According to the ICC, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were unable to provide a guarantee during a teleconference on Wednesday that there would be no rains in Colombo during the tournament which runs from September 24-October 5.

I know what that means but the wording suggests that SLC were supposed to garantee a rain-free tournament.

So now what. The ICC expects cricket boards to play the role of rain Gods?

Can South African garantee that there will be no rain there when the Champions Trophy is played?

Can England garantee that there will be no rain during the T20 World Cup or the Ashes?

Can India garantee that there will be no rain during the ICC World Cup in 2011?

Can the ICC garantee that there will be no rain tomorrow?

The British Foreign Secretary (David Miliband) said the following regarding the England tour of India:

"Because it reaches out to India which has been wronged; because it shows confidence and commitment; and because it says terrorism will not win."

Excellent statement. Bravo Mr. Miliband! That's the way to go.

However, it makes things a lot more confusing when teams continue not to tour Pakistan.

I'm the first to admit that touring Pakistan is not ideal. And I'm all for England to go to India, and I'm excited about the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, etc.

But it's becoming a fairly obvious and unapologetic double standard with regard to touring Pakistan. Osman Samiuddin has written an interesting article on Cricinfo today around this topic. Worth a read.

The ICC is digging a deep hole for itself. It has not set any standards, nor has it addressed any precedent. Remember, security was not officially an issue for the Champions Trophy - it was the teams/players that were not comfortable touring on their own hunch, and the ICC decided to "postpone" (read cancel) it.

The infusion of statements from government (like that of Miliband) further compounds the situation. So is the UK govt admitting that terrorists won when the Champions Trophy in Pakistan was postponed?

It's not just bullets and bombs that will thwart terrorists. Bats and balls could have an even greater impact and provide a lot of hope. Whether it's the UK, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or anywhere else on earth.

(PS: If you want to leave hostile/political/jingoistic comments, please leave them on some other blog - there are plenty out there. This blog is for reasonable discussion only.)

Here's the schedule for next year's Champions League:

The second Champions Twenty20 League will take place next year between September 25 and October 11, and will feature 12 teams, four more than the first edition to be held between December 3-10, 2008.

I think this significant for two reasons. First, ICC had postponed the Champions Trophy to Oct 2009, still to be held in Pakistan. The scheduling of the Champions League basically shows that there is very little faith in Pakistan hosting the tournament. Unless ICC comes back with a strong statement criticizing the schedule, assume that the 2008 Champions Trophy is canceled. You can also assume that Pakistan won't be hosting any non-Asian teams anytime soon.

Second, it's also an indication of the worthlessness of the Champions Trophy as a tournament. In the wake of a Twenty20 world, it seems to be the ugly duckling of events.

My suggestion: cancel the 2008/09 version, and stick with the 2010 version in the Caribbean - if only to redeem themselves for a sub-par World Cup (btw, I assign very little blame to the Windies for the failure of the WC - the ICC was the biggest culprit). After 2010, let the tournament fade into obscurity. No one will care.

I'm not sure why countries can't organize more meaningful tri or quad series, rather than large tournaments which almost always don't live up to expectations.

BTW, interesting fact, Pakistan will end up not playing a single Test in 2008! Incredible!

As everyone knows, the 2008 Champions Trophy has been postponed. Probably the right decision (IMO) when everything is taken into consideration, but it does come with some consequences.

Here are a few thoughts...

• The five countries to pull out have set a poor precedent - that countries can unilaterally pull out without fear of punishment. If it applies to teams like SA (who, btw, safely and successfully toured Pakistan more than any other non-Asian team in the recent past), it should apply to everyone else. I understand the concerns over security, but then other countries can have their own concerns too in the future, maybe not limited to security (political, logistical, financial, etc). Can ICC define security as the sole acceptable reason to meddle with a tournament/series? Or are we just opening up a Pandora's box?

• Is the Champions Trophy even worth it anymore? I know this is kinda of a rehash of the same ol' T20 vs ODI discussion. But even logistically, we have a Champions Trophy scheduled in April 2010 in West Indies. So two CTs in the span of six months? That won't happen. Something will have to give.

