Free bets free bet placed in favour of Pakistan progressing beyond the group stage would have been scarce beforehand given their previous record at the tournament, but given their performances so far, they may now be backed to go all the way.

Pakistan sealed their passage through to the quarter finals with a seven wicket win over Zimbabwe earlier in the week with a game to spare, but the former fast bowler has moved to quell the excitement, and insists the team are not looking beyond their final group game against Australia on Saturday.

“Right now we are thinking of only Australia,” he said. “If you win that game, then your morale will be such that you won’t worry about any team you play.”

Australia will provide a stern test for Pakistan, and are currently unbeaten at the World Cup since the 1999 tournament, a sequence stretching back 34 games. While Pakistan have guaranteed their qualification from the group they could still finish anywhere in the top four which would mean a more difficult quarter final tie, and Waqar is wary of letting the standard of cricket drop.

You have an option (whereby) you could play the No. 4 team (from  group B) whose morale will be down,” Waqar said.

“But momentum is very important and necessary. Australia are such a big team, world champions, and they haven’t lost for ages. That is an opportunity. If you beat them, you leave a mark. You can look at the next matches and teams will think twice about playing against you.”

The form book suggests Pakistan will struggle against the powerful Australians having lost nine of their last eleven meetings in the shorter form of the game, and Ricky Ponting’s side have been installed as firm free bet favourites.

By Pete South, guest poster.

The ICC - Different rules for different teams

It has been reported that the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) may be investigating Australia’s World Cup game against Zimbabwe after the Australians got off to a uncharacteristically slow start to their innings. When supposedly pressed on the matter, cricinfo reports that the “ICC said it did not comment on any ACSU matter, including whether or not a match had been investigated”. Really?

Back in September you may remember how there was a second round of allegations that followed the News of the World sting, that the Pakistan team were match-fixing. This time it was the Sun Newspaper, which had apparently handed over evidence to ACSU. The ICC’s response then was to go public on the matter, telling the media that Pakistan were being investigated by ACSU again, and remarkably, this was even before informing the PCB itself. So why the double standards? Why the hush-hush when it comes to the Australians but the indiscreet nonchalance when it came to the Pakistanis? Let’s remember, the Pakistan team, which did not include the suspended trio of Asif, Amir and Butt, were found completely innocent of the allegations in the end, despite having to cope with a trial by media due to the ICC’s blunder.

In defence of the Australians, teams are allowed to play slow as long as the intention is pure and it is a tactic employed to win the game. But whether there was something sinister in it or not is a separate issue, it is the ICC’s double standards that is the point of discussion here.

Will Pakistan raise issue with the ICC? I doubt it. They clearly have a inferiority complex and thus will continue to be treated as inferior by the governing body and their officials.

On a side note; what has happened to Ijaz Butt? England, who Pakistan have just had a highly charged series with, and India, Pakistan’s arch rivals, have just played out a tie in a World Cup match. Added to this, Shane Warne, previously linked to match fixing, actually predicted a tie. Am I the only one who is amazed that Ijaz Butt has managed to keep his mouth shut and has not questioned the result?!

Akmal: "Being dropped is not an easy thing to take". Yes, imagine what the ball feels like Kamran!

With the World Cup fast approaching, and Pakistan choosing to send in a early preliminary list of layers to the ICC for vetting, Kamran Akmal has decided to come out into the open about his frustrations at being ignored. Having asked the ICC if he is under any investigation and been given the green light, Akmal is surprised as to why he has not been brought back into the fold after being dropped for his poor performances in England.

The belief is that Akmal is being shunned by the PCB as there are suspicions that he has been involved in match fixing. With the PCB recently being told by the ICC to clean up their act, they may just be playing it safe by keeping Akmal away from the international side, even if there is no hard evidence he has been involved in fixing.

So why is there this cloud over Akmal? Suspicions first arose during the tour of Australia when Akmal dropped four catches behind the stumps in the 2nd Test, three of them off of Michael Hussey, who was Australia’s only hope left in the innings. Hussey managed a century, and carried his bat with the tail with Pakistan eventually losing by 36 runs. This led to Akmal being questioned by the PCB, and he was later dropped for the Twenty20s against England in Dubai.

