Ball Tampering – The accusers are the accused! August 27, 2008
Posted by Atif Mumtaz in Cricket.Tags: ashes, australia, ball tampering, Cricket, england, Pakistan
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For decades, British cricketers and their press has been trying to implicate (quite unsuccessfully) Pakistani great fast bowlers like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis into ball tampering. These and other such great fast bowlers were able to mesmerize their batsmen for decades. Match after match, the English batsmen would fail miserably against their style of attacking fast bowling.
However, a revelation by Marcus Trescothic (a former English batsmen) in his recently published autobiography reveals that he used mint induced sliva to shine the cricket ball so that it would swing ominously. This “tampered” ball was able to let England win back the Ashes after over 21 years from Australia in a tightly fought battle in 2005. Now, however, we know, it was not all fair play.
Angus Fraser reacted this revelation saying,
“To me it is a total hypocrisy on what is deemed to be ball tampering. When Pakistan were accused of ball tampering it was built into something that was abhorrent. Ball tampering is ball tampering whether you scratch the ball or whether you deliberately put in sugary saliva on it to aid its shine so I don’t see any difference between one and the either.
Somehow, it does not feel right. When Pakistan is blamed for ball tampering, a whole match gets awarded to England and players get banned. The press cries foul and blames everyone in Pakistan. And when Englishmen do the same and admit to the guilt, nothing happens.
The Australians were asked of their opinion of Englismen using illegal methods to defeat them during the Ashes battle, they simply brushed it away. Which is quite odd, as they were up in arms against Pakistan when the same thing was accused on them.
If English Cricket Board choses not to take action against its players who were involved in ball tampering then it would be a clear message to the cricketing world.
It is ok for us, the Englishmen to cheat, as long as we can win.
Cricket or Not! August 22, 2008
Posted by Atif Mumtaz in Cricket, Pakistan.Tags: champions trophy, Cricket, Pakistan
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So as it boils down to whether the “white” nations (Australia, England and New Zealand) will make a trip down to Pakistan to play in the forthcoming Champions Trophy is now up in the air. From the messages being received here, it is evident that they will probably not come, which is really a pity. However, teams from all other nations including India, West Indies and Sri Lanka among others see no issue with traveling to Pakistan and pleasing the crowds with a fiercely fought Champions Trophy competition.
Here in Pakistan, 160 Million people are anxiously awaiting to see some action on the cricket field. The nation has been deprived of it for the most part of this year due to various tour cancellations and reschedulings.
My question to the cricketers from Australia, England and New Zealand is, “Are your lives far more important than the lives of Pakistanis? We can venture out to watch you play and guarantee your safety. But you are still too insecure!”
If you do not want to come, then don’t, but don’t make a big fuss about it either. Let us enjoy the cricket tournament here in peace while you stay in doors at home and watch it from your TV screens.
My blogs getting Blogged August 7, 2008
Posted by Atif Mumtaz in reviews.Tags: blogged, blogs, personal
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Yes, that’s true. It always surprises me when someone quotes one of my blogs in their blog. And then a stream of hits starts pouring into my blogworld. It’s always fun to read what others think about what I write. And also how wide the audience is becoming with each blog that I write. So keep reading and linking back to me, and I will continue to add new and interesting blogs out here.