• ICC has basically given a blank check for any team not to tour Pakistan at any point. I can completely understand the fears of the players. And I know comparisons to Ashes/London bombings, or IPL/Jaipur, etc. may not be completely warranted, but it's something to think about. IMO, nothing would ever have happened to the players. But the overall climate resulting from any untoward incidents in Pakistan off the cricket field would have made things quite uncomfortable for all involved.

• For Pakistanis, I think it is very disappointing. Cricket is a diversion for the ordinary citizen and it would have felt good for Pakistanis to host the entire cricketing world. But, I think there is one other reason that led to the CT postponement - the lack of attendance in Pakistan's matches. It may not be an immediately obvious cause, but the near empty stands in recent matches (even some involving Pakistan were very poorly attended) makes it easier for the authorities to make decisions without taking into account the fans. Pakistanis have to start working on this. Many matches are basically free and still attendance is abysmal.

• I'm confused by countries' earlier willingness to send weaker teams. I would not feel too great if I were a "weaker" player, knowing that my life is not as valuable as others!

• A month of no cricket is way too juicy for teams and boards to ignore. While it's a good time for a rest for players, it's also a great time to make money (like it or not, that's the way things run). Expect some interesting ad-hoc series and tournaments in the next few weeks.

Just a month to go till the Champions Trophy, and things aren't looking good for Pakistan. One of the three venues - Rawalpindi - has been scratched for security reasons (but credit to PCB for rewriting the schedule to accommodate the two venues).

Sporadic violence continues in Pakistan. And, players are still expressing apprehension about touring, and no cricket board has taken a step in any direction that would shed some light.

Now Pakistan's coach, Geoff Lawson, has been sent to meet cricket boards in order to convince them to send full strength teams to Pakistan. That means the Pakistan team will be minus its coach as it prepares for the tournament (I wonder if that makes any difference!).

And to top it all off, the legislative assemblies in Pakistan have launched an impeachment movement against President Musharraf. This may or may not have lots of implications, depending on how things go. Whatever the case, the timing could not have been worse, unless he resigns soon in which case things will calm down.

So, let's see what happens. This should be an interesting month!

It was quite a happening weekend in Dubai where I was attending a conference, meeting up and socializing with some old friends, and doing everything unrelated to cricket.

But for some reason, cricket refuses to leave me.

Inzamam Ul Haq happened to be staying at the same hotel where my conference was. He was there with family in tow. Probably enjoying the summer heat of Dubai.

Its definitely the worst time of the year to come to this part of the world so I'm not sure what Inzi was doing here.

I heard Younis Khan is in Saudi Arabia for an Umrah (the religious pilgrimage) - maybe Inzi stopped by on his way there.

In striking contrasting styles, another cricketer, namely Yuvraj Singh, chatted up Well Pitched blogger O2's wife at the Mall of the Emirates when a polite request for an autograph was met with demands for taking him partying around Dubai's night spots.

All this while his team mates Sachin, Karthik, and Gambhir piled 50s against a Sri Lankan Board XI.

Speaking of Karthik, I wonder why fellow blogger Ottayan keeps calling him "Kaarthick" - someting to do with numerology Ott?

Later at night I sent an SMS to O2 asking if he was partying with Yuvraj and I got an instant reply that read:

"Hahaha. No Scene. Sleazy B£$&%^*!"

Well thats Yuvi for you I guess.

Kapil Dev today had his thoughts on him too when he said "He must exhibit his talent at a proper place rather than elsewhere".

India's test series against Sri Lanka seems to be building up well with the hype around Mendis along with the return of Sachin and him aproaching Brian Lara's record for most rest runs.

I just hope the matches aren't high scoring boring draws.

My blogging frequency dipped during last week as I got busy planning my month long sabbatical in August, which was quite a tough task.

Its almost done now. I will be away for all of August but I'm sure Obaid, Sledge, Nazhar, and O2 will be able to keep you entertained.

