< 1 minute read England have faced Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty and a guy who looks a bit like Harbhajan Singh in the last year. They haven’t really had to combat any spin bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is a spin bowler – he’s a good spin bowler, in fact. He’s not a 7-55 on day
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Pakistan: Reliable? Organised?
< 1 minute read A reliable and organised Pakistan cricket team is essentially just a theoretical construct. Nevertheless, Misbah-ul-Haq has got them about as close as they ever get. In recent months, they’ve reached a state of solidity they rarely experience. They’re scoring runs, they’re taking wickets and they’re winning pretty much all of
Continue readingThreats made to Mohammad Amir and other Pakistan cricketers
< 1 minute read As we understand it – and we’ll cheerfully admit to being well out of our depth here – the judge rejected the basis of Mohammad Amir’s plea; that he was put under pressure to do what he did. Amir was asked to prove it and declined the opportunity, citing non-physical
Continue readingMohammad Amir – don’t mourn the loss of a future great
2 minute read “Please don’t let it be the kid,” said Nasser Hussain at the start of all of this. He spoke for most of us. We wanted Mohammad Amir to be innocent, but it turns out that he wasn’t and believing that he might have become a future great makes no sense
Continue readingDo some spot fixing – it’s perfectly normal
< 1 minute read We’ve already made it clear that we would never accept money to underperform, but if we were that sort of person, the court case involving Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif would make us think again. At the time of writing, Butt has been found guilty of conspiracy to cheat and
Continue readingAsif and Butt’s agent says a lot of stuff
< 1 minute read Those following the court case involving Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif will have seen a lot of eye-catching headlines. The agent at the centre of all this is Mazhar Majeed. He is, frankly, a bit of a knobhead. The thing is, most of the headlines derive from things Majeed said
Continue readingWhat’s the latest with Mohammad Yousuf?
< 1 minute read That’s a serious question. We’ve genuinely forgotten where we’re up to. He was banned for life, but then unbanned, but he’s still not playing for Pakistan. He’s playing for Warwickshire at the moment, we believe he’s got a spell booked in the Birmingham leagues after that and then at some
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq shot down in a blaze of bathos
< 1 minute read Chasing 261 against India, Misbah-ul-Haq didn’t panic. As the run-rate climbed, Misbah kept his cool and as wickets fell, he stood firm, maintaining an almost tangible air of lack-of-intent. Dead-batting the ball again and again, Misbah sought to wear down the Indian attack to the extent that the match had
Continue readingSeven-match series suck out all the jeopardy that will make this match so exciting
< 1 minute read We might have made our point in the title. The first match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There are plenty of matches in which to recover, even if your team loses. The second match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There’s still plenty of time
Continue readingIndia v Pakistan in Mohali, Wednesday March 30th
< 1 minute read Make a note. This could barely be a bigger deal even if it had a tumour in its pituitary gland. It’s India v Pakistan. It’s Shahid Afridi v MS Dhoni. It’s Pakistan’s lethal bowling attack against India’s jaw-dropping batting line-up. It’s India’s two-and-a-half frontline bowlers against Pakistan’s two-and-a-half competent batsmen.
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