Stani Army

As I watched Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of the PCB, stand at the after-match presentation ceremony, there was a discernible difference between his appearance after the first twenty20 against England and the second one. After the first one, you could see the worry on his face as he tried to both listen in on what the captains were saying whilst sifting through the many excuses in his head as to why Pakistan had not won a single match ten matches in a row. At the second presentation ceremony, he looked as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he stood there with his head held high.

Yes, Pakistan managed to win something eventually but this win must not paper over the cracks like wins such as this have done so in the past. The management, coaching and captaincy issues still remain, not to mention the fact that we still are yet to find a settled opening pair and a reliable middle order.

Abdul Razzaq: Single handedly stopped the run of Pakistan’s 10 straight losses in all forms

What was obvious in both Twenty20s was that they followed a pattern which has become synonymous with Pakistan’s recent performances in that they found themselves in winning positions only to relinquish their hold on the game. But for the brilliance of Abdul Razzaq in the second Twenty20, this pattern would have continued for eleven straight games. Once again, it would be easy to use this as an excuse that only a few tweaks are needed here and there but you don’t lose ten games in a row if your problems are small and easily fixed.

One interesting call which came from the guys at MTJAG, was to make Abdul Razzaq captain. Before you dismiss it, consider the fact that none of our current candidates are obviously suitable and the problems we have had in bringing back the same old faces to take over as captain in the past. Would a new face in the role be a better option? Certainly, he seems respected among the players and is increasingly becoming a vital cog in the Pakistan team since his return from the ICL. It was his call-up to the World Twenty20 team which coincided with Pakistan’s up-turn and eventually lead to us being crowned World Champions. Could Razzaq be the perfect candidate to build a new team around? Many of you may have noticed his reaction after he bludgeoned the ball for six to take Pakistan home in the second Twenty20. It was the reaction of a determined and hungry man as his after-match comments clearly showed: “I was telling Fawad we should win this one. I was saying ‘you can, you will’ and we did”. Certainly, we could do with more of that attitude from all of our players.

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The stupidity of Shahid Afridi’s actions was profound, there is no question. As if the two whitewashes hadn’t caused us fans enough embarrassment, Afridi had to compound it by taking a bite out of the ball with as much subtlety as that spectator’s tackle on Khalid Latif. By the way, everyone’s talking about security in Pakistan, what happened here Cricket Australia?

Captains take a bite. Maybe there was something wrong with the Australian food?

Afridi was being touted for captain in the Test and ODI formats and I would not have minded. He made a good case with his recent performances and showed signs of maturity but his actions here have got me wondering if he really has matured. Yes, every team probably does it Shahid, but I doubt they use their teeth and make it so blatantly obvious. He may as well have gone up to umpire Asoka De Silva and asked to use his dentures. And when quizzed on Pakistani television

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So Andrew Flintoff has decided to become a freelance cricketer after rejecting an incremental contract offered to him by the ECB?

If anything, it shows how desperate, short sighted and foolish the ECB were for giving him a contract in the first place. Now he’s chucked it in their face, how silly do they look? Even Flintoff himself said he was “flattered” and wasn’t “expecting” a contract. Not only did the ECB offer him the contract but they are also paying for Dave Roberts the physio to help Flintoff  recover in Dubai. Surely the ECB should have only offered this if Flintoff was contractually bound otherwise why does he deserve it? A board paying for a physio for a freelance cricketer? Crazy.

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Errr, no. I can only think of one footballer who has mentioned the fact that he enjoys watching cricket and believe it or not he’s a German, Dietmar Hamann, formerly of Manchester City and currently a free agent. Yet not even he chooses cricket as a training exercise or to warm up so why is the opposite true? Why do cricketers choose football?

England’s Joe Denly just recently twisted his knee before the second ODI against Australia whilst playing football in a practice session. Now he comes from a nation that supposedly invented the sport. Yes, something else the English invented but are now rubbish at. Not only that, Denly actually had professional trials as a youngster but gave up after getting “shoved about a bit”. Do not be surprised if he retires from cricket in the near future. He sustained his injury after a challenge from the Karachi born Owais Shah.

Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain, is a big fan of football too and will be Pakistan’s ambassador at next year’s football World Cup in South Africa. From the picture below, I’d advise Younis to stick to his ambassadorial role only. Here we see him in not the most graceful of positions and had the ankle sprain fairy been around, it would have quite happily seized its moment. As Umar Gul prances along with his two inch high Nikes

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For quite some time now, I’ve felt that those of a coloured complexion in English cricket have not been given a fair chance when it comes to playing for THEIR country. At first I fought against thinking this way as it was a very easy accusation to make, but after Ravi Bopara’s recent exclusion I have run out of reasons to defend it.

I have always felt that Nasser Hussain (along with Duncan Fletcher) till this day has never been given enough credit for what he did for England. People are all too ready to shove their heads up Michael Vaughan’s behind yet fail to recognise the work Hussain put in in dragging the English side off the floor and onto its feet before Vaughan arrived. Those that point to Vaughan’s Test record should know that a captain is only as good as his team. Had Hussain had half the players Vaughan had at his disposal, he would have done much better in my opinion.

Many Asian cricketers have manged to break into the English set-up but have not been given a fair chance and have been axed at the earliest opportunity, or have been ignored completely even when excelling in county cricket; the yard stick used by the ECB. Sajid Mahmood, Kabir Ali, Vikram Solanki, Mark Ramprakash and Owais Shah are just a few that come to mind

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I’m not sure if anyone else remembers reading cricinfo’s bulletin for the Super 8s match Pakistan played against New Zealand, but there were parts of it that made me wonder. It was written by Sidarth Monga who, in the past, has been accused by various fans of his obvious bias. Here it was in regards to Pakistan being able to recall Abdul Razzaq after the ICL cancelled his contract. Have a read of his bulletin and see what you make of it.

Sidarth Monga:

“How Pakistan would want to thank BCCI for the “amnesty” it accorded the ICL players.”

“Once the euphoria of this performance dies, Pakistan will want to thank the man returning to international cricket for allowing them to go ahead with their preferred bowling strategy.”

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Did the ECB really need the Twenty20 World Cup to finally realise the commercial viability of hosting Pakistan games? Looks as though they did, but Stani Army is certainly glad the slap in the face has woke them up. If Giles Clarke and his sidekicks thought Stanford was a goer, why on earth did they take so long to spot something which quite clearly made sense? Maybe they like dodgy deals better.

A few months back, as the PCB began looking for venues to host their home games, it was becoming increasingly clear that England as a venue was not at the top of the PCB’s list, due to the costs of staying and playing here. Stani Army did suggest at the time that the ECB and PCB should go to all lengths and try to make it happen as it would be a guaranteed success for all parties due to the large Pakistani community in England.

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It was said to be the more difficult group and so it proved as the current holders India went out of the tournament. It was sad in a way as the favourites, and rightly so, did not manage to quite galvanise themselves when it mattered after two easy pre-tournament games. The loss of the brilliant Sehwag and talk of unrest behind the scenes can’t have helped.

There’ll be lots of ifs, buts and maybes from the Indians; would India have did it had Yuvraj stopped the 5 byes in Harbajan’s last over? Yuvraj himself would say that he made up for that with a ridiculously good first ball 6. Then there’s Jadeja who faced 3 overs of dots. Many said that he played too slow yet he will argue that he got two important wickets including that of Pietersen’s and took an important catch.

It was clear what Pietersen and Collingwood felt fired the English up and that was the booing their team got at the beginning of the game. It was a strange thing to have occurred

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