I'll be back in time for the Champions Trophy, the location of which we still don't know.

What I also don't know is how I will keep track of the cricket blogosphere while I'm away.

I disappear for a weekend and I find that J Rod has posted more than what other blogs do in a weeks time. This is a month I'm talking about.

Oh well, I'll find out soon enough.

There won't be much cricket to miss though or will there?

Sachin getting to 12,000 test runs, Mendis breaking the record for most wickets in a 3-test series, South Africa winning their first series in England since their readmission, Asif winning his doping case, another doping scandal for Pakistan cricket as yesterday's test results come out may be just some of the stories that would be written on while I'm away.

I'm here for another week though but still doing quite a bit of planning.

There are 5 uncapped players in Pakistan's 30 probables for the Champions Trophy including Anwar Ali, whom we have talked about several times, in addition to some new names that have appeared on a Pakistan team sheet for the first time.

Here's a glimpse on who they are.

Ahmed Shehzad: This boy from Lahore is only 16 years old and has been a successful opener for the Pakistan U-19 team and for Lahore.

Shehzad made his frst class debut in the 2006-07 season playing for Lahore, though it was this season (2007-08) that he established himself as one of the most promising upcoming cricketers in Pakistan.

Even though he didn't taste success in first-class cricket, Shehzad had a very successful List A season opening for the Lahore Eagles scoring 360 runs in 8 innings at an average of 51.42.

He played his debut List A match against the visiting South Africans last October and impressed with an aggressive 35 at the top of the order against the likes of Pollock, Ntini, and Nel.

On the U-19 circuit, Shehzad has been one of the best batsmen around. He was the 2nd highest run scorer for Pakistan in the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, and also impressed everyone with his strokeplay in youth tests and ODIs against England and Australia last year.

His 2nd innings 167 was instrumental in leading Pakistan to a 3 wicket win over England in the 2nd Youth test that helped Pakistan draw the 2-test series 1-1.

Against the touring U19 Australians, Shehzad played a major part in leading Pakistan to a 5-0 sweep of the ODI series with a 115 in the 3rd ODI and an unbeaten 99 in the 5th.

Chances: This call up should act as a confidence booster for Shehzad and during the camp next month, it would do him good to get some advice from the likes of Misbah, Salman Butt, and Younis Khan. He wouldn't be expecting a call to the final 15, though he would know that with another 3-4 years of successful domestic seasons, he has a good chance of playing for Pakistan.

Azhar Ali: Another young boy from Lahore, Azhar has been around the domestic scene for a number of seasons, however it was this season that he caught the eye of the selectors during the ABN Amro One-Day Cup Competition.

Playing for Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Azhar impressed with a string of performances displaying his form in each outing with scores of 106*, 49, 60, 119, 88, 47, and 67.

Azhar finished the ABN Amro Cup as the leading run scorer with 558 runs in 9 innings at an average of 79.71 that led him to being the only non-international batsmen among the leading run scorers in List A games for the 2007-08 season in Pakistan.

He also had a fairly successful first class season scoring 603 runs at an average of 50 with 4 centuries and a 50.

Chances: With Mohammad Yousuf missing in action, the selectors could be bold and draft in Azhar Ali who has shown immense potential as a middle order batsman in domestic cricket. Though I think the selectors would prefer to go in with tried and tested names such as Mohamma Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, and Bazid Khan. If Azhar can continue to display the same form in the coming seasons, he could soon find himself fitting into the Ageing Pakistani middle order.

Mohammad Aamer: This Rawal Pindi boy recently made the headlines when Wasim Akram mentioned in an interview that he would draft this 16 year old left arm fast bowler into the national set up right away.

Wasim Akram had pointed out Aamer during the same fast bowlers camp last year, in which he had spotted Sohail Tanvir.

Aamer played his first List A game as recently as March in this season's ABN Amro One Day Cup Competition, in which he represented the Rawal Pindi Rams. He was impressive on his debut itself picking up figures of 3-35.