When Pakistan flew to England, Akmal was sent a notice by the ICC seeking information about events related to the 2010 World Twenty20 held in the Caribbean, as the suspicion in regards to Akmal’s performances continued. On the same tour, he was dropped for the 2nd Test against England after a string of missed opportunities behind the stumps and poor batting scores.

He was also recently named in a video by fixer Mazhar Majeed as one of six Pakistan players that Majeed had on his side, ready to engage in fixing games.

Akmal in thought after dropping an easy chance off Strauss - one of many mistakes

Another thing I noticed was Akmal’s demeanour after the match fixing scandal involving Amir, Asif and Butt came out into the open in England in August. Up until then, he seemed very edgy and pressured with his batting and keeping. After the scandal broke, he seemed to begin to play with more freedom. Whilst the statistics for his wicket-keeping before and after the scandal are not available, and he has played only two Twenty20s since, we can compare his One Day innings’ before and after the spot fixing scandal broke in August 2010 adequately enough.

Akmal averaged a very good 40.2 in the five ODIs he played after the fixing scandal. If we take the same number of innings (five) before the scandal, his average drops to 21.2. What made Kamran suddenly want to score after the scandal had broke? Was he know playing freely rather than to the instructions of a fixer? Since then, he has also made his first ever double century in first class cricket scoring 268 for National Bank of Pakistan last month, and has generally batted well in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy scoring 530 runs at an average of 75.71 so far this season. What could explain Kamran’s sudden run of form?

Whilst any one of the above points would probably not mean much on their own, brought together, they certainly raise question marks over whether Akmal gave it his best every single time. It does not tell us he was fixing games, but if he wasn’t trying his best, you would have to ask why?

Misbah Ul-Haq receiving the trophy for leading his side to a domestic title earlier this year. He comes with plenty of domestic captaincy experience

Though it seems that Misbah Ul-Haq has been appointed Pakistan’s Test captain for the two games in the UAE against South Africa more through circumstance than preference, it is the right appointment as far as Stani Army is concerned.

Upset at being dropped for the tour of England, Misbah’s argument was that he had a better average in all forms of the game than most of the touring party, and he had a case. The reasons for Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan’s axing were that the former had retired and the latter had still not apologised for some apparent disciplinary issue. The reason for Misbah’s axing was less obvious even though it was said that the team was looking to go in a new direction with younger players. The recall of the 36 year old Yousuf mid-series put paid to that excuse. Many argued that Misbah was out of form, but then which of the Pakistan batsmen had shown form in the series’ in New Zealand and Australia that had preceded? At least Misbah had been making runs in domestic cricket whilst the others continued to fail on the international stage.

When Younis Khan resigned as captain this time last year, we went through the four possible candidates for the job of captain and Misbah certainly looked as good as the rest if not better in our opinion. He seemed a clean member of the side (from corruption as oppose to drugs!…o.k, and drugs), intelligent and well-spoken. This is something that former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has mentioned recently, backing the choice of Misbah as captain. Lawson said that Misbah had the “best cricketing brain” in Pakistan, which is no small compliment, and that he deserves the captaincy “but Ideally he should have been captain six years ago.”. He went on to say: “He has a statesman-like demeanour which so many Pakistan captains have lacked and he handles adversity analytically not emotionally. He knows how to get the best out of players and he is a winner, note his outstanding domestic record as a leader”. A very suitable candidate to repair some of the damage Ijaz Butt and some of the players have caused between Pakistan and the international cricketing community.

At 36, many will argue that we should have gone for a young captain but look around, there is no one younger even close to being a suitable candidate. Though he may not be a spring chicken, for a guy who takes good care of himself, at 36 he is no cricketing geriatric either. Good personal performances considered, he’d still have a few years left in him yet, and whilst there is  a strong case for going young in terms of regular team members, there’s no harm in having an older, wiser head as captain. The future is in the future, are we always going to be playing our cricket in the future? What about the here and now? We must get the balance right.

