Dost thou protest too much?

I guess we had to expect this, but a week into his reign Shoaib Malik is still saying "She loves me, she really loves me, honest she's mine because I'm so good". In his second press conference, the bulk of the questions and his comments continued to revolve around who supports him in the team and who doesn't. While from his end, perhaps I can continue to understand that if he is asked about this he will have to continue to respond. What is perhaps more inexplicable is why the PCB continues to allow such questions to be asked, and why the media press conferences for a young captain like Shoaib Malik are not being managed more appropriately. It can't possibly be good for his psyche or for his overall stature as the leader of Pakistani cricket if he has to continue saying in every breath, They love me, They really do love me.

Is this how we treat a legend?

After a glorious career, is this the depths to which we have let Inzamam sink? Inzamam now has to prove his place in the squad? For shame PCB. For shame Pakistani cricket.

My sentiments exactly

I wish I could criticize the PCB here, but Teeth Maestro: I agree completely.

PJ Mir gone!

Celebrate good times!! Come ON!!!! Ooooh YAAAH!!! PJ Mir (on the left) is gone as media manager!! While the rest of this report is filled with Nasim Ashraf's gobleydook, at the end of it Nasim Ashraf says something which truly makes my heart glad! PJ Mir is no longer affiliated with the Pakistan Cricket Board! After his own resignation, this is the best news Nasim Ashraf could give me.

Nasim just having a ball!

Looks like Nasim Ashraf is having so much fun giving his daily press conferences, now he's going to have one after every series. At yet another press conference, he announced that a coach and captain would be announced on May 7th. Further, the coach will be on a two year leash, while the captain will be only appointed on a series by series basis. That is exactly the fresh start we need in Pakistan cricket, where the start will be more of a stop and start process. (sarcasm here folks).

Perhaps Nasim Ashraf could have held this many press conferences when the players were languishing with no assistance in the West Indies after Woolmer's death.

Less religion please

So it continues. Ehtesham, a former selector, feels obliged to state: "During my stay in South Africa I travelled with the players from one city to another and there were no prayers offered during the flights". So it continues. All that is wrong or could have been wrong is the players desire to pray. It doesn't matter that Muslims all across the world, in all different fields pray throughout their work days without that effecting their day to day activities or professionalism at work. ZR makes the point in her post, which I referred to earlier.

The PCB can make the case that they want coaches from within Pakistan so that they can relate to the players, but maybe they should get a Chairman of the PCB and a Media Manager who understands how the Pakistani mind works.

The Juice Still Spiked?

News comes today that Shoaib and Asif still need some time to "get fit" again. Appears that its probably more time needed to get the nandrolone out of the system! Interesting that it has been about 10 days since Nasim Ashraf said that they would be retested within the month. We're all waiting with bated breath.

Talk. Do Nothing. Mir.

Update: Here are posts from AA @ TeethMaestro and ZR @ Sundries, commenting about the same issue. They seem to have the same mindset as I do, however in the interests of full-disclosure, I will say that my wife totally! disagrees with me.

It may have been Thomas Carlyle who said "If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else." Yet, it appears that the PCB with Nasim Ashraf and PJ Mir have decided that they will typify the men of whom Carlyle speaks. Over the last few days all we have been hearing on
BBC and the Pakistani papers.

As I have said on previous posts, for Mir and Ashraf, the players religiosity is the only problem. Forget about their lack of professionalism. Forget about Shoaib Akhtar's and Mohammad Asif's doping issues. Forget about Shahid Afridi's decision to threaten a fan in South Africa, and being saddled with a four match ban. Forget about Inzamam's and Afridi's decision to appear in an ad in Malaysia for Pepsi before the World Cup, or for Afridi to go cavorting at a Zee TV junket in London mere days before the departure for the West Indies. Forget about the casual termination of Waqar Younis days before the South Africa trip. Forget about the interference and distraction Nasim Ashraf was at the World Cup training sessions in the West Indies. Forget about the abject lack of security which lead to Woolmer's demise. Forget about the absence of a consistent and justifiable selection policy over the last year. Yes. Let us forget about all of those things, and instead, let us talk about how many times our players pray and where they pray. If we get them to stop praying so often, or atleast make sure that they only pray in nuclear bunkers, all of our cricketing, on the field problems will disappear. Thank you Mr. Mir for helping us talk about these problems.
Two weeks since the end of the World Cup. No solutions yet. No coach, no captain and no players. Only solution so far, another No. No religion.

