Stani Army

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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Stani Army still cannot understand why the man of the match award in the 1st Test between England and West Indies did not go to Ravi Bopara. He held the whole innings together in making his 143 and for a youngster to do it at Lords coming in at number 3 in only his 7th test match innings shows something. Yet the man of the match award went to Swann. Strange?

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Owais Shah was once again left out of England’s squad after having an average series against the West Indies. Having done twice as much as others to get into the English side in the first place, it seems he has to do twice as much to keep his place. While the likes of Collingwood, Cook and Bell, in the past, have been given numerous chances even when out of form, Shah has been axed at the very first opportunity.

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