...when Pakistan was humiliated at Lord's in a World Cup final; can they make amends on the same ground and earn a title?

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here. Pakistan has a semi-final date first. A tough one, regardless of the opposition. But if (and it's a big if) they do make the final, they can at least attempt to erase the pain and shame that was forced on the country 10 years ago.

South Africa will also be looking to avoid repeating the heartbreak of a World Cup semi-final in England, once again almost exactly 10 years to day of their legendary loss to Australia.

New Zealand will also want to turn around their decade-old semi-final result and make it to the final. They have a lot of work to do before that though.

And England would like to be more than the spectators that they were 10 years ago when they hosted a World Championship.

West Indies and Sri Lanka have no time for the "10-years-ago" romantic musings of the other teams. They have no recollection of their performance a decade ago, and they are ready to create their own history. In one case to open their account at Lord's. And in the other case, to cement their dominance at Lord's.

10 years. Unfulfilled dreams. Six teams. One winner.

First it was Arthur Turner talking about how the Australians are unhealthy for the IPL.

Now its an iafrica columnist, Dan Nicholl, taking the piss out of Lalit Modi.

That is the best Lalit interview, I have ever read or heard.

Here's a sneak peak of what its all about:

Dan: Slight misunderstanding there… What else can we expect?

Lalit: Well, we’ve extended our DLF deal. No more singles; instead, they’ll be DLF minimums, which gives a nice symmetry to things, and gives the commentators something extra to talk about.

Dan: That’ll be great — we really haven’t heard enough commercial allusion from your commentators. Are you happy with the team?

Thats quite funny from Dan Nicholls, but something tells me the South Africans aren't really enjoying the IPL.

Thanks Amy for pointing me to Lalit's best interview.

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?

Graeme Smith showed some serious guts in the Third Test against Australia by batting with a broken arm. And he almost saved South Africa in what was an enthralling test.

His performance brings to mind a similarly courageous performance more than 22 years ago (wow, I'm feeling very, very old right now!). On the way back from school in Islamabad, my bros and I turned on the radio to get the latest on the first test between Pakistan and West Indies in October 1986. Pakistan, in its second innings, had established an overall lead of around 200 against the mighty Windies when they lost their ninth wicket. Given that Saleem Malik's arm was broken by a Windies pacer in the first innings, we were sure the innings was over.

As we were contemplating the solidity of the lead, the radio commentator in typically dramatic radio commentary style (anyone who listened to Pakistan radio commentary in the 1980s knows what I'm talking about) announced that Saleem Malik was (*gasp*) making his way toward the pitch!!! We couldn't believe it! We rushed home and were able to make it in front of the TV before Malik faced his first ball.

We were mesmerized as Malik defended, avoided, and even steered the fierce deliveries of the likes of Marshall, Patterson, Gray, and Walsh, all with one hand in a cast and one holding the bat. This was truly dramatic, legendary, and heroic stuff, especially for an impressionable 10 year-old who had just recently become addicted to cricket (a certain Sharjah match a few months prior did it for me!).

Malik's presence at the crease allowed Wasim Akram to get his first test fifty, and stretch Pakistan's lead to a more comfortable 240. Incredibly, Malik remained not out, and scored 3 runs in an eventual partnership of 32.

Now, the West Indies were demolished in the second innings and were dismissed for just 53! (I think it was their lowest total at the time). Qadir with six and Imran with four were the chief destroyers.

It's tempting to say that Malik's heroics were unnecessary given the large margin of victory. But I like to think it was Malik's presence at the pitch that won the mental game for Pakistan, and the West Indies could not recover. I felt that way all those years ago, and I feel the same way today!

Thank you Saleem Malik for this memorable contribution, and so many other classic innings. Malik's contributions are often disregarded because of his unwise and dishonorable involvement in certain off-field activities. But the fact remains that he was a great player and contributed a lot to Pakistan with the bat (and, on occasion, with the ball as well!).

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.

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.

Based on a comment I just read from one of readers (AMK) I realized that there is more happening in world cricket than the whole Shoaib Akhtar fracas :) The South African's have come out all guns blazing in Ahmedabad, making good first use of a pitch that suited their superior fast bowling strength. The outcome as we all know has been a stunning defeat for India inside 3 days.

As per request, I managed to find a very short clip of Dale Steyn's 5er in the first innings. The ball that got rid of Dravid was a beauty and his entire spell (judging from his wickets) was a great example of wicket to wicket bowling and the value of targeting the stumps




Some random musings:

1. I wish people did'nt insert random crap in the highlights... how are you supposed to view the video if you have sort of bolded text popping up

2. Check out the comments on the youtube page for this video... very interesting. Comments range from ridicule of Steyn's performance (because most if his victims were tailenders) to an interesting rebuke from an obviously Indian fan. The fan criticizes the video author for having cheerful music and in the end the author turns out to be a Pakistan cricket supporter.. hilarious!

3. Check out the brilliant piece in Cricinfo on how Imran's tigers almost won a series in the West Indies. Mental note to self, I need to write a piece on how history repeats itself and the same thing happened when Pakistan toured the West Indies many years later and poor umpiring denied Wasim, Saqlain, Moin & co from a well deserved victory. A dynamic, unconventional keeper batsmen, a top class spinner and a world class fast bowler and a poor umpiring decision when the last pair are on the pitch... need I say more?

4. Shoaib Akhtar... what a sad day for Pakistan cricket. Something no one else has mentioned yet is that this shows our desperation and romantic attachment with heroes and lack of faith in institutions. Pakistan cricket is sadly at a point where we can not say "Shoaib's days of playing may be over due to indiscipline and extremely poor fitness, the system will produce another good fast bowler to replace him". Is this due more to our own psyche or the lack of a 'system' or both?

Let us know :)