Just a heads up on this new blog by Marty D, a fellow enthusiast from New Zealand. He shot me an email a while back to exchange links. Real cool stuff on his blog. He photoshops pictures that most of us have seen here and there and he adds all these effects to them. Neat stuff. Take a look! 
Naturally, no serious picture based cricketing blog would be complete without participating in King Cricket's Rob Key campaign. Here is Marty's apt contribution...
Do I feel bad for him or what? Golden duck against Fernando and did not bowl a single ball. Poor chap. Rehman, another left arm spinner, had reasonable figures today, as did Hafeez. When Asif was being spanked all across the park, why did Malik not bowl Fawad Alam?
I had a feeling his debut wouldn't be that far off, especially since Razzaq didn't do anything useful in the 2nd game. By having won the series already, Pakistan could afford 2 debuts this morning. I have no clue about Fawad Alam, but from what I read on Ahmer's blog and in the news, he seems like he might be pretty cool.
However, in terms of utility players, unless and until Afridi, Razzaq, Hafeez retire, Fawad is still some ways off. Sadly he had his chance to bat and to prove himself, but a surprise full toss did him in on the first ball he faced.
Does this mean his time is up? I doubt it.
I think he'll be back, but I don't think he's ready for a permanent place in the playing XI just yet. I have no clue how he bowls, and he seems to be bringing the same thing to the table as the other allrounders on our squad. Sadly, there is no denying that a fighting debut 50 from him today might have made his place on Pakistan's next 15 member squad a certainty. Too bad for him.
No offence to Ms. Sayle, I am sure she's a great gal, but modelling isn't really her thing. While glancing through Cricinfo's pictures database, I came across a picture of Alastair Cook posing to raise money for a charity. Perfectly honorable! But the picture description reads
"How's that? Alastair Cook poses with model Emma Sayle for a sports calendar to raise funds for the CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund, Chelmsford, Essex, May 10, 2007"Here is the picture..
This chick is a model? Hmm, lets ignore the yellow color for now, but what is that pouch around her, you know..? Plus she is holding the bat the wrong way. Anyway, I'm not hating on you, Ms. Sayle. Just suggesting an alternate lifestyle...and career.A couple of weeks ago, we had a few lengthy discussions about why it is that we found this World Cup boring. It must be understood that we are a pair of die-hard fans who grew up on the game; fans whose earliest cricket-watching memories are those of Imran Khan lifting the coveted trophy in 1992. So if we are left horribly unsatisfied by the sport’s premier event, then how can we expect the Scots and the Dutchmen of the world to chance upon the tournament on TV and suddenly start giving a shit about the sport?
Is it even possible to spread the game of cricket?
Therein lies the strange vicious cycle-esque dilemma. Imagine, for a moment, that the ICC isn’t a money-grubbing pack of wolves, and then ponder its dilemma about the nature of the game itself. Should it try to spread the game to all corners of the world that are even remotely interested, or should it maintain cricket’s status as a strange exclusive club of 9 or 10 countries and leave it at that?
Here’s the catch. The more countries the ICC tries to include, the more boring the World Cup, and the more frustrated people like us get. And the fewer countries it includes, the more it alienates the rest of the world.
Where does this leave ODI cricket?
ODI cricket is at a funny stage in its life. A stage at which it needs to decide its identity once and for all. If it is to stick around, then countries need to be granted ODI status the same way they are given test status, otherwise it is just making it more painful for the rest of us. Besides, just because these teams are in the World Cup doesn’t mean their countries are watching. Take a survey of Canadians and ask them if they even know about their 3 Cricket World Cup appearances. Then ask them how proudly they all watched their team get knocked out in the first round of their only FIFA World Cup. For that matter, Pakistan has won four Hockey World Cups and I’ve never seen a single hockey match from start to finish.
So the way to win these countries over is not to invite them to a boring party, but to leave them at the window looking in on a proverbial bash and trying desperately to get fake IDs. Cricket is an unusually technical game, and the closest it has ever come to being accessible to the casual viewer is twenty20. And let's face it, twenty20 is the only form of the sport that is likely to spread to countries that don’t currently play the game.
Can twenty20 be cricket's savior?
The immense popularity of 20-over-a-side cricket is still a bit disconcerting to the traditionalists amongst us, but its appeal is understandable. It offers sustained excitement and a shorter game that one can actually watch without taking a day off from work. Most importantly however, the shorter time-span makes the game a great leveler. It is way easier for a minnow to win a shorter game against an established team. So if minnows want to play, they should play twenty20s and leave ODIs to the big boys.
