2 minute readWe’re not generally in favour of hackneyed caricatures, but we’ll make one exception: Pakistan the unpredictable. Pakistan’s cricket team are generally portrayed as equal parts genius and slapstick and with a capacity for self-destruction unrivalled even by Slash. (“I was pissed off at myself for having died. It really ate
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Pakistan cricket’s strength and weakness
< 1 minute readHere’s an interesting question for you. If everyone even remotely involved with Pakistani cricket just chilled out a bit, would the team be better or worse? A member of parliament has utterly flipped out and accused the Pakistan national side of match fixing because they lost a match; Pakistan captain,
Continue readingShoaib Akhtar undergoes abstract expressionistic rehabilitation
< 1 minute readShoaib Akhtar is going to get himself mended by Andrew Flintoff’s surgeon. “I hear that he is like an artist with knees and that his expertise is second to none.” Don’t most artists have knees? It’s not an occupation specifically reserved for the fixed-legged is it?
Continue readingEngland’s 2010 fixtures
< 1 minute readThe unstoppable fun train is careering around the UK during summer 2010 and no mistake. England will play no fewer than 13 one-day internationals. This commitment to 50-over cricket has been reinforced by the ECB’s parallel decision to not play any 50-over county cricket ever again. Instead, county cricketers will
Continue readingPakistan batting collapse shows they’re still the ultimate
< 1 minute readPeople in the British media sometimes complain about England being inconsistent, but when it comes to inconsistency, there’s only one side worth talking about. There’s only ever been one team worth talking about. Having gone from dreadful and seemingly a bit apathetic to World Twenty20 champions in under a fortnight,
Continue readingShahid Afridi wins T20 World Cup for Pakistan
< 1 minute readOut of form and out of practice, Pakistan were playing like a cutlery drawer full of spoons at the start of the tournament but literally improved with every game. Shahid Afridi played like a grown-up today, which is again missing the point of Shahid Afridi. But being as he won
Continue readingWhy support Pakistan in the World Twenty20 final?
< 1 minute readWe’ve been quietly supporting Sri Lanka all along – as we often do in these tournaments. They always looked a decent bet with their oddball bowling attack and they’re pretty likeable sorts as well. But then Pakistan turned up. When they’ve actually been allowed to play over the last couple
Continue readingUmar Gul bowls at the stumps
< 1 minute readThere are a lot of cute, overcomplicated theories about Twenty20 cricket: Mix it up. You’ve got to bowl something different every ball. South Africa’s hugely impressive left-armer, Wayne Parnell, showed that if you can bowl yorkers on demand, you can make it very hard to score. But Parnell’s got room
Continue readingShahid Afridi can bat again even if Twenty20 doesn’t flatter him
< 1 minute readIt pains us that a whole generation of young cricket watchers won’t ‘get’ Shahid Afridi. Even after watching him hit 51 off 34 balls, they still won’t get it. Twenty20 has legitimised the Shahid Afridi approach to batting and legitimacy has no place in the world of Shahid Afridi. Shahid
Continue readingYounus Khan thinks Twenty20 is only a fun game
< 1 minute readDoes. He. Bollocks. It’s the last over of the semi final and everything’s at stake. The ball goes out to long-off, Fawad Alam slings it in, hits the stumps and Albie Morkel’s run out. South Africa need 16 off three balls and Pakistan have as good as won. Is Younus
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