Before the England series, we did mention on here that it would be a defining tour for six players, three of whom were not playing, namely Yousuf, Younis and Misbah. It was argued that should the youngsters that have come in fail to perform, the selectors would return to the old guard once again. Well Yousuf was recalled that same tour, Misbah is back and calls for Younis are loud and clear.

Though Shahid Afridi had mentioned recently that he’d consider coming out of Test retirement to captain the side for the sake of the nation, we cannot have him do what he did in England and walk out on his team. This expression of ‘I will return if my country needs me’ is exactly the one which Afridi gave when he took over the Test captaincy last time. It certainly didn’t stop him from quitting mid-series. He was never a serious option this time around, and if reports are to be believed, even came close to losing his captaincy in the shorter forms, something which was backed up by the fact that the ODI and Twenty20 captain for the UAE matches was announced some time after the squads were.

So what of Younis Khan? Whilst many are supporting Younis’ case for selection and then captaincy, we should remember that had Younis not been so hot-headed in walking out on the captaincy, he would probably be leading the team right now. He has had the ball in his court a number of times yet chose to walk away as if to try and make some moral point. Yet, when taking on the likes of Ijaz Butt and Jamshed Dusti, Younis should have played them at their own game. Running away and sulking has not helped Pakistan cricket or him. Ijaz Butt is probably the worst thing in Pakistan cricket right now, yet we must remember that the last time Younis stepped down as captain, Butt actually refused to accept his resignation, at the PCB headquarters and later in the car, but it was Younis who insisted. Ijaz Butt’s removal as Chairman will no doubt signal the return of Younis Khan to the side. Should Misbah do a decent job in the interim, he could well find himself with the Test captaincy on a permanent basis with Younis left to concentrate on his batting. If not, then Younis will probably be back to step in again, so don’t despair just yet Younis fans.

'We're not dumb, we batted rubbish so that we could lose the Test early to give our bowlers a rest'

If just for the sake of our bowlers, then the PCB must react to the current batting situation even if it means sending out a call for Mohammed Yousuf, Younis Khan and maybe even Misbah Ul-Haq. The argument that we should persist with the youngsters would be a fair one in any other situation, but we need to get these youngsters out of the cauldron they are in because this is not helping them or our bowlers.

The longest our batsmen have occupied the crease thus far in England has been 90 overs. With only Asif and Aamer of the bowlers showing any form, and Aamer being just 18, there is a worryingly huge workload placed on the bowlers, in particular the aforementioned two.

Kamran Akmal: The ‘wicket-keeper batsman’
The other thing exacerbating the situation is the dropped catches and general fielding. It is as if the bowlers have to get the opposition batsman out twice for every one dismissal. The chief culprit in this is Kamran Akmal. I stated in my last post that enough was enough, that since Kamran is making the same mistakes and not showing any improvement, then he has to be dropped. The argument that we select him because of what he gives with the bat is a false one. If you look at his contributions with the bat, then there is no reason why he should remain in the side in place of a good wicket-keeper who is not a batsmen because Akmal doesn’t look like much of a batsman either. In his seven Test innings in England, he has managed an average of just 14.58.

Disappointment all-round, as the ground fails to swallow up Kamran Akmal

Team for the next Test
Whilst it is drastic, this is the side I would go in with for the secnd Test against England and it looks like a much more competitive one to me: Butt, Hameed, Malik, Younis (or Misbah lower down), Yousuf, Azhar/Umar Akmal,  Zulqarnain, Asif, Aamer, Gul, Ajmal.

Listening to Salman Butt’s after-match interview, it did not seem as if changes were going to be made and it felt as though they were going to stick with the same line up. Butt backed the young batsmen and the wicket-keeper Akmal. His argument was that after losing similarly to Australia in the first Test, we came back strong. Yet, our batting was still poor in that game and we were lucky to win that one in the end, and should not forget that after making just 88 in the first innings, Australia still managed to get back in the game, with our bowlers having to hit the winning runs under pressure on what turned out to be the last day.

