Char Paher Ye Fikr thie Pehlay Qaid say hon Azaad Kaheen - Ab Durr hai ye bay baal O bari may chorr na day Saiyaad kaheen?

One of the culprits, a convict, a criminal, supposedly young, stupid and naive made a mistake because, he got carried away and was dragged into a situation by his seniors and peers and not knowingly how grave a mistake he is committing he landed into trouble.  When he was caught red-handed with money in his room that did not belong to him, he denied and it wasn’t just a denial but it was full of arrogance and attitude — meaning how dare you say that I am in the wrong doing? I am a superstar, a hero, a great fast bowler, a legend in the making, don’t you know I am the future Wasim Akram of Pakastan?

Yes sir, but where did this money come from? It is certainly not yours than whose is it? It is my aunties, nephew’s niece’s cousins daughter who is getting married and it is their money to purchase a wedding  dress for her. Ooops this wasn’t what I was supposed to say! This was supposed to be the captain’s template and he was supposed to say……errrr he has already said this.  And, me? I have also blabbed it out, so now what is going to happen? Am I trapped now? Yes, I am trapped, these people trapped me, I am innocent, I am young, I am seventeen, aNO  I was seventeen 2 years ago then I must be eighteen now? Or, is it nineteen? Whatever but, I am too young to be sentenced to jail because this is not a crime.  Crossing a line is a crime? We cross it everyday, we cross railway lines, we cross zebra lines, we cross civil lines but, this is just a line on the pitch and most bowlers cross it and the umpire says NO.  Even when I crossed that line the umpire said NO, so what is the difference between them and I ?

Line cross ki hai, gunah tou nahee kiya !

Sir, that was a mistake but, you deliberately crossed the line and not by an inch or a two but, by a foot or a two.  Well, when you are running on foot it is always a foot or two, so what is the big deal?  Sir, there is a deal, you made a deal with the bookie. What bookie? I don’t read books, in fact I have never read one, but I plan to read one if I don’t go to jail.  Sir, that bookie is not a book, it is a guy, your friend Mazhar Majeed.  Oh, him? He is not my friend he is my captain’s friend and I never talked to him.   Sir, we have proof that you have exchanged text messages with him.  I dunno what text messages are and I told you I never talked to him.  Sir, the text messages are those which you sent from your cell phone to his cell phone.  Oh, you mean SMS? Yeah, the same thing you say that in your country.  So, what did I say or write in it?

Sir, don’t you remember what you write? If I was a good writer, I would have been writing books and not playing cricket besides, a lot of gals also SMS me so I dunno which one are you talking about? The one in which you said, “Should I do it?” What were you asking him to do? Is it something that you wanted to do it in the toilet and sought his permission to do? Actually you did a big one and you are in it and there is no way of getting out of it.  Anyways, I am going to Pakastan and I won’t come back here to England.

In Pakastan he kept telling his friends and relatives that this is some kinda “yahoodiyoun ki saazish hai” aur angrezi may iss entrapment kehtay hain, I will challenge in the court of law that I am innocent and I will go back to clear my name.  In the meantime the ICC banned these players from playing international cricket for 5 years.   When the hearing took place in England, the three Musketeers and D’Arthagnan were sentenced ranging from 6 months to 3 years.

The latest news is Aamar is released after serving half his sentence and after spending a couple of weeks in England he will go back to Pakastan where thousands of people are waiting to give him a red carpet reception and tons and tons of flower petals shall be showered upon him as if he has won a war? The irony is it is only in Pakistan where convicts, criminals and thugs are considered as heroes and are given heroes welcome in the country.

Instead of doing all this comical and farcical antics (this is definitely going to happen that Aamir will get a heroes welcome back home) the PCB should have announced long time ago that Aamir, Asif and Salman Butt are banned for playing international cricket for LIFE.  Also, they should not be allowed to sponsor any ad or appear on TV shows or, TV commentary.  They must start a totally different job to maintain their lively hood which should be something else BUT, not CRICKET related.

