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, I’m surprised neither came out with some sort of strain, although this may have been due to the fact that Owais Shah was nowhere in the vicinity.

The ECB has now banned cricket as an exercise, a reaction which may seem a bit over the top if you simply analyse the two photos here which have a common theme. They involve players born in Pakistan I hear you say? No, the common theme is the type of footwear they are playing in. Playing football in cricket shoes is an ankle/knee sprain waiting to happen due to the thickness of the soles and the catching effect of the small spikes. Cricketers, if you want to be cool and play the only true global sport then at least do it using the proper footwear.

Just for the record, Pakistan’s football coach George Kottan, was so impressed by the footballing talent on show when he visited the Pakistan cricketers at a training camp, he said that four or five of them were ‘excellent’ footballers. So, we may have not invented the sport but we will soon be better at it than you, just like in cricket.

As for the ECB, they will now decide between either kiss-chase or hide and seek as warm up. I know the Australians play Aussie rules in their practice session but do not have a clue about what any of the other nations choose but I’m sure their fans will enlighten us.

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. On the other hand, their lighter skinned colleagues always seem to get ample opportunity to play themselves back into form on the bigger stage when they’re struggling. You cannot, with an open mind, look at the names above and say I’m being paranoid. What other reason could it be?

The whole of the English batting line up in the ongoing Ashes has underperformed but the man to make way had to be Ravi Bopara. Ever since Shane Warne opened his mouth (I think it was his mouth), and said he would have selected Vaughan instead of Bopara for the Ashes, various folk have been on Bopara’s back. Over the last 12 Test innings, Bopara and Cook have an identical average yet Cook’s name has not even come close to being mentioned when talking about changes in the line up. Yes, Ravi has not made a 95 like Cook has this series but Cook did not get three centuries in a row in the two series preceding this did he? Also, Bopara hasn’t exactly been helped by Cook whose aversion to staying at the crease meant that Bopara was as good as playing like an opener on many occasions.

None of Bopara’s critics mentioned the blatantly wrong decision he received in his last innings, in which had he gotten a century, it would given the selectors something to consider….or maybe not.

Don’t get me wrong, some of Ravi’s play demonstrated technical flaws but rather than dropping him, it should have been a message to the powers that be that Ravi is not a number three. As soon as Pietersen got injured and Bell came in to replace him, they should have demoted Ravi to four and put Bell in at three, which strangely, they are doing now after bringing in Trott.

Geoff Miller, England’s Chief selector came on Sky Sports and said: “we have a consistent team selection and a consistent selection policy and we’ll stick by it”. Yes, I collapsed laughing. How is it consistent when you drop someone for the last and deciding Test of an Ashes series when he has played in all of the last four matches? That’s not consistent, that’s gambling.

It seems as if the Asian contingent have to work twice as hard to get in the side and then twice as hard to keep their places. As John Emburey once said when speaking of Owais Shah’s exclusion: “perhaps his face doesn’t fit”.

At one point England were 109 for 4. This very fact should show the importance of Bopara’s innings in getting England onto the front foot and ahead in the game, a position from where they had the chance to win. Without that century, it would have been a classic England draw.

Yes, Swann was able to free his arms and get 63 with the bat but why? Yes, Swann was able to attack with the ball to get 6 wickets but why? It was because of Bopara’s innings.

Unfortunately Ravi, just like Owais Shah had to do twice as much to keep his place, you will have to play twice as good to be man of the match.

Stani Army’s man of the match was Ravinder Bopara.

Born in Karachi and with a preference to bat at 3, he brings with him the wristy talent which the England side is missing but for some reason, has been overlooked. This is not the first time this has happened. In the past, his county coach John Emburey has voiced his frustration as to why Shah does not get a fair chance saying “Owais has never been backed at England level”. He also accused the England selectors of operating a “closed shop”. This can be backed up by the fact that Collingwood or Cook are always given ample opportunity to find form when they are performing bad.

Add to the above arguments that Shah is one of England’s better players of spin, you would think he would have been a dead cert particularly after their batsmen struggled with Sulieman Benn in the West Indies, who with all due respect is not exactly one of the leading spinners in world cricket.

If you look at his county stats, you just cannot fault him. As Emburey once said, “perhaps his face doesn’t fit”.