with the demise of the country.
Under Butt's half-seeing eye, each routine incident became a crisis, every disaster a calamity. Butt treated a national obsession with utter contempt, yet that obsession is so compulsive that it will endure thanks to the passion of players and supporters. When the Test series begins in Abu Dhabi next week, with one Butt gone and another Butt squirming in a London courtroom, Pakistan cricket will suck in the first breaths of a new life.
Butt's incompetence is surpassed only by his arrogance. The spot-fixing scandal shames Pakistan cricket each day, a potent testament to the failures of his cricket board, an organisation entirely incapable of handling any challenge. An attack on Sri Lanka's cricketers on the doorstep of the PCB's headquarters, isolation of Pakistan cricket and its cricketers, and a corruption crisis all demonstrated the failures of governance on Butt's watch.
Full postShoaib feels the heat of his own inferno
Indeed, you might not know Shoaib Akhtar as a comedian but, almost by accident, he has made the world laugh
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
You might not know there is a vogue for autobiographies by comedians. Indeed, you might not know Shoaib Akhtar as a comedian but, almost by accident, he has made the world laugh. Shoaib is a rare cricketer from his joint hyperextensions to his neuronal synapses. His career has been a journey of scandal interrupted by infrequent displays of brilliance. He is a captivating character on the field of play and an infuriating personality off it. He might even have been great had the fates and his own failings not wrecked his career trajectory.
Perhaps that is the fiercest motivation behind his autobiography, 'Controversially Yours'? A rare man damns his own deeds; far more palatable to damn the deeds of others. Shoaib prefers j'accuse to mea culpa.
Shoaib has a point. A more professional cricket board and better team leadership might have guided him more wisely through the scandals that besieged him. The throwing controversy and how it was handled by international umpires and the ICC was not his fault, but much else was. When a man of Bob Woolmer's consummate loyalty and patience despairs of you, you'd be sensible to look inwards for the source of your problems.
Full postSurvival of the fittest
In a week famous for sixty-fourth anniversaries, India and Pakistan might wish to reflect on the fruits of those intervening years of toil on the cricket field
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
In a week famous for sixty-fourth anniversaries, India and Pakistan might wish to reflect on the fruits of those intervening years of toil on the cricket field. When midnight's chimes created two nations in 1947 greater concerns about the division of land, people, infrastructure, and wealth preoccupied people's minds than partition of cricketing abilities.
Today, India stride the upper echelons of cricket both in running the game and performing on the field, despite this summer's disappointing effort. Pakistan, meanwhile, are struggling to avoid outcast status and soon will do battle with Zimbabwe at the foot of the international table. These might turn out to be transitory positions but at the moment there is a hint of permanency about them.
The 1947 distribution of cricketing talents has given rise to broad generalisations, which have to some degree held true. Pakistan has been blessed with fast bowlers of world class, from Fazal Mahmood, through Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis, to the cursed pair of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Amir. Even now, Pakistan's young breed of Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan are offering hope that the line will continue.
Full postPower above integrity, an Asian malady requires remedy
India dominating in the Caribbean, Pakistan cricketers shining in an English domestic tournament, Sri Lanka winning at the home of cricket, Bangladesh a full member of the ICC, all rosy in the garden of South Asian cricket?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
World Champions India dominating in the Caribbean, Pakistan cricketers shining in an English domestic tournament, Sri Lanka winning at the home of cricket, Bangladesh a full member of the ICC, all rosy in the garden of South Asian cricket? Rosy, that is, if you choose to turn your gaze from the weeds and parasites destroying this once thriving landscape.
An alternative analysis paints a bleaker picture. India dominating but damaging international cricket, the fabric of Pakistan cricket disintegrating by the day, Sri Lanka in the grip of politically motivated decline, and the cricket of Bangladesh no further advanced than in the days before full member status.
Worryingly, a gloomier verdict has been gathering momentum for years, and a fortnight of expedient words and some forthright wisdom has brought this important debate back to prominence. The cricketing powers of South Asia face fundamental challenges, as underlined by recent pronouncements by ICC officialdom and Kumar Sangakkara's libero performance, with the decrepit governance of cricket in the region being the unifying theme.
Full postCan ICC stop this ruin and ridicule?
Imran Khan has described it as a suicide attack but you might wonder if there is anything left worth destroying?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Imran Khan has described it as a suicide attack but you might wonder if there is anything left worth destroying? When your cricket board spends most of its time firing off legal notices against its players, selectors, and the sport's governing body the crisis is truly a drama. The Pakistan Cricket Board is an institution incapable of persuading anybody of its point of view, resorting to exercise its wishes by threat of legal action.
The PCB's objection to the ICC's plan to depoliticise national cricket boards is understandable. The PCB is an entirely political organisation whose patron is the president of the country, and whose chairman is a direct appointment of the president and a political associate. Above all, the current chairman's position is weak. Ijaz Butt is abundantly disliked and his decision making has only brought ruin and ridicule. The only reason that he remains in charge is the patronage of President Zardari. Without politics, Butt would be out of office. The PCB is an important national institution and a prize that the ruling party would never voluntarily give away.
Hence this legal bullying is a desperate attempt to retain power. The ICC should march on regardless, depoliticising world cricket is far more important than the petty power games of Butt and his cricket board. Indeed, the ICC needs to take a much closer look at the workings of the PCB, just as closely as it seeks to examine Mohammad Amir's sixty runs and four wickets in a division one Surrey Cricket League match.