In 8 matches in the ABN Amro cup, Aamer picked up 14 wickets at 21.92 finishing among the leading wicket takers in the competition.

Prior to this, Aamer had also impressed at the U19 level. He started this yearsU19 World Cup with a figures of 3-12 against Malaysia, however due to a viral infection he missed the rest of the tournament.

At that time Pakistan U19 coach Mansoor Rana had claimed that Aamer was their best bowler, which he had showed in previous matches for the U19s including two 4-wkt hauls in the tri-series leading up to the U19 World Cup that led him to be the leading wicket taker in that tournament.

Chances: With Mohammad Asif suspended, Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion unconfirmed, and Umar Gul under an injury cloud, Aamer could find himself fast-tracked into the final squad of 15 for the Champions Trophy. Wasim Akram has already called for his inclusion and with Sohail Tanvir there as proof, one would be foolish to ignore Wasim Akram's suggestions. Pakistan' bowling resources have looked extremely thin in recent times due to more factor than one and an exciting 16 year old may bring some life into the pace attack.

Mohammad Ali: This 18 year old right arm fast bowler has no claim to fame apart from the fact that he hails from Shoaib Malik's hometown and plays for the Sialkot Stallions, the same team that the Pakistan skipper represents in domestic cricket.

I can only assume that was the reason behind including Ali in the 30 because other than that he hasn't done anything of note to demand the attention of the selectors.

He has played only 4 List A games making his debut in this season's ABN Amro One Day Cup Competition picking up 6 wickets at 25.50.

It is difficult to believe that Malik has that sort of influence over the selectors or the PCB, so I'll just think that the selectors had some good reason for including this boy in the 30.

Maybe to appease Malik?

Who knows.

Chances: Who knows. Maybe Malik wants to play the Sialkot team instead of Pakistan.

Captaincy Debate

Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq were retained as captain and vice-captain respectively.

For me, this was the key take away from Pakistan's 30 probables that were finally announced yesterday after much delay.

After lengthy discussions, it was the Chairman and his leash that proved to be as tight as ever before.

Despite numerous arguements from senior PCB officials, as well as, some senior players, DNA had none of it and maintained his stance of Malik completing his 2-year term as captain.

Ins and Outs & Inefficiencies

Shoaib Akhtar's in, Mohammad Asif's out, Mohammad Yousuf's out.

Different reasons and circumstances for these 3 who were all expected to be a part of the squad.

What bothers me is that regarding Shoaib and Yousuf - when the PCB knew the deadline was 11h July, why were'nt all these issues sorted out in time.

Why did DNA, the selectors, and all the others involved wake up at the last minute?

The Asif issue was beyond their control. That's understandable but on the 11th of July when the probables should have been announced, there was no news of an IPL drug scandal.

Just goes to show how inefficient an organization the PCB is.

They have been criticized way too much now. Why don't they all just resign?

Inconsistency

Not only inefficient, but the PCB is also an inconsistent lot.

Looking at the 30 probables you would notice that there is no Naumanullah there.

One wonders then that how could a batsman who a month ago was good enough to be in a squad of 16 for the Kitply Cup, is no longer good enough to be in the top 30 ODI players in the country.

And that too without playing a game in between.

Remember when I said this about him.

Considering that there is no Yousuf, this might have been an ideal opportunity to give Nauman some games.

They defy logic, the PCB do.

Some Positives

The selectors included 5 uncapped players who were among the top performers this domestic season, which shows that the selectors aren't completely asleep.

Anwar Ali, who has been on the fringes for some time now, along with Ahmed Shehzad, the leading U19 batsman, Mohammad Aamer, the left arm pacer who impressed Wasim Akram, Azhar Ali, this season's leading domestic List A run scorer, and Mohammad Ali, the young pacer from Shoaib Malik's home town have all been included in Pakistan's 30.

More on them later.

