So why can't you play cricket today?

Majid Haq's reasons for not playing Ireland this coming week were hilarious. I guess this is how it has to be when teams don't play professional and international cricket. Cricketers need to rely on other sources of income. The quote is from Cricinfo.

"My dad runs a takeaway in Paisley and I have to help out this weekend because my mum and brother are both away in Pakistan, one of our chefs is unavailable and our delivery driver has gone to jail for three weeks."
Well, that's one reason (or two) to make yourself unavailable for Scotland. With a few players withdrawing from the Ireland match, Majid Haq's excuse was the most bizarre

Is it just me, or has this World Cup been a bit dull?

As an avid fan of cricket, I feel disillusioned with the quality of our sport's premier event. These have been a handful of good games, but nothing much else to speak of. The semi-finals were great cricket matches in their own right, but so much more was expected of them.

One might argue, and say that I am only irritated because Pakistan and India are not a part of the cup, but I don't believe that is the reason. I follow most cricket and watch games that don't involve either country. I think the cricketing world (the bloody ICC) really needs to think about the direction in which they are taking this sport. If people like me, who are born into a cricketing system, are feeling slightly disconnected from the premier cricketing event, then how can we expect new countries and new followers to absorb the game.

Several questions came to mind while discussing this tournament and cricket's state of affairs in lengthy conversations with my friend at Billu.net. These questions will be addressed by us, either in collaboration or individually, over the coming weeks.

1) What is the role of the minnow countries? Is throwing them into the deep end every 4 years really helping them out? Would something regular and structured be more appropriate?

2) Was the format of this World Cup flawed? Was it too middle-heavy (Too many games in a league type structure) with not a lot of room for unpredictability?

3) If the ICC is hellbent upon expanding cricket's reach outside of the traditional nations, then how can it truly attract audiences?

4) Cricket's influence in India, Pakistan, and the West Indies is receding with competition from soccer, rugby and basketball. Should attempts be made to reverse this trend? And if so, how can the ICC go about doing it?

The way life should be...

Zimbabwe 14/3 after Pakistan posted 349...

and Bangladesh 31/4 after Sri Lanka posted 318.

That's what we're used to. Some sort of normalcy restored in world cricket over the past few games. Though I have to say, I am all for the minnows playing and beating the test nations. It's great for cricket.

Irish spank Pakistanis - St. Patrick's Day massacre

Agreed. Massacre is too strong a word to be associated with such a fun holiday. Anyway, who cares...Pakistan is out of the WC and readers of this blog might think I am going to crawl under my shell, whine and point fingers. Not so my furry friends! Omar Loves Cricket and this blogger had actually predicted, in not so many words though, an early exit for Pakistan from the World Cup. So in my own creepy, pessimistic way, I had prepared for the worst. (What I actually claimed was that Pakistan would be one of the teams that a minnow would upset. I did think we would make the super 8's at least!) On the brighter side, I can focus my attention on all the other teams playing in the World Cup and give an impartial opinion on their progress.

Well, what better timing for Ireland that St. Patrick's day. How cute! Since I don't particularly want to delve on what went wrong right about now, I shall tell you about things that made me happy today. Fear not though, I will be scathing in my criticism of the Pakistani batting line up when I write a thorough analysis in the afternoon tomorrow. I need the night to tone down my response and perhaps make it articulate and eloquent. Tall order.

So random fun story of the day: I was on my way back from NYC after watching the Irish bumjack Pakistan, when I was about to get off at my train station when someone calls my name. Turns out, it was old friend from college. He was on his way to Philadelphia and I haven't seen him in a few years. How bloody random is that?! He is Pakistani too, but has no clue whatsoever about cricket or anything, so I was more than happy (eager and persuasive rather...) to pull him off the train and catch up over a drink. Quite refreshing to forget about the loss, and to reconnect with a friend.

Feel free to post your thoughts and comments on Pakistan's early departure...

Gibbs smashes 36 in an over!

Umm...Yeah. 6 sixers! Unbelievable. The Eng-NZ match had its lunch break, so I switched over to the SA-Netherlands game. Herchelle Gibbs just hit 36 runs in an over. That is just unbelievable. From Cricinfo...