And if we do stick with the same side as Butt indicated, what happens when we lose the next one in a similarly embarrassing manner? Knowing the media and ex-cricketers back in Pakistan, our young batsmen will get overly criticised. Both the players (current and those that are called up) and the backroom staff, need to forget the clash of personality issues, forget the character issues, it’s time to be professional and come work for the country.

UPDATE:
Danish Kaneria has been dropped for the remainder of the series and is now available for Essex. Mohammed Yousuf has been called up into the squad for the remaining games against England. Both positive steps in my opinion.

Whilst overhead conditions were favourable to the English bowlers, it was a good track and for the Pakistani top five to make a combined score of just 40, some fault must lie with them. Nasser Hussain said in the break that when he was captain, batsmen did have the tendency to come back with a resigned attitude after being dismissed in swinging conditions, as if to say ‘ Oh well it’s swinging, there was nothing we could do’. Yet he went on to say that that should not be an excuse because that is the true test of the skill of the batsman, whether he can negotiate the movement or not. It’s obvious the skill of our batsmen was lacking.

Whilst there have been some encouraging performances here and there, it has to be said that our batsmen have so far failed on the whole. In the four innings we had against Australia, our highest innings total was just 289. For a Test match that is simply not good enough. So, what are our batsmen doing? What are they contributing to the team? If they are not making the runs, what is their purpose? Bangladesh had just finished playing against England in similar conditions and I would have to say that their batting line up looked much more composed and generally better than ours.

You have to feel for our bowlers, who after just around 50 overs, may well be out there bowling again if we fail to avoid the follow on. Let’s not forget that it is our bowlers that have scored almost half the total we have on the board right now anyway. The PCB should collect the wages of the batsmen by the end of the series and divide them up between the bowlers, because it is they who deserve it.

So, should we persist with the same batting line up and just be patient or should we send for Yousuf and Younis? Many of us had called for youngsters to be given a chance (Umar Amin and Azhar Ali), and we knew we’d have to be patient with the likes of Farhat, Malik and the Akmals, yet none of us expected them to be this bad. I think most fans expected better from this batting line up.

Most of the hype has been around Umar Akmal, yet so far he hasn’t even looked like anything special. Far too nervous and stuck in the crease, he seems to be there for the taking as soon as he gets in. As for his brother, well he will now be single-handedly responsible for losing Pakistan yet another Test as he did in Australia. Dropped catch, missed stumping, failed with the bat and was stupidly consulted for two reviews that he declined that would have gone our way.

Kamran Akmal needs to be dropped, to persist with him is just futile. He has had enough chances yet we are seeing the same mistakes, and that I’m afraid, is the bottom line.

Confident or plain stupid?

Collingwood was quoted as saying: “I don’t want to go overboard on ‘these guys are the best thing since sliced bread’ – or Wasim Akram, or this, that and the other”, he went on: “I think they have got a lot of talent. But to say they’re the number one bowling attack in the world I would say was over the mark. They have come up in conditions recently where it’s done a fair bit”.

It’s interesting because it comes at around the same time that the Pakistan captain said in an interview to cricinfo that he believes that in Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif, he has the best pace pair in the world. Add Umar Gul to the mix, who as statistics prove, is the best bowler in Twenty20, the form which is harshest on bowlers, then it’s not such a bad pace attack.

“Without any doubt I can say that Aamer and Asif are the best pair in the world at the moment and Gul with the old ball is the most dangerous” Salman Butt.

I hope the Pakistan captain Salman Butt prints out Collingwood’s words and sticks them to the dressing room walls (with translation if required), because that will be his team-talk done for him. If I was an English batsman who had watched the manner in which our bowlers bamboozled the likes of Ricky Ponting, I wouldn’t exactly be over the moon hearing the comments Collingwood has publicly aired. But this cockiness is very much the way the new England team operates under Andy Flower, under whose stewardship the indiscipline of the English players seems to have multiplied. The reasons for it may well be that like many other sides, England are trying to follow the successful Australian blueprint on how to be the best in the world. Unfortunately, the Australians know how to do it and can back it up with actions, whereas the English over do it and don’t always back it up with actions.