Nasim Ashraf's New Plan

Thank you, Zainub at Sundries for such a complete summary of our dear Nasim Ashraf's pile of crap.

You should read it. Here is also, Osman Samiuddin's reflections on the piece from CricInfo.

In summary, all central contracts to be replaced by performance-based contracts, a Pakistani coach, a baseball playing fielding coach, a paid selection committee, establishment of a national academy sort of like the Australian model, and other cosmetic changes. Interestingly, no captain or coach is being appointed for a month, so maybe Younis Khan's hesitancy is more than just rumour.

Younis Khan: The Runaway Captain?

Well, it appears that despite being groomed for the position, and having Imran Khan's support, Younis Khan does not want to captain the Pakistani side. In a thought process which appears truly mature, Younis Khan realizes that there is little glory and honour in being a captain for this squad. The only man who has been able to salvage any repute and honour has been Imran Khan which is why people still pine for him in a position of leadership. Before Inzamam left in such disastrous fashion, Moin Khan and Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, even Zaheer Abbas and otherwise always heroic Javed Miandad have all gained nothing but grief from the most vaunted position in Pakistani cricket. Why would Younis Khan want to take an otherwise blooming international career, and sacrifice it at the altar of the PCB, which is all this position is going to be. Younis Khan seems far too intelligent and far too self absorbed to make that mistake. Let it be the mercurial Shahid Afridi or the almost naively juvenile Shoaib Malik who make this mistake.

Arrogance even in humiliation

Truly arrogance will be our undoing far before our actions will come back to haunt us. Arrogance is what relegated Pakistan to humiliation in the World Cup, and having to leave even before Ireland! Arrogance is what made us think we could beat the WI with only 3 to 4 batsmen. And now, arrogance on Musharraf's part keeps Ashraf in his job. The completely incompetent Nasim Ashraf who has been on this "ad-hoc" committee running the PCB for three years, and Chairman for six months, offered a sham resignation after the humiliating losses. We were all sure then that this was just an exercise in playing a political game, but yet we hoped, how we hoped, that this man would have some honour, that Musharraf would not treat cricket like he treats parliament and the supreme court. But we were just wrong. And now we will have to watch this man's dramas over the next upcoming years. It will be fun won't it.

Nasim Ashraf's new pile of crap.

Here is a summary of Nasim Ashraf's testimony to the Pakistan Senate regarding the team's performance at the World Cup.

I'm happy to hear that he feels that everyone else was to blame except him, but he did make his political, cover his own ass statement of responsibility without actually saying what his own errors were. He also made the comment that I've sent my resignation, and my buddy wuddy Musharraf ain't gonna fire me, nah nah nah boo boo! What a bum.

The knives have come out

Its only been a week or so, but it appears that the status quo might be changing. Its really funny how quickly people want to get off a sinking ship. For the past two years everyone has almost always praised the Pakistani players for their discipline and team loyalty. Everyone knew and realized that this loyalty and discipline came from an increasing sense of religiosity about the team. While this issue came to the fore front when Yousuf accepted Islam, the team's faith was rarely seen as a negative but almost always by most, including Bob Woolmer, as a positive influence on the side.

Now, after the major disappointment at the World Cup, it appears that even the players can see the shifting sands and are beginning to bail on Inzamam. Dawn today, is reporting without any sources, that a number of unnamed players were getting all uppity about being asked to pray, and somehow the prayers were causing them to be distracted from the task at hand.

Quote: "At times some of us questioned ourselves whether we have come here to play cricket or on a religious mission. We were not really focused. Just before the parade during the opening ceremony, our assistant coach asked us to line-up for prayers while other teams participated in the official turnout," narrated one of younger players in the side.

"Before taking the flight to London the assistant coach once again asked us to congregate at the Kingston Airport lounge for prayers and during the flight to London, despite objections from the cabin staff, a number of us were asked to offer prayer in the aircraft gallery as the rest of the passengers watched in bewilderment."

