It has been a long time coming but perhaps it is finally here for Pakistan. Things have been going wrong in the Pakistan camp for some time now and the latest controversies and problems will hopefully be the end of the line for the existing Pakistani set-up.
Recent problems, such as Shahid Afridi’s ban, Shoaib and Asif’s bans / injuries and the failure to get through to the group stages of the World Cup have led to a shambolic state of affairs, which have been finished off by the resignation of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, not to mention most of the PCB.

Jamaican police have said that the death of Bob Woolmer is “suspicious”, following an inconclusive post-mortem, which presumably means that they couldn’t verify that Woolmer died of a heart attack. As yet, no-one has suggested exactly what “suspicious” might mean, but should their suspicions be correct then it will be one of two things: suicide, or, more likely, that other persons were involved, and so feasibly manslaughter or murder.
It’s an incredible situation, but not in a good way. Further tests on his body will aim to clarify, but to think that Woolmer may have been murdered (or committed suicide) is …read more

There were no prisoners yesterday, as the first weekend of the cricket World Cup 2007 claimed two high profile victims. First up was Pakistan versus Ireland, and on St. Patrick’s day of all days. And although the Irish rugby team narrowly missed out on the Six Nations crown, the Irish cricket team were on top form to embarass one of the teams tipped to win the World Cup. As was the norm for these “giants vs minnows” matches, the giants were batting first, but were humbled by some superb bowling and were bowled out cheaply for just 132. The innings …read more

The argument over the Ovalgate continues to rage. Despite Pakistan getting their way and having Darrell Hair removed from International duty, they’re still unwilling to cough up the requested £800,000 in compensation for the forfeiture of the game. Instead, they’ve come up with a new plan: they’ll play cricket against us.

“We have told (ECB chairman) David Morgan that we are willing to play a one-dayer next summer in England and revenues earned from that game after deducting expenses can be taken as compensation.”

Admittedly, I don’t know how a profit share of International matches usually works but this idea of a …read more

The charges of ball-tampering against Inzamam Ul Haq were today repudiated as ICC “judge” Sanjan Madugalle decided there was insufficient evidence to uphold the charge. However, he did find Inzy guilty of bringing the game into disrepute after twice refusing to bring his players out to the field. For this offence, he was banned for 4 ODI’s. It seems sense has prevailed. Or has it?

The inquiry in to the ball-tampering scandal gets underway at The Oval today, which will hopefully put this whole thing to bed. If you missed out on this whole affair then read my “as it happened” and then check out the BBC’s timeline.

The “trial” of Inzamam Ul Haq, accused of ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute begins on Wednesday and will take two days. The decision, to be made by ICC Chief Referee Sanjan Madugalle, will be announced on Friday. Inzy faces forfeiture of his match fees and possibly a ban from the game.
And, in a cruel twist of fate, where will the hearing be held? The Oval, where it all kicked off. Ought to be an interesting few days.

Pakistan lead the one day series 1-0. A lot has been made of England’s outright rubbishness when it comes to one day cricket – I’m struggling to remember a game in the last 2 years where we looked like we could play. Heck, we were even congratulated ourselves when we “didn’t lose” (in the traditional sense of the word) the first match of the series, which was lost to bad weather. What’s with the all the mutual back scratching and political correctness, though?

England gifted the Twenty20 to Pakistan on a plate. England were rubbish and got stuffed by a vastly superior Pakistan one day outfit. Shoaib Aktor recently back from injury, and Mohammad Asif (just back) bowled accurately, reducing a promising 40-0 to 55-3, with KP scoring another golden duck, his second to Asif in as many matches. Strauss only lasted a ball longer than KP, and Collingwood’s 2 in 11 balls left the score at 60 odd for 4. Trescothick looked in top form and made a match top score of 53. Jamie Dalrymple and Mike Yardy, both new to the …read more

Well someone had to make the joke. Darrell Hair has finally spoken up (in as much as the media have finally managed to print something) and has basically said what we were all thinking. Like everyone else involved in the whole saga, he’s sticking to his guns. He’s said he was just doing his job as well as believing he was right. Was he? Well that’s what the poll is for. So get voting.
Quite how this has angered the whole sub-continent, though, is quite beyond me. Whilst controversial, you can’t argue with the fact that Hair was simply doing his …read more