With our bowling attack, we have all the required ingredients. It is time to cook up a meal, serve it to Collingwood and let him eat his words.

The victorious, young Pakistan squad with their backroom staff enjoy the moment

Though Pakistan did lose the wickets of all their front-line batsmen, it was fitting that it was two bowlers there at the crease scoring the last 5 runs to take Pakistan home. Throughout the two Tests, it was the bowling department that consistently outperformed that of the Australian’s and kept Pakistan in the race.

When one run was required and the Pakistan team gathered on the edge of the boundary, Shane Warne said on commentary that the Pakistan players will go berserk in their celebrations but it was nice to see that they didn’t. You wasn’t playing India Shane! Of course, it was later obvious why they had gathered there, and it was to present umpire Rudi Koertzen, who stood in his last Test, with a signed shirt as a souvenir. It was a touch of class by the team to think of Koertzen when they could be forgiven to have been thinking of only themselves so close to winning a Test having not beaten the Australians for 15 years in this form of the game.

The tour has so far been a clear success with Pakistan taking the Twenty20 series against Australia 2-0 and now drawing the more important Test series 1-1. Attention must quickly be switched to the Test next week against England now, as the games come thick and fast for Salman Butt’s men. It’s pleasing that the Pakistan fans can now have lots to look forward to.

BCC Asian Network’s Adil Ray as Mr Khan:

A resigned Ricky Ponting falls after being bamboozled by Mohammed Asif

Having run out of superlatives, I leave you with some of the highlights of the text commentary from Cricinfo by Andrew McGlashan and Liam Brickhill, as Pakistan dismissed the Australians for 88 all out in the second Test at Headingley. Enjoy…

Over 5.4

Asif and Aamer haven’t been anywhere near as impressive as they were at Lord’s

6.1

Mohammad Aamer to Katich, OUT, 87.6 mph, gone! A breakthrough for Pakistan and Katich plays for shuffling across the crease as he’s caught on off stump with the ball angling towards middle and leg. A strength can often be a weakness and he’ll always been danger if he misses the ball – he should have gone like that early at Lord’s. Rudi raises his slow finger to send him on the way.

SM Katich lbw b Mohammad Aamer 13 (21b 2×4 0×6) SR: 61.90

A very timely strike for Pakistan who had looked a little flat this morning and it was the perfect full length from Aamer

7.2

Mohammad Asif to Watson, OUT, 80.5 mph, gone! Another falls. Game on. Asif gets his line and length right, full on off stump with a hint of shape back in, Watson misses his drive and is caught right in front. Ian Gould quickly raises the finger, but Watson isn’t happy and takes a while to leave.

SR Watson lbw b Mohammad Asif 5 (19b 1×4 0×6) SR: 26.31

Michael Clarke in at No.4 with Australia wobbling. Replays show Watson’s lbw was as out as you’ll see…bat was nowhere near it.

9.3

After shaking off the early rust, Asif and Aamer now look unplayable

12.3

Umar Gul to Clarke, OUT, 85.4 mph, gone! Australia all over the shop as Clarke is cleaned up. Was the perfect full length and he drove all around it having played two wild shots previously. Gul has pitched the ball up and got rewards

MJ Clarke b Umar Gul 3 (20b 0×4 0×6) SR: 15.00

Well, that’s Pakistan’s hour without a doubt. Australia have lost 3 for 7 in six overs and have some major rebuilding to do. Good toss to win, Ricky? Here’s the man for a crisis, Michael Hussey…three slips and a short leg in place.

13.1

Mohammad Asif to Ponting, no run, 79.9 mph, what a ball! Unplayable. It landed on a length on off stump and jagged away off the seam sharply. Ponting is well beaten shaping to play the ball to leg on the walk. A belated appeal, but more for the quality of the delivery as he missed it completely!