If our players are so unprofessional, that their focus is swayed by events such as this, they should just quit the game of cricket which is chock-full of constant distractions. While I concur, that perhaps having a big show and tell at the mosque in Kingston where a large donation was made, was probably not the wisest thing to do the day before the Ireland game, the rest of it just sounds like hooey to me.

Technorati Tags: pakistan, cricket, world cup

Azhar Mahmood: the cause of whispers?

I'm not sure where this is coming from, because I'm reading it for the first time, but in this summary of the Twenty20 Cup in Pakistan, the staff at Cricinfo is saying that there are whispers that Azhar Mahmood is being considered for the upcoming World Cup. Now, while the reasons for dropping him may never really be clear, he has been out of the squad for atleast the past four years with a token ODI appearance here and there. Further, even on the England tour, with bowling resources substantially hampered due to injury, he was not recalled despite a great deal of familiarity with the conditions and the English Players (having played at Surrey the last many years). So I'm not sure where these whispers are coming from. Azhar Mahmood, in his columns for the BBC has often commented that he will be making a comeback "soon", whatever that means. Lets also not forget that this is the same Azhar Mahmood, who Javed Miandad accused of being involved with match fixing in the Qayyum commission.

All in all, I would be quiet surprised to see Azhar Mehmood in Pakistani green at the World Cup.

WADA Challenging Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif's ban reversal

As widely expected, the World Anti-Doping Agency has come out and challenged the ban-reversals of both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. As is well known by now, both tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone (a steroid), however were able to plead ignorance and have the bans reversed. More than ignorance, however, there were a number of issues with sample collection, consent and other procedural matters. I'm really not sure what the outcome of such an appeal can be, but it will all depend how the ICC chooses to address this issue. For now, they are bound to cooperate with the appeal and its process, as they are signatories to the WADA code. Seems like all the ICC seems to do these days is pick reasons to get into altercations with the Asian teams. In this situation, just like the PCB, the ICC needs to take a long and hard look at how they choose to look after their players, and what kind of professional and personal development cricket is providing these athletes.

Huh? Shabbir Ahmed still not cleared?

I'm finding this odd. Shabbir Ahmed has been named to the training squad for the upcoming South African tour and World Cup, while the ICC still has not ruled on his current status. While I appreciate the confidence the PCB is showing in their own testing and estimation of Shabbir's action, the PCB may be taking stands against the ICC when perhaps they don't need to be taken. First they pick a fight over Shoaib and Asif, and now a potential fight over this issue. Looks like the old habits at the PCB have not changed under the new leadership.

Shoaib Akhtar makes a plea for more doping education

Its rarely that Shoaib Akhtar says anything sensible, but here it appears that he very well may have.

Pakistan's cricket team, specially these days isn't made up of a wide array of worldly, informed and well-educated individuals, like in the past. This team doesn't really have any Imran Khans, Mohsin Khans, Mudassar Nazars or Rameez Rajas. This team is lead by a man from Multan, who's detractors up until 3 years ago didn't want him to be captain because he couldn't speak English despite 10+ years of international cricket. Mohammad Yousuf is from a poor locality in Lahore, while Younis Khan is from Mardan, hardly a hotbed of information regarding doping and pharmaceuticals. One could say this about almost of the players in the team, going down the list.

Even if one leaves out the issues regarding personal education and the places where most of the cricketers come from, the other continuing issue is the experience many of the players have prior to beginning to play International cricket. The majority of these players did not come from high-end academies or after extensive domestic first class experience. They are not sportsmen in the international sense of the term, with knowledge regarding rules and current issues in sports ethics and administration. I mean, this is a squad where even their knowledge of the finer points of the rules of cricket has been repeatedly brought up, and even a player like Inzamam with multiple years of experience is often found lacking in this regard.

My point here is not to criticize the players, because they are not the ones to blame. They are professionals, and it is the responsibility of the team's management and the board to ensure that players are properly educated regarding drugs, nutritional supplements and proper medical care, as it relates to sports. In 2006, how could an international squad of a major sport be without a physician, a nutritionist and even access to a sports psychologist, I do not know. It is the PCB and the team management that have the burden of providing this and ensuring that all players in the domestic and international circuit are aware of all of these issues. For once, the PCB better listen to Shoaib Akhtar.

Pakistan want to get rid of Hair

Here's to hoping that the PCB won't back down on this one.