PCB has proven to be brainless in many ways, and scheduling the Champions Trophy entirely in Ramadan is perhaps the most incredible move of all. Not only is it a bit of a logistical mess, it also means Pakistan will lose its most solid batsman:

Cricinfo has learnt that Yousuf will be unavailable because the tournament will be played during the month of Ramadan. "Yousuf has asked to be excused from the Champions Trophy as it will be held during Ramadan and he does not want to be playing during that month," a source close to the selection committee told Cricinfo. "We have respected that decision and not picked him in the squad." [LINK]

I'm not one for mixing religion and anything, but I find Yousuf's decision completely fair. It is PCB who should be slapped a million times over in the face for this horrific scheduling.

Outside of the Yousuf situation, think of all the security officials, the crowds, the groundskeepers, players, etc. - all who will probably be fasting, and will want to break their fast at one specific time. Not only that, they will probably want to say their prayers too, as is customary at breaking fast time, so you need facilities for that. And it also involves washing up in a bathroom, which means thousands of people will attack the stadium bathrooms at the same time. I do not envy the head of logistics and operations for this tournament!

A couple of positive notes - the innings break can be easily timed with the fast breaking (iftari) time, which helps a bit. And, Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup during Ramadan.

I really wonder if there's any sane person in the PCB. I'd love to blame DNA & Co once again, but I think the dates for the Champions Trophy were decided together by the ICC and a previous PCB administration. So the stupidity just comes with the territory I guess.

Aamer Sohail has to be my favorite commentator/analyst, purely from an entertainment perspective. Every utterance has the potential to be a classic. Like this gem (taken from Cricinfo Quotes):

"Countries such as Australia and England are our allies in this war on terror, yet they are not supporting us here. Are we real allies or are we just being used?" Aamer Sohail, never short of radical comments that provoke a thought or two, on major teams' security concerns over playing in Pakistan

I'm hoping he was being at most semi-serious, but when it comes to Aamer Sohail, who knows!

Levity aside, I really do think the Champions Trophy will be shifted. Sure the Asia Cup went off successfully, but it's a smaller tournament, with simpler logistics, and less attractive "targets" for those who want to create chaos and attract attention. I'm almost 100% sure that if the tournament goes ahead, the safety of anyone involved with the tournament will not be compromised. However, a series of unrelated events in the country at the time could lead to a potential cancellation, or a pull-out, which would be even worse.

As much as I would like to see cricket played regularly in Pakistan, the situation is not great. A security assessment will be released in the next week and ICC/cricket boards will study it carefully. Regardless though, I think players will put enough pressure to ask for a change in venue. The recent events in Islamabad and Karachi don't help either, and anymore unfortunate events will make things even worse.

Finally, Pakistanis have also not really shown their thirst for cricket. The paltry crowds during the Asia Cup were embarrassing, even for most Pakistan games. I know this can be attributed to many reasons (heat, weekdays, lack of competition, etc), but still it is not encouraging.

So Sri Lanka (ICC's official backup venue) or South Africa (the self-appointed backup venue ;) may need to start preparing to host the tournament. I'm going to stay hopeful that it doesn't come to that, but reality is steadily sinking in.

Shoaib Akhtar, who did not get banned for late nights before a match morning, who did not get banned for testing positive for a banned drug, who did not get banned for hitting his team mate with a bat, but got banned for publicly critcizing the PCB, and is now waiting for a ruling from the Lahore High Court on his appeal to overturn the ban, has been...

Included in Pakistan's 30 probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in September.

Mohammad Asif, who did not get banned for testing positive for a banned drug, who remained sidelined due to elbow problems for over 6 months, who played the IPL with less than 100% fitness with his elbow in a brace, who got arrested and then let off after being caught red handed with opium in his wallet at the Dubai airport, who is all set to appear before a PCB 3-man committee for the dubai-drug act, has been...

Included in Pakistan's 30 probables for the Champions Trophy to be held in September.

Good News?

Great News!!!

Pakistan will actually have a REAL bowling attack for once.

Well ofcourse given that these 2 don't break down, hit each other, get caught with drugs in their bladders, or get caught conspiring to bomb the PCB between now and September.