13.5

Mohammad Asif to Ponting, OUT, 80.0 mph, gone! Again Ponting thrusts the left leg forward and swishes across the pad at a ball nipping back in to him. He’s struck infront of middle and leg, huge appeal from bowler and fielders and that’s out! A remarkable exhibition of the control of seam and swing from Asif, and Australia are in all sorts of trouble now.

RT Ponting lbw b Mohammad Asif 6 (21b 0×4 0×6) SR: 28.57

16.5

Umar Gul to Hussey, OUT, 80.3 mph, Hussey goes! Gul strikes! He fired the ball full and straight, snaking it back into the batsman to strike him on the pad. Rudi’s slow finger of death begins to rise, and Hussey’s got to go. He’s unlucky there, replays suggest the ball may have missed leg stump. But look at this, Australia are 41 for 5!

MEK Hussey lbw b Umar Gul 5 (13b 1×4 0×6) SR: 38.46

20.0

Now, this is interesting. Umar Gul is being replaced at the other end by… Umar Amin? Not too sure about this change, Amin is finding plenty of inswing but it’s at a very gentle pace.

22.5

Umar Amin to North, OUT, 72.4 mph, Amin strikes! North falls! Kamran holds a catch! Amin picks up his first Test wicket as he lands one on a length around off stump. North could have left that, but he pushed forward in defence and had to reach for the ball. A healthy edge, and Kamran takes a good catch diving to his left. North is utterly disconsolate as he trudges off. Kamran and Amin are over the moon!

MJ North c †Kamran Akmal b Umar Amin 16 (33b 2×4 0×6) SR: 48.48

The peerless Andy Zaltzman has been playing with Statsguru again, and has this to say: “Gents. A stat for you. That is the first time this millennium that Australia’s top six have all been out for under 20. The last such occasion was 156 baggy green Tests ago, on the dreamy, mirage-like first day of the 1997 Ashes.”

25.1

Mohammad Aamer to Smith, OUT, 83.7 mph, Done him first ball! That’s a beauty from Aamer, snaking back through bat and ball to smash into middle stump! Smith was angling through midwicket but the ball simply wasn’t there.

SPD Smith b Mohammad Aamer 10 (8b 2×4 0×6) SR: 125.00

25.2

Mohammad Aamer to Johnson, OUT, 83.3 mph, Oh. My. Goodness. What a beauty from Aamer, that was unplayable, full on middle and off and it shaped away and took off stump. Aamer is on a hat-trick!

MG Johnson b Mohammad Aamer 0 (1b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00

25.3

Mohammad Aamer to Hilfenhaus, no run, 87.1 mph, ooh… so close! Fizzing past the outside edge of the right-handed Hilfenhaus, but just eludes the edge …

What a resumption. This is magical cricket.

28.0

This isn’t Australia’s worst performance in the first innings of a Test match, but it could be pretty close. Lots of grim-faced Aussies peering out of the dressing-room. They don’t quite know what has hit them today.

32.4

Umar Gul to Paine, 2 runs, OUT, 81.2 mph, another one bites the dust, and what a way to go! Paine chopped down to third man, and sized up a tight third run, but a sliding stop and a fine flat throw came in from Umar Amin in the deep, and though Kamran Akmal had to gather high to remove the bails, he did so with Hilfenhaus’s bat still short of the crease!

BW Hilfenhaus run out 3 (16b 0×4 0×6) SR: 18.75

33.1

Mohammad Asif to Paine, OUT, 78.4 mph, and that, as they say, is that! A regulation outswinger, a loose leaning waft of a cut, a thin snick, and Kamran Akmal wraps up an outstanding effort from Pakistan by claiming the decisive catch.

TD Paine c †Kamran Akmal b Mohammad Asif 17 (47b 2×4 0×6) SR: 36.17

Eighty-eight all out. By Junkers, that’s a collapse and a half. Pakistan required barely a session to skittle the Aussies, and my goodness, if they can’t win their first match against them for 15 years from this position, when will they ever?

That is, incidentally, the lowest score by a team electing to bat first since 1957, and their seventh-lowest first-innings total of all time … and their lowest for more than 50 years.

Commentary by Cricinfo.com