Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan

Cricinfo 3D is a new web utility created by Cricinfo to give an interesting twist to the live commentary that we have all frequently enjoyed. This is a shockwave utility designed to be an added feature to compliment the text commentary produced by Cricinfo. Programmers will feed data into the system and as soon as the page refreshes a 3D display will play out the characters with the bowler trudging to bowl and a graphic of the batsman hitting the shot. Though I saw this the first time today while Sachin and this compadres pounded the hell out of the West Indies in the 4th ODI thought I was unable to compare the accuracy with the actual shot played on TV and neither was I able to judge the lag between the update and the shot played. A demo clip after the jump

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Teeth Maestro.

The selectors are in the process of whittling down the World Cup team from 30 probables. The only chance Shahid Afridi had of making the WC team was his selection for the ODI’s against South Africa. Otherwise it would be too late and not enough match practice for him. And based on his horrendous performance in 2006, that could never have happened.

But lo and behold, he’s back, and the selectors have made it pretty clear that he has been chosen primarily because of the pre-2006 years. It’s a strange reason and poor selection on their part. Why on earth can’t Pakistan just move on and live life without him? It doesn’t make sense to me.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Omar Haq.

Amongst other complaints, respected columnist Ian Wooldridge in the Daily Mail calls for Pakistan’s removal from the World Cup in light of the controversial drug appeals for Shoaib and Asif.

Cricket’s World Cup opens next month in the West Indies. I may just be alone in anticipating its start with a violent political explosion — a demand for the expulsion of Pakistan.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Omar Haq.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Danish Kaneria. I saw him on a plane once, showing a picture of a hot woman in a magazine to Kamran Akmal. I found it amusing. He seems friendly. And he has an innocent look about him, like he’s not hiding anything.

Unfortunately, that’s the problem. What he’s actually like as a person I can only guess, but it’s quite clear that as a bowler, he’s not hiding anything. He has no tricks up his sleeve. Or up anything, for that matter.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Billu.net .

Mohammad Yousuf who recently set lots of records and consider Richards his “guru” recently sang praises of Australian Captain Ricky Ponting on his amazing performance. Yousuf says:

Sometimes we struggle in parts of the world where wickets favour the bowlers, but that does not happen to him. He used to have a little bit of trouble in places like India or Sri Lanka, but he has shown in the last few years that he now plays very well there. He is very strong, mentally and physically.

He further says:

The best batsmen I have seen in my lifetime are Viv [Richards] and [Brian] Lara, and they are some of the best in history. I think Ricky is as good as any of them. I have never seen anything like him. I have seen Ponting in a lot of matches, and he is the best player in the world at the moment. He can beat any bowler.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Adnan Siddiqi.

So finally we lost the 3rd test by 5 wickets as well as the series by 2-1. Credit goes to Kallis and Prince who played wonderful 5th wicket partnership eased the victory for Proteas. Apart from Pakistani defeat, I must say that entire series was interesting and Pakistanis did fight back.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Adnan Siddiqi.

After injuries and wickets were being discussed more than the actual performances, the series against South Africa came to an end, with South Africa winning the third & final test on the 3rd day, and winning the series 2 – 1.

Its interesting that after the third straight series for Pakistan, the positives remain the same, and so do the negatives. Discussing these really does feel like Deja Vu!

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Ahmer Karimuddin.

South Africa won the final test match yesterday, thus wrapping up an exciting test series. Pakistan gave them a good fight till the last ball was bowled. In a series where wickets fell frequently, it was South Africa’s superior batting resilience that set them ahead of their opponent. Prince, especially, has emerged as an effective scrapper, and has blossomed into a legitimate late middle-order batsmen. His style and success in this series, probably makes Pakistan regret in hindsight, to not give Asim Kamal a game. Both Kamal and Prince batsmen are quite similar in their approach; uncomplicated, yet technically sound players, who put a price on their wicket. As far as the big guns go, Pakistan’s celebrated middle order, showed up to the party in patches, but were unable to forge big partnerships with each other. Some observations…

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Omar Haq.

As a physician, there have been multiple times that I have shaken my head whenever Pakistan’s injury woes have cropped up. Over the past few years, it has been the same list of injuries: Shoaib Malik’s ankle, Umar Gul’s back, Shoaib Akhtar’s foot or hamstring or knee, Inzamam’s back and on and on and on. Either its the same injury recurring multiple ways, or it is injuries which can be clearly be blamed on poor preparation (hamstring’s or groin strain’s).My intuitive feelings about the situation often lead me to conclude that perhaps it was just Compton the team physio, and Bob Woolmer who had to make the majority of these decisions, and that is what is the problem here. I must say, in my mind, Shoaib Akhtar’s continuous solicitation of outside opinions did push me towards thinking that this was a ship with no captain.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Ahmer Karimuddin.

In this post, Teeth Maestro refutes my (and to some extent, Omar’s) argument that Shoaib Akhtar should play on the Pakistan team based on performance and not personality. His point is that Shoaib’s unruliness and disregard for authority splinters the Pakistan team, generating a lack of discipline and unity.

As usual, I have something to say about this.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Billu.net .