It was the last Champions Trophy, 2 years ago, when Shoaib & Asif flew back to Pakistan because PCB's internal doping test results had shown traces of nandronolone in both the pacers samples.

Since then, both Shoaib & Asif have gone through a very rough period, and neither has featured regularly for Pakistan.

Doubts on their participation in this year's Champions Trophy still remain though.

Shoaib's 18-month ban has been suspended by the Lahore High Court, pending a ruling on his appeal.

While Asif is going to face PCB's 3-man committee who will question his drug smuggling act in Dubai.

However, given that the Chief Selector, Sallu Sahab, has announced that Shoaib and Asif will be included in the 30 probables to be announced tomorrow, I have reason to believe that the courts, committees, PCB, and all authorities concerned are yet again going to let the 2 pacers off scot-free one last time.

Champions Trophy '06 to Champions Trophy '08 - quite a full circle that is, not with smooth edges though. Its been a bumpy ride for them both!

The Twenty20 Champions League has been given the green light. Surely a step in the right direction, but my fear is that ICC and cricket boards are falling into the trap of over-exploiting the success of T20 and IPL way too soon.

First, late September / early October is not really an ideal time in England. It's hard enough to ensure no rain delays in the summer months. The worst thing for the T20 bubble is a bunch of poorly attended, washed-out, and 7 or 8-over games to decide a champion.

Second, there are going to be several conflicts. You have players who have played IPL, as well as another domestic league. So, what to do about the conflicts? Modi says that IPL will get priority, but this is bound to create issues. And this will be an even greater problem going forward, as more domestic T20 championships spring up.

Third, the "traitorous" ICL players come into play. Several of them have played for non-IPL domestic teams. Modi also has a simple solution for this - any team fielding an ICL player will be barred. Again, something that won't go down too well with some non-IPL teams.

Finally, I could be wrong here, but I don't see much loyalty to the teams. I think those who attend will attend just for some great cricket, or to support specific players, and not to support a specific team. Nothing wrong with that at all, as these are just the beginnings of this new environment, so we are all getting used to it. But wouldn't it be better if the current top 4 national teams met for a T20 or ODI tournament, with a huge cash prize?

It would be better for the ICC and cricket boards to take a pause for now. T20 has gone great so far, so why not revel in the success, and make gradual plans. Don't push the limits though, $5 million prize offer notwithstanding.

I really hope the champions league is a success. Perhaps the player conflicts can be resolved more-or-less amicably, and the weather holds up. But if it isn't, maybe it's the best advertisement for the ODI Champions Trophy in Pakistan that will immediately follow it. Provided, of course, that external factors don't ruin the hosting of the Champions Trophy.

Not only for the Asia Cup in June but also for the Champions Trophy in September.

Both the tournaments are being held in the "safety concerned" Pakistan and Sri Lanka has been named as the alternative venue for both. For the sake of Pakistan Cricket, I hope that Pakistan is declared safe enough for the Asia Cup and the Champions Trophy.

With PPP announcing their candidate for PM and rumours of Pervez Musharraf shifting base to hideout in Turkey, probably a "safe" Pakistan is not too distant in the future.

The more interesting part though is that in both the competitions, India and Pakistan have been pooled in the same group. A garanteed Pakistan-India clash will definitely boost ticket sales and will provide the domestic season the energy it needs.

Is this a casting coup by the adminstracrats or did the seeds actually play a role in this?

For the Asia Cup its Pakistan, India, and Hong Kong in the same pool. With the top 2 going through to a "Super 4" stage the Asian teams shouldn't have a problem here unless HK pulls an Ireland.

For the Champions Trophy its Pakistan, India, Australia and the West Indies. This pits the Asian sides against the defending champions (the Aussies), and the winners and runners up of 2004 and 2006 (the Windies). Only 2 teams will go through to the semis - tough one there for the Asian sides.

Scheduled or June and September, its high time top internatonal cricket returns to Pakistan.