Does this mean the rise of the twenty20 and the death of the ODI as we know it? Well, if it does, then so be it. Everything must evolve. As the World Cup and also Cricinfo’s recent list showed, fewer and fewer ODIs are close games these days. As far as tactics go, there isn't a whole lot of mystery left. Teams know how to win from a winning position, so that a 7-hour game is often decided in the first 45 minutes. And if this trend continues, then what’s the point? This is not something we can even blame on the ICC or the television companies, as we have become so wont to do these days.
The ICC is usually blamed incessantly for packing in tournaments close together, but it's interesting to note that nobody is complaining about the twenty20 World Cup which is to be held in South Africa at the end of this year. That's because the cricketing community is yearning for change, excitement, and something to look forward to. Perhaps we are quietly confident, after the series of disappointments that the ODI World Cup became, that the shorter version will be the explosive revival our sport desperately needs.
Cricket needs to either change as rapidly as the world around it - with increased globalization, shorter attention spans, and less leisure time to watch sports - or else stubbornly refuse to ever change and stay put firmly where it is. This slow crawl into the 21st century is neither here nor there, and it’s leaving us all frustrated.
Co-authored by Billu @ www.billu.net
Hey fans! Yes, I'm talking to the 3 of you still reading my blog! Omar Loves Cricket is now back on the reg-u-lar. Sorry for the delay and the lapse folks. Being busy at work was the primary reason. Allow me to list the other reasons exactly why I didn't publish over the past month.
So apparently Farhat phoned the selectors asking them why he hasn't been included in the squad. Well, Farhat, you're not exactly a great player, plus you wear a bandana. And lastly, you make your daddy-in-law fight your battles for you.
The selectors have put him on probation for 6 months. Does this mean he can't play for the international team for 6 months? Let's hope so...
Didn't even know a cricket hall of fame existed. I also didn't know that it's in Hartford, Connecticut. How odd? Here is the email I got regarding Mushtaq Mohammad's induction ceremony.
On September 22, 2007 Mushtaq Mohammed will be one to the International cricket players to be inducted into the International Cricket Hall of Fame located in Hartford, CT.
He has graciously accepted his nomination and will be present at the ceremonies. Ceremony will be held at the Hartford Downtown Marriott.
A table of ten is rated at $600.00 and a single ticket is $70.00. All of our inductees receive a hall of fame ring valued at $1000.00, the person or people who sponsor the ring will have the honor of presenting that ring to Mr. Mohammed.
One would have thought thing might have changed with a new selection committee, new captain, and new goals for the PCB after the disastrous World Cup. But seems like they are continuing the trend of pumping the side full of allrounders. Since Inzamam and Younis Khan are not in the ODI squad, the logical strategy would be to search far and wide for some authentic middle order batsmen. I liked the 31 member camp before this squad was selected. It seemed like they were on the right path. There were plenty of specialist batsmen in that unit.
Why in the world do we require 8 chaps to bowl in every team that goes on to the field? This squad has no less than 10 bowlers, 5 of which are specialist!
Bowlers: Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Najaf Shah.
Allrounders: Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq
Batsmen: Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Imran Nazir,Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal (?)
We have no batsmen
Out of the remaining members, Imran Nazir also bowls a bit, which I suppose counts for something, because he can't bat too well. Salman Butt is back the squad. It is his turn after all, while Mohammad Yousuf is the only guy on the team who can actually bat. Akmal is no batsmen. On a side note, I hope they don't make him open. Even I am better than him against a seaming ball. In fact, this should be a sub-heading.
Please don't make Akmal open
Not much more to say about this. He sucks.
I feel bad for Yasir Hameed
He went to South Africa just before the WC in the squad. Now he gets selected for the next tour right after the World Cup. Yet he wasn't good enough for the WC. He must be cursing the PCB...as am I. Fucking douchebags!
Fawad Alam makes the squad. Will he make the team though?
Ahmer should be pleased as hell about this selection. It was deserving, it would seem, from the mountain of runs he has scored on the domestic circuit. I wish it was in place of Razzak though, rather than alongside him. They bring the same thing to the table. I doubt they will both play.
Billionaire Virgin Business Group boss, Richard Branson has offered to sponsor the Pakistan cricket team, currently reeling after a string of tournament defeats....
However, the embattled Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has politely refused the generous multi-million-pound offer by the cricket-mad magnate. As one harassed Board official snapped: "We can't have VIRGIN written on our shirts, when we're getting fucked in every match!"