I am a drinker with writing problems.— Brendan Behan

Mai peeta nahee hoon, pilayee gayee hai.

I WARNED YOU BEFORE THAT I WILL GET YOU THROUGH MY TEESRA

The desire to write grows with writing.  — Desiderius Erasmus —  And, writing something about cricket test matches these days is like a campaign akin to “Save the Dolphin”, “Save the Whales.”  That is because people have lost interest in test matches and they think that test matches will become extinct like Dinosaurs.

No one knows the exact date, period or era in which cricket started, but international test cricket started in 1877, the origins are from England, our Masters and the Masters of this game of cricket which is famous for being a game for gentlemen —  a game of the noblemen and aristocrats.

While I was struggling to find some background information about cricket, I stumbled upon some very interesting info on cricket and betting.  Instead of narrating it in my own words, I would like to quote it here for our bloggers.

“Gambling, Match Fixing and Press Coverage:

Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large bets at this time. In 1664, the “Cavalier” Parliament passed the Gaming Act 1664 which limited stakes to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time, equivalent to about £12 thousand in present day terms. Cricket had certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. There is a newspaper report of a “great match” played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.   With freedom of the press having been granted in 1696, cricket for the first time could be reported in the newspapers. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the betting rather than on the play.

MCC was itself the centre of controversy in the Regency period, largely on account of the enmity between Lord Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston. In 1817, their intrigues and jealousies exploded into a match-fixing scandal with the top player William Lambert being banned from playing at Lord’s Cricket Ground for life. Gambling scandals in cricket have been going on since the 17th century.”

This is another subject and I do not wish to delve deeper in this gambling and match fixing mess which is also a creation of the British, instead I will focus on the whining, whinging and crying of the Englishmen when they lose a test match especially if they are comprehensively beaten by the inferior ones like, those who were under the British Raj and those who were reportedly convicts etc., etc.

The current test series that is being played in the UAE between England and Pakistan at a neutral venue where Pakistan has comprehensively beaten their Masters by 10 wickets and within 3 days!  As expected they started whining and whinging against the mystical bowling of Saeed Ajmal, who initially played a mind game before the start of the test match — giving them a taste of their own medicine —  instead of targeting a player like the English and Australians do, he talked about his new mystery ball called the ” Teesra,” which worked better than expectations.

The Englishmen were bowled out for under 2oo twice and Ajmal took 10 wickets in the match and they cannot digest this defeat and are talking about Ajmal’s action. Instead of justifying myself with my views, I would like to copy paste another quote on Ajmal’s action, which will give a better picture of his bowling action.

” After all, it is a well-known fact that Ajmal has been cleared by an independent panel of specialists approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Dr Bruce Elliot – a professor of Bio-mechanics, Motor Learning and Development at the University of Western Australia – cleared Ajmal in 2009, when the Australian cricket team were struggling to deconstruct his mystery at the same venue. Elliot revealed that “during a comprehensive analysis it was apparent that the amount of elbow extension in Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action for all deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted in the ICC regulations.”

So it is evident that Ajmal’s action is clean and the ICC has approved the report and cleared him.  So, why are they crying now? The comical and farcical thing is, the Englishmen are saying that Ajmal is hiding his elbow by wearing a full sleeves shirt.  This is absurd, ridiculous and laughable.  Should Ajmal roll up his sleeves and show his muscles to them? What sort of a complaint is this?

Even if Ajmal rolls up his sleeves, can the umpire or anyone for that matter by seeing his action with a naked eye can tell that it is within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted in the ICC regulations?  You must have a bionic eye for that.  The Englishmen and the Australians are cry babies and they cry shamelessly. 

