< 1 minute readEven by Pakistan’s standards this must be some kind of a record. After claiming to be on very firm ground with the punishments they’d doled out, the Pakistan Cricket Board has now said that actually what may have sounded like a life ban was no such thing. Mohammad Yousuf and
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Life bans for Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan?
< 1 minute readBanning Pakistan cricketers for in-fighting? It’s like firing a computer programmer for being interested in Star Wars. Some things just come with the territory. With Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan banned for life, there’s every chance that one of them might not play in the Test series against Australia this
Continue readingWhat is it like inside Shahid Afridi’s head?
< 1 minute readVery few cricketers combine stellar brilliance with all three major types of retardation. Update: We’ve done some slightly lengthier writing on this subject for The Wisden Cricketer. Update update: The Wisden Cricketer doesn’t exist any more, so we’ve had to remove the link.
Continue readingMohammad Yousuf given the slow boot
< 1 minute readDespite the fact that there are still a few matches to go on the tour of Australia, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Ijaz Butt, has already confirmed that Mohammad Yousuf will not be captain when it finishes. Having to do a job when you already know you’re being made redundant is
Continue readingUmar Akmal won’t play if Kamran Akmal doesn’t play
< 1 minute readJust when you think that international cricket can’t get any more like the playground, it does. It’s only a matter of time before someone breaks a window with a shit shot on goal and everyone gets bollocked for it. There are mutterings that Umar Akmal isn’t really injured, that it’s
Continue readingMohammad Sami – good bowling speed, like usual, but wickets too
< 1 minute readNever judge a pitch until both teams have batted, but if a side’s bowled out for 127 and they’ve chosen to bat, you can take a good long look at the captain and maybe laugh at him a bit. Ricky Ponting should have been wary of Mohammad Asif, who’s probably
Continue readingThe four best bowlers over the next five years
2 minute readPicking the bowlers was much harder than picking the batsmen and all-rounders. We’re not going to pretend that we’re 100% happy with what we’ve come up with because that would be dishonest and we save the dishonesty for getting out of social events. Dale Steyn, South Africa, age 26 We’ve
Continue readingICC Test rankings system
< 1 minute readIndia have risen to be number one in the rankings and many people will say that the rankings are questionable. Are India the best Test cricket team? A lot of people say the rankings are meaningless. When they make this criticism, they always do it according to a team’s position.
Continue readingThree ways in which we’ve been right in the last 24 hours
< 1 minute readThis is quite unusual. We’re not usually right about stuff. Normally, you can ask us questions about things that have happened to us and we’ll get the answers wrong. “Did Dan tell you he was moving to Australia?” “No!” [Long pause] “Don’t think so.” [Another long pause] “Well, maybe…” Dwayne
Continue readingInnings victories in cricket – good or bad?
< 1 minute readIt’s good if it’s your side that’s won, but if you’re impartial, it means that a Test has been one-sided. Australia’s innings victory over West Indies also raises uncomfortable and unwelcome questions about the future of the West Indies as a Test team, even if their best player, Adrian Barath,
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