In an earlier post, I had commented about the silliness of not letting any of the players speak in English at press conferences. From reports from the most recent press conference at the World Cup, it does appear that if no one else, Inzamam specifically is enjoying this new policy, as he appears to have an ease about him in Urdu, which he lacks in English. (picture copyright AFP)ZR at Sundries and cricket.bloggers.pk has made comments about the potential positive aspects of only having the players speak in Urdu to international media, with the ever present, ebullient PJ Mir to do the honours of reinterpreting and translating all their comments. While I would agree with my fellow blogger about the necessity of having this kind of setup for players who don't speak English or aren't comfortable with it, but for the majority of players this ignores some very significant facts. Most of our players have spent a lot of time toiling in the leagues of England and Ireland honing their skills, and a large number of them even play county cricket. On top of that, the players have had an English speaking coach for years now and English speaking physios for even longer. Inzamam is perhaps one of the few players in the side who hasn't played in English leagues or county cricket. Younis Khan has played for Nottinghamshire and will now captain Yorkshire; I don't think his English could be a concern. Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat play more county cricket than Pakistani domestic cricket. Umar Gul, Rana Naved, Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi have all participated frequently on the county circuit, while Kamran Akmal has played a whole bunch of club cricket all over the UK and Ireland. So, apart from Inzamam who else needs a translator then? Somehow the facts seem to outweigh the perceived intent of this new decision by the powers-that-be.
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