da blaze casino： The momentum of Old Trafford carried to Edgbaston, Pakistan on a highand England singing the blues and the first game of the NatWesttriangular series was a mismatch
Omar Kureishi13-Jun-2001The momentum of Old Trafford carried to Edgbaston, Pakistan on a highand England singing the blues and the first game of the NatWesttriangular series was a mismatch. It was not that Pakistan wasoutstandingly good , it was England that was incredibly bad, plaguedby injuries to key players Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and AndyCaddick and still licking their wounds and the media braying.Still it was an impressive win for Pakistan. Against Australia,Pakistan gave the impression of a team mentally resigned to losing.Only Yousuf Youhana and Rashid Latif appeared to be competitive. Theothers just went through the motions. Waqar Younis has much to learnabout captaincy in the one-day game. He did not bring on SaqlainMushtaq till the 22nd over by which time Australia was going at six anover. Both he and Shoaib Akhtar had gone for a lot of runs, seven andeight an over and Pakistan needed to put the brakes on, slow the gamedown. Ricky Ponting is highly suspect against spin and this is verywell-known in the cricket grapevine. He was flaying the quickerbowlers and was out soon after Saqlain came on.I think too that some mercy should be shown to Abdur Razzaq. He wasmade to open in the Test matches and in the one-day games, he is beingsent one down whereas Inzamamul Haq should be coming in that position,if not him then Youhana and if not him then Younis Khan. With ShahidAfridi opening the innings, you don’t need two pinch-hitters at thetop.Shoaib Akhtar broke down again and there must be serious doubts abouthis physical fitness. Is he trying to bowl too fast and his body isnot up to it? I don’t know because I am not a doctor. Perhaps, heshould bowl within himself, no one knows better than he does himself,what his limitations are. There is, after all, such a thing as humanendurance.Shoaib Akhtar must decide himself the speed with which he iscomfortable and not be seduced by the speed-gun. He is by nature, ashowman and this is not a bad thing but he’s in the team to getwickets and not put on a floor-show. If he is going to be a key memberof the team, the team should be able to rely on him not to break downregularly. In the meantime, there appears to be no news about MohammadSami. Is he making progress with his shin injury? Do we know the exactnature of the injury?England looked a far better team at Bristol and they appeared to havebounced back even though they lost to Australia. But the match went tothe wire and was not decided till the last over. Pakistan can expectmuch stiffer opposition. Pakistan, in turn, needs to re-focus. Onehopes that Wasim Akram returns to duty. His presence in the team givesa sense of purpose to the bowling. At Cardiff, the Pakistan bowlinglooked pedestrian and it lacked urgency.What is one to make of Inzamam’s dismissal at Cardiff? What on earthwas he trying to do? He is entitled to a day off but that sudden rushof blood was totally out of character, as if he had had a quarrel withhimself. Shane Warne couldn’t believe his eyes. More than that, hecouldn’t believe his luck. But I suppose even the world’s best batsmancan be ruled by a foolish heart.Much is being made of the pitch invasion by the Pakistani supportersat Edgbaston and so it should be. It was stupid. I feared for a whilethat the match may be abandoned and Pakistan deprived of its winpoints. If there is a code of conduct for the players, there is anunwritten code of conduct for spectators. One is always happy to seethe supporters on the ground. They bring festivity to the occasion andobviously enjoy themselves. But to invade the ground when the match isin progress is something that cannot be condoned. There is, most ofall, the fear of injury to the players unlucky enough to be caught inthe stampede. There is potential for a riot as supporters of theopponents may decide to have their own pitch-invasion. With friendslike this, who needs enemies? The sight of spectators sitting behindbarbed-wire, caged in, has become a common sight at Test centres. Itis an ugly sight and I can look back to the days when spectators sataround the boundary line and the cricket grounds were open spaces,fringed by trees.Watching the India-Zimbabwe Test match at Bulawayo brought backmemories of the days when going to watch cricket was a family outinginstead of marching into war that it has become. I have stopped goingto One-day Internationals in Pakistan because the security measures,necessary I must add, are too oppressive and suffocating for even me,someone who goes into a commentary box. I hope that better sense willprevail in the remaining matches that Pakistan plays.The team has problems enough without having to worry about its overenthusiastic supporters. Besides, we don’t want the media to get anexcuse to get in some bashing. I think we are all suffering fromcricket fatigue. So much cricket being played and more to come. I lookforward to Wimbledon which starts in the third week of June. Therebeing no subcontinent challenge in sight, one can watch the tenniswithout any personal involvement.I hope the Williams sisters will be there as well as Andre Agassi.Wimbledon still remains a tournament faithful to its traditions andthe players still maintain a dress-code and the spectators bring ameasure of decorum. But for how long? But Wimbledon survived IllieNastase and John McEnroe and I think it will survive the newgeneration of players who may not be bound by the traditions ofWimbledon. Will burger and fries replace strawberries and cream?