India start their mammoth Australia tour with the 1^st Test on Boxing Day. This series has received considerable hype owing to a variety of reasons. The Indian squad is as follows:

Bowlers: Yadav, Ishant, Vinay Kumar, Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Mithun, Ojha

Batsmen: Dhoni, Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kohli, Sharma, Rahane

We might be on the verge of seeing the end of a rare influential Indian fast bowler

Zaheer Khan’s fitness has a question mark over it but in the current tour match against CAC XI he bowled 10 overs and conceded 41 runs. According to reports Zaheer was not at his best and it seems he might not be an automatic choice in the playing XI. Whether Zaheer can secure a place due to his recent years’ performance remains to be seen. Zaheer last played in Australia in 2007 and in Australia he has played 3 Tests and taken 10 wickets so arguably he has wicket taking potential on Australian pitches.

As far as Test cricket is concerned this presents an opportunity for the likes of Yadav, Mithun and V Kumar. If they can take regular wickets they might become India’s first choice pacers and Zaheer Khan may have to say goodbye to Test cricket. Zaheer is 33 now and age is not on his side; if bettered by the young pacers it is likely we might not see Zaheer playing for India again. For Zaheer’s sake he will be remembered as ending his career on a very enviable high and his bowling contributed a great deal in India’s WC victory earlier this year.

Another reason why this series is crucial is because of SRT’s form and the sword of the 100^thcentury dangling over his head. Tendulkar averages about 60 in Australia and this must be one of the highest averages for any international batsman in Australia. However, this year his average has been 47 and he has looked uncomfortable when batting. The million dollar question is whether SRT will be able to make that elusive century or not? This issue was blown out of proportion by the Indian media, so much so that there are been a noticeable restraint now in discussing this very

Tendulkar must call it a day if he is unable to perform

elusive century for fear of further pressurising SRT.

Finally this series is also crucial from the Indian perspective because of the current Test rankings and present form of the top 4 teams. This year Australia played 3 Test series- against Sri Lanka they won 1-0, against New Zealand and South Africa they drew 1-1. Australia are definitely not the force they were when McGrath and Warne were playing but they have still had a respectable 2011 compared to 2010. This year India beat West Indies 2-0 and 1-0, drew with South Africa 1-1 and lost to England 4-0. Form wise one might say that Australia has the slight edge, even though they suffered a totally unexpected collapse against New Zealand a few weeks ago. India took a drubbing in England and this will definitely be at the back of their heads when they are preparing for the Boxing Day Test.

Sehwag have Gambhir have not been at their best in Tests in 2011 and Tendulkar and Laxman have also been unable to deliver. This is the reason why India lost badly against England. Indian batsmen perform well on Australian pitches so this gives an opportunity for them to regain form. Australia is currently ranked no 4 in Tests and India, no 2. There is a difference of 15 points between the two teams so the chances of Australia overtaking India are slim and can probably only occasion if Australia whitewash India.

A good performance will help India in forgetting the disastrous England series of 2011

As for Australia, their batting and bowling both have lacked consistency this year and this might work in favour of India. Australia have their own fitness problems to worry about because Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson are not fully fit. Neither are Mitchell Johnson or Doug Bollinger available. Siddle and the impressive newcomer Pattinson will probably lead the bowling attack and they might spring a surprise for Australia. It seems there is a chance Australia might be unable to play their best XI whereas India will most definitely play their best XI. How much of an impact will this cause?

It looks like it is difficult picking a favourite. Australia have to their advantage that they are usually mentally strong at home, notwithstanding the domination of Indian batsmen on their pitches. Their young pacers can also surprise India because they are untested. This will work in India’s favour too when they try Yadav and Mithin against Australia. Both teams have drawn Test series with the South Africans this year, both teams have defeated weaker teams (SL and WI) but, whereas India got slaughtered in England, Australia also collapsed against a considerably weaker Test side, New Zealand.

Expectations are high from Yadav who has shown promise

From Australia’s perspective a good series will promote them to no 3 (a whitewash may propel them to no 2) in the rankings and from India’s perspective, a whitewash will take them to no 1. But more importantly, a good showing from the Indians will bury the demons of the England series earlier this year and may persuade the passionate Indian fans that the England mauling was a once-in-an-era event for a spirited team that may well have a dominating future with hopefuls such as Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yadav and Mithun.