Guess who's back?....back again!

Nope, It's not Slim Shady. It's me!

So what gives? Where in the world did I disappear to? Well, to be frank, the amnesia after a dull world cup, coupled with Woolmer's death, and the usual crap state of affairs in Pakistani cricket were certainly not inspiring events. But more importantly, I needed to prioritize my work towards the end of June, as I needed to get my research back on track. (I'm a graduate student). Sigh...

However, being a cricket blogger, I like blame. As a result, most of the blame for sucking up my cricket time this summer lies squarely on the fluffy shoulders of the newest rascal in my apartment. Let me introduce you to Oscar. Doesn't he look pretty guilty as well?I knew getting a puppy would be tough, but had no idea it would be this hard. But with persistence and patience, he's come a long way. We are both are getting along just fine after a tumultuous and rocky initial period, where we were trying to figure each other out. I think I am just about ready to restart writing about cricket. Here's another picture for you to shoot darts at.

OmarLovesCricket is back

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.

1. Work. Yes, Work, meetings, project deadlines
2. Boring bloody world cup. Not much excitement, right?
3. I started playing World of Warcraft again. I am a Tauren warrior. Don't hate.
   
4. Family was visiting from here and there
5. That's about it, really

See you guys on the blogosphere!

Omar @ OmarLovesCricket

I finally win something!

That's right folks, Omar at omarlovescricket finally wins a competition related to cricket. The email that was sent to me, announcing me as a winner, had this fancy animation on the left.

Does that mean I am now the undisputed name in cricket blogging? No, not really.

So does this mean I am the best cricket quiz taker west of the Suez? No, not really.

Does this mean I owe KingCricket a drink at a bar for picking my name out of his hat. Probably!

So KingCricket held a competition on his blog and I, amongst many people, got the answer right and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the 5 winners. Thanks to king and thanks to the publishers who held this competition. I received my price, a book entitled, "Penguins stopped Play", in the mail this past week. I haven't read it as yet, but it seems amusing. A review from me is in the works!

However, if you're interested, be sure to check out these other reviews which I came across. Tim de Lisle, who we all know, enjoyed the book and discussed it in the Guardian. While, the book enjoyed some more praise on Sarah Bookarama's blog.

I miss the India-Pakistan Sharjah games

Yes, I know its completely besides the point, but its my party and I'll cry if I want to.

I loved watching those killer games on TV. Seemed like Sharjah was the perfect avenue, home ground to neither side, and electric crowds, though it seemed like there was always more Pakistani support. Indian fans though must have loved those epic ODI battles too. Remember all those banners that fans used to put up? "Hey Pakistan, It's not Friday anymore.." and so on! Stuff like that?
Too bad gambling and match fixing took Sharjah completely off the cricketing radar. I really hope we can start playing there again. Did you know that that stadium at Sharjah has hosted the most ODI's in the world? I think I'm right. I could double check, but that would involve me doing work. Can somebody double check for me? I will give you an awesome gift.

Plus, this way I can also see if people are still reading my blog!

Anyway, I haven't written in a while, but that's mainly because I have been a bit disillusioned by cricket in general. The loss of our coach, the issues of throwing matches surfacing again, and the plague of crowd trouble in India and Pakistan is disturbing. But rather than be docile and depressed about it, I want to enter into a healthy debate with my readers and will be addressing these issues over the next few days.

10 hours to go - I am so bloody nervous

Pakistan's opener against the West Indies is in less than 10 hours. I can't sleep! I am so nervous. I want Pakistan to win, but realistically speaking, I don't think we will make the final 4. Anyway, as usual, I am being too pessimistic, so I'll just shut up.

Where was omarlovescricket?
Fans of this blog may be wondering where I disappeared for the past 4 days. Well, its spring break here, and I took to the weekend off to attend to family matters and some other personal stuff. Not that you care, but if you're really bored, you can email me and ask me about my weekend. Jokes aside, I knew, that with the WC starting, I am going to be eating, breathing and umm, chewing(?) cricket for the next month or so. So the best time for a break from blogging is probably right about now!

Update on past issues
I will continue posting the wicket keeping study as it is still incomplete. Some of you were genuinely interested, while others were shocked at how much time I have to waste looking at Excel sheets. I have spent way too long fudging data around, so readers of this blog will indulge in my exuberance for a bit longer. I am still working on those bloody Excel sheets but am awaiting word from Cricinfo about using their database for ball-by-ball data. Fingers are crossed!

A bit of recognition
This blog, and more importantly other fine cricketing blogs, including our pet project, Cricket.bloggers.pk, were highlighted in Pakistan's Spider Magazine which deals with Internet related stuff. Pretty cool right? The review about my blog was amusing though. He wrote "The language used is one that the reader can easily comprehend, which makes the pieces more effective." Hmm! I think he's saying I am a dumb-ass. Maybe I need to spice my writing up a bit!