Full postAfridi in, Butt out
Governance of international cricket requires much broader skills than ability with ball and willow. But nobody bought a match ticket or sports subscription in the hope seeing an administrator make a well considered decision
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Governance of international cricket requires much broader skills than ability with ball and willow. But nobody bought a match ticket or sports subscription in the hope seeing an administrator make a well considered decision. Only 6% of a sample of international cricketers believes that the ICC board makes decisions in the best interests of the sport. That is a damning statistic. What's more, a clear majority believe that decision-making is unfairly influenced by the BCCI.
India, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe cricketers don't belong to the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, the organisation that conducted the survey, but Pakistan players, at the very least, might have plenty to say about the governance of their own cricket boards even before they got to the topic of the ICC.
Unfortunately, Pakistan cricketers are not allowed to speak, tweet, or think any criticism of their cricket board for fear of their livelihoods. The people who fill the coffers of the cricket board have become slaves to central contracts and must beg and borrow any favour.
Full postIre in Babylon
Where was once there was fire, now there is ire. West Indian fast bowlers are making a healthy business out of whispering into television and radio microphones
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
First there was fire, when West Indian pacemen torched the world's best batsmen, breaking bones and turning stiff spines to jelly. Those fearsome fast bowlers didn't talk much--they didn't need to--pace, swing, bounce, and a wickedly intimidating line and length sufficed. There was no talk, only walk. Michael Holding was the prince amongst those athletes, Whispering Death they called him, in homage to the effortless grace of his sprinter's run and deathly lightning bolts.
Where was once there was fire, now there is ire. West Indian fast bowlers are making a healthy business out of whispering into television and radio microphones; Holding, Ian Bishop, and Colin Croft the most prominent voices, and good luck to them, it's a reward they richly deserve. But there is something quite disheartening about hearing Mr Whispering Death whispering bitterly.
When ICC changed the bowling law to allow for the scientifically proven variation in flexibility of human joints, it was a sensible end-product of detailed biomechanical analysis of a wide variety of bowling actions in nets and in match conditions. All bowlers were flexing their elbows. High performance cameras were picking up joint movement that was previously undetectable by the naked eye, and fifteen degrees was established as the level at which the naked eye could detect a throw. Of course, a simple cut off wasn't enough because the shoulder and elbow joints move through various planes during a delivery and what seems like a throw with the naked eye isn't always one after biomechanical analysis.
Full postBatting, a case of chronic neglect
When Pakistan reflect on their defeat in the first Test, they should examine why their batsmen have developed a habit of falling to some of the world's least celebrated bowlers
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
When Pakistan reflect on their defeat in the first Test, courtesy of the occasionally decent bowling of Darren Sammy, they should examine why their batsmen have developed a habit of falling to some of the world's least celebrated bowlers? They might struggle. Batsmanship has become an unfathomable art in Pakistan cricket, lost with the ancients. By default, Pakistan teams can bowl and can't field. The batting, meanwhile, has been spasmodic.
Misbah-ul Haq had an incredible opportunity to carve his name in history by leading a first Pakistan victory in a Caribbean Test series. Those dreams are dust. Misbah might curse his misfortune that West Indies were stiffer opponents than expected, but his frustration would be better directed at the chronic neglect of fundamental batting skills at the highest level of Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan have always struggled for batting, certainly in comparison with their neighbours to the East, yet you would not have described it as a poverty of batting resources. How could you when you could call upon Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad, and even Asif Iqbal and Mushtaq Mohammad. Up to the 1980s Pakistan teams might have batted with unreliable spirit, but there would be flashes of genius to inspire hope.
Full postMisbah at history's threshold
Is Misbah-ul Haq about to achieve what Imran Khan couldn't? Misbah has a sumptuous opportunity to win Pakistan's first ever Test series in the West Indies
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Is Misbah-ul Haq about to achieve what Imran Khan couldn't? Misbah, whose Mohali innings doesn't become any easier to swallow with the passage of time, has a sumptuous opportunity to win Pakistan's first ever Test series in the West Indies. A drawn series against South Africa and a success in New Zealand suggest that Pakistan should be too strong for these hosts, although nothing is ever certain with this team.
The recent one-day series reminded us of Pakistan's fluctuations, and suggestions of a selection dispute between Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis are ill-timed tidings. But Pakistan's opponents are so weakened that Misbah's team surely cannot fail to take advantage?
Much will depend on the captain himself, especially as he is surrounded by inexperience in the middle order. Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have already impressed with their level-headed approach but they are new to international cricket, making Umar Akmal look an unlikely veteran.
Full postMore shame for the nameless
Wisden's withdrawn accolade to the unnamed Pakistan cricketer has heavy symbolism of its own: a memorial to the identified and unidentified cricketers who have brought dishonour to the game of cricket
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Tombs to unnamed soldiers are symbolic memorials to unidentifiable warriors who have died on the battlefield. Wisden's withdrawn accolade to the unnamed Pakistan cricketer has heavy symbolism of its own: a memorial to the identified and unidentified cricketers who have brought dishonour to the game of cricket.
Selection as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year is the 'oldest honour in cricket,' rarely awarded to Pakistanis. Englishmen, Australians, South Africans, West Indians, and Indians have all been more frequently honoured. Fazal Mahmood was the first Pakistani in 1955, and those who have followed include Asif Iqbal, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Hanif and Mushtaq Mohammad, and the two Ws.
The editor, in this case Scyld Berry, takes the decision. There is no science to it, only a reasoned judgement, and to leave one of this year's spots vacant is a measure of the impact the spot-fixing scandal had on last year's international cricket. It is a moment of extreme frustration and deep shame.
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