< 1 minute readWe’ve been quietly supporting Sri Lanka all along – as we often do in these tournaments. They always looked a decent bet with their oddball bowling attack and they’re pretty likeable sorts as well. But then Pakistan turned up. When they’ve actually been allowed to play over the last couple
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Umar Gul bowls at the stumps
< 1 minute readThere are a lot of cute, overcomplicated theories about Twenty20 cricket: Mix it up. You’ve got to bowl something different every ball. South Africa’s hugely impressive left-armer, Wayne Parnell, showed that if you can bowl yorkers on demand, you can make it very hard to score. But Parnell’s got room
Continue readingShahid Afridi can bat again even if Twenty20 doesn’t flatter him
< 1 minute readIt pains us that a whole generation of young cricket watchers won’t ‘get’ Shahid Afridi. Even after watching him hit 51 off 34 balls, they still won’t get it. Twenty20 has legitimised the Shahid Afridi approach to batting and legitimacy has no place in the world of Shahid Afridi. Shahid
Continue readingYounus Khan thinks Twenty20 is only a fun game
< 1 minute readDoes. He. Bollocks. It’s the last over of the semi final and everything’s at stake. The ball goes out to long-off, Fawad Alam slings it in, hits the stumps and Albie Morkel’s run out. South Africa need 16 off three balls and Pakistan have as good as won. Is Younus
Continue readingDid South Africa choke in a semi final again?
< 1 minute readNo, they got beaten by Pakistan, who were ace. It’s good to have the real Pakistan back. At the start of the tournament, we looked at their team and thought: ‘Where’s the fun? Where’s the Pakistani all-or-nothing genius and chaos?’ Turns out it was in there all along.
Continue readingOur World Twenty20 XI
< 1 minute readTell you what’s boring: people picking fantasy teams and then publishing them on their websites. Who cares? The arrogance of these people to think anyone would be remotely interested. Here’s ours. Chris Gayle – plays forward defensives and sixes with the same facial expression Tillekeratne Dilshan – reliable, effective and
Continue readingShoaib Akhtar has genital warts
< 1 minute readPress releases are rarely of this standard. Lahore May 21, 2009: Mr. Shoaib Akhter was examined today by a Medical Board constituted by PCB for the purpose of Clinical assessment/Fitness due to his ongoing current ailment. The Medical Board consists of following experts. 1. Professor Javed Raza Gardezi – Consultant
Continue readingWhy does Fidel Edwards hate James Anderson?
< 1 minute readFidel Edwards has mostly been bowling at James Anderson’s head of late. Edwards appears to have some sort of a problem with the Lancashire bowler, giving him a mouthful once every few balls and bowling about 5-6mph quicker due to the adrenaline. When these sorts of duels get personal, it
Continue readingShahid Afridi represents Pakistan
< 1 minute readShahid Afridi embodies the reasons why cricket needs Pakistan. Here’s a man who’s most famous for his ludicrously single-minded determination to hit every balll he faces into the moon, as if it’s somehow wronged him with its offensive nocturnal luminescence. That’s Shahid Afridi’s thing. That’s what he does. Yet he’s
Continue readingWhat of tours to Pakistan after attack on Sri Lanka team bus?
< 1 minute readOur initial reaction was to worry that one of the Sri Lankan cricketers had been killed, as if their lives were somehow more important than the lives of the policemen who were escorting them. Such is the way of thinking after something like this. We’ve always felt that cricketers were
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