29.6 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, He has done it! One-day record. No one has hit six sixes in a row. Gibbs stands alone in that zone. And the minnow bashing continues! Full and outside off and bludgeoned over long off
29.5 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Short in length, on the off stump line and Gibbs rocks back and swat-pulls it over wide long off. Simply amazing. What a batsman. This is pure violence!
29.4 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Wah Wah! Low full toss and guess where this went Yep. A slap slog and it went over deep midwicket! He is going to go for 6 sixes in this over!
29.3 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Carnage! Flatter one this time but it makes no difference to Gibbs. He just stands there and delivers. This one also has been sucked over long off
29.2 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Murder! Floated on the leg and middle stump line and Gibbs sends it soaring over long-off.
29.1 van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Violence! Gibbs charged down the track and hoicked it over long on.

Pakistan unconvincing in victory over Canada

Which is perfectly fine, because I feel that's all we're going to get from Pakistan if they're going to win games this World Cup. It's hard to analyze the result from the scorecard itself, without watching it live, so I'm not going to indulge in reading between the lines of their performance too much. It was a warm up game for sure, but Pakistan will be concerned that their openers couldn't last 10 overs. But there is a bright side...

Younis Khan has been promoted to opener, which is about bloody time. I think it solves a key issue. For one thing, What is interesting is that YounisYounis Khan has played pretty much as an opener anyway, since our actual openers don't seem to last very long. Secondly, this means we're sending our best players first. I like how Mohammad Yousuf went one-down and Inzi went two down. Not only is this a confidant message to the opposition, but it means our best players get the most time out there in the middle.

Strange that we're experimenting so close to the WC. I would have hoped that we had these plans setup prior to the warm ups.

Anyway, another positive is that Pakistan still bats pretty deep. The loss of Razzaq will be effectively nullified by Azhar Mahmood. Mahmood may not have Razzaq's penchant for the big shots, but Mahmood can be pretty handy himself late in the game.

The negatives are obvious. Rana Naveed sucks and I have no clue what is wrong with him. If our opening bowling can't pierce Canada's armor, then what hope do we have against the rest of the countries? Umar Gul, should have bowled more than 4 overs. I hope he isn't injured. The bulletin didn't say anything though.

We also lost 4 wickets under 100 runs. That isn't cool. Its a nice strategy to send our best players first, but the buggers need to bat the first 10 overs out.

Blame Canada ... but not Pakistan's poor cricket form

Sheila (Kyle's mom): Times have changed, our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents they just want to fart and curse

Mrs. Marsh: Should we blame the government? Ms. Cartman: Or blame society?

Boys fathers: Or should we blame the images on TV?

Sheila(Kyle's mom): No,blame Canada, blame Canada
With all their beedy little eyes have packed their heads so full of lies, blame Canada, blame Canada,
we need to form a full assault its Canada's fault.

Courtesy: STLyrics.com

I want to hear Inzi's comments after this game. He might as well quote Kyle's mom in his post match interview, because he sure as hell doesn't think anything is wrong with our side.

South Park aside, Canada are in the process of wiping out Pakistan's top order. That's right. Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf are both in the pavilion. If we lose this game, its going to be pretty depressing and embarrassing. Though, I'd rather lose a warm-up then go down to Kenya.

Zimbabwe and Ireland seem to be equally, if not tougher, than Canada. We're done for.

Sigh...

Pakistan are going to go down this WC. I feel that amongst all the 'giant' test playing nations, we have the greatest probability of losing to a minnow.

Minnows played some interesting cricket today

I like the minnows. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They are also incredibly confidant in their own ability. They know their limits and are eager to learn, absorb and enjoy the moment. It's sad that everyone and their mother feels they shouldn't play, because their presence is charming and if we have anything to go by in today's warm up games, we shouldn't discount them with the disdain that they have been getting in the press the past couple of weeks.

Though they may have lost all 4 games today, I think Ireland and Kenya really ought to be proud of themselves. They really gave the South Africans and West Indians a wake up call.

Bermuda may have been thrashed by England by a mountain of runs, but their own 270 pound mountain of an off spinner, Dwayne Leverock, was apparently very impressive. Plus they had England in some trouble before Dalrymple came along.

Sri Lanka were clinical against Scotland, but at least the Scots past 40 overs.

These are the sorts of positives that the minnows must take from World Cup. They are playing the best countries and they are undoubtedly learning a lot. Plus their gameplay today is a sign that they are making the test playing nations think twice and play less casually. Michael Holding and others are wrong in assuming that this experience is useless. Being allowed to play in the World Cup is what these minnows work very hard towards and now that they are here to stay, cricket on the whole will benefit from their growing achievements. We should support them.