Back from California: omarlovescricket returns to cricket blogging

Ah - I'm back from sunny San Francisco. It was a welcome break away from the bitter cold. Though, upon my return, I learned that the weather this past weekend at home was actually pretty warm. Balls! Such is my luck.

What you missed
Fans and haters of omarlovescricket must visit the Bay area at some point. There is no cricket there, unfortunately, but there are plenty of wineries, even more wineries, spectacular views and great food! It's a beautiful city. Very picturesque.

Cricket stuff I missed
Upon my return, I was excited to learn that Australia have been white-washed in New Zealand. Well that's spectacular news! Always refreshing to see the great Aussies getting whipped. Naturally, Gilchrist followed up their embarrassing series loss with the expected, "We didn't really want to tour New Zealand in the first place" argument. Well, Mr. Gilchrist, boo fucking hoo!

Mathew Hayden smashed 181 runs! Bloody hell. King can't be too pleased about this. Apparently Hayden also poked fun at Inzi after his feat, which doesn't make me too happy either.

I was gone for a week, which is adequate time for a Pakistani controversy. Apparently Woolmer called Shoaib Akhtar "blacky". Sigh....

Ahmer sums it up.

Pakistan is also in the midst of dope testing all its players. The whole world awaits the results...

Michael Holding, another omarhatescricket favorite, in an undiplomatic manner, slams the associate nations playing the World Cup. Zainub at Sundries sums it up. Though I agree with Holding, I also recognize that the ICC isn't perhaps doing enough to promote the quality of cricket in these nations. I am, however, confidant that these nations will improve with time.

And last but not least, another cricketing hate list spawns. Billu.net has recently just launched a blog series discussing (or rather cursing) various characters they don't want to ever invite for dinner.

Vacation time....

Vacation time for me in sunny California!

Be back online on the 20th of Feb!

Saeed Anwar shaves past WG Grace in latest poll standings

An exciting poll comes to an end. 64 people voted in this fortnights poll, making it the most popular poll on this site thus far, breaking the previous record of 30 people. Give yourselves a hand! Admittedly, most of the numbers were probably me trying to rack up hits from various computers. Nevertheless, I present the results of this fortnights poll question: Who has the longest beard?

Selection		Votes
W. G. Grace	27%	17
Mohd. Yousuf	9%	6
Hashim Amla	14%	9
Saeed Anwar	50%	32
64 votes total

So Saeed Anwar, according to popular opinion has the longest beard. Mohammad Yousuf, a relatively recent addition to the the bearded club, scored the highest number of run in a calendar year last year in an unrelated fact. Hashim Amla, quite controversially beats Yousuf in the poll. Hashim, who is currently doing quite well in the 1st test in South Africa, has no comment on this issue. I actually thought WG Grace's beard was the longest in those pictures....Anyway, keep an eye out for the next poll soon!

Vacation, Christmas gifts and Poll Results

Vacation was lazy...
I am back from vacation! Got some great Christmas gifts too. Seeing how my life revolves around cricket, it was no surprise that my friends bought me the appropriate gifts. I still pretended to be surprised though!

The booty...
The girlfriend bought Cricket and the Law for me! Thanks S! This is a bit of a heavier read but it discusses cricket's evolution, the rules, how they came to be broken, the fine line between sportsmanship and the law. Quite cool. Pakistan is featured quite a bit! Hmm...I wonder why!?

Another friend bought Cricket's Strangest Matches for me. I had been eyeing this book for a while now. But ofcourse its always less fun when one has to buy it himself. Been through a few pages so far and It's quite cool. It goes way back to crickets first games. Though not certain, I believe it includes games up till the early 90's.

Though I didn't get a gift subscription, my friend from England sent me a single magazine issue that I had not heard of...All Out Cricket. I like it. Darren Gough is the guest editor for this issue. Though its expensive to subscribe to it, the website doesn't offer subscriptions to the US. Strange! I emailed the folks there. Lets see what they say.

Poll predicts South African victory
So the omarlovescricket poll of the fortnight has revealed that 63 percent of the world* thinks South Africa will win the test series against India. More on this later

*19 people to be precise

Poll shows 97% of the world* thinks Australia will win the Ashes

There you have it folks. The people have spoken. Australia will win the Ashes.

Though some might say 30 is too small of a polling number to make such broad-based assumptions, I shall stand by my poll and claim that it was a fair survey. I feel 30 a fairly decent sub-section of our populace, and this blog probably attracts a diverse community! The blog stats, after all, indicate that most of my visitors actually hail from the UK. So, in conclusion, 29 to 1, or 97% feel the Aussies will win.

In other news, I shall update my blog poll of the week...umm every week.

*refers to the 30 chaps who took my poll.

Thanksgiving break: No cricket for me this weekend

I'll be back writing this coming Monday. See you soon