Blog from Pakistan to and around the world

Another casualtiy of cricket -
Naseem Ashraf Resigns -

for good or for the worst of the game -
we now have three casualities after our loss to Ireland -

and one real casuality - the death of bob woolmer tops it all - and can not be resurrected -

Cricket Board is one of the richest body in Pakistan -
May be more than any industry or multinational company -
with bank accounts full - and upcoming series and tours -
board has failed to make the investment , which counts the most - man power - failing to find good talent -

been involved in the ticketing and online scoring for cricinfo website (from the stadiums) for some while ( 10 years ) I some how know how things are run by the board and the administration - and the condition of our stadiums - sepcially national stadium -

Our domnestic players are not paid enough - hence majority of them looking at the bad pay scale , say good bye to thier cricketing career -

The ones who stick to play - do so , so they can get a an offer from the league cricket in england and elsewhere -

As it is known, that for a player to qualify for league cricket he must have played at least 3 domestic matches in his country - before he can be considered for the league -

Many of our domestic players to play in the domestic season , only so that they can quality to play league cricket in england -

The pay for paying league cricket in england is enormously high - as compared to ours domestic season -

there are slabs for perforamce -
- basic salary
- some numeration for wicket
- some numberation for a catch / stump / runout
- numeration for a half century and a century -

our players make more money playing in the league - and get good accomodation from the league.

My Interaction with some domestic players revealed that they were not paid good enough - at times just a 1000 rs for the one dayer and around 2500 for the 3 dayer match -
i dont know how much it has changed since -

they travel by our domestic local trains - which more often than not - gets delayed to more than 48 hours -

one such instance happened - when a visiting team was coming thru train - and had to reach a day before the match - however, train got delayed for more than 48 hours - hence they were unable to make it on time - so the match had to be moved a few days forward - to accomodate for the delay -

our domestic players are made to live in roadside motels and hotels - which may not be worth their status -

the stadiums during our domestic matches are empty -
Why ?

most people will say that beacuse they have no interest in departmental cricket - hbl playing pia -

that may be onething - but our stadiums are in a bad state -

National Stadium Karachi - should be in perfect and mint condition thru out the year - but what happens is that the staff and the management wakes up just weeks before an important cricket match in karachi -

and then they make all the cleaning and the arragenemtns -
cleaning seats . arranging and making new toilets , water arragements , gate entrance, color etc -

most of it is interim - and same adhoc basis -

have a look at the outer boundry of the national stadium -
after you get inside the stadium from the outer boundary , their is mud every where - the rooms , which were supposed to be bathrooms , now have grown big high grasses - the steps are broken - the railingsna dn grills are all stained - the bathrooms during normal days are not attended - and give an ugly look -

If all this is maintained - our stadiums are made fit for thru out the year and not just before important match - more people will turn up to watch the domestic matches -

where even the biggest of organizations look for cost cutting - we look for avenues for throwing money -

our grounds are not fit - some of them do not have proper grass - duriong the matches there are not proper medical and first aid arrangements - no stretcher , wheel chairs / emergency arragements -

If a players gets injured he is all by himself - or to some extend to the teams physio -

we need to increase the payscale of our domestic players - and makes it performance base -

and surely need to do a lot with the pitches -
this is why we always fail - when ever we get a green wicket - we fall like 9 pins -

what we need are selectors who can watch the players at the ground - and not make a decision based on scores on the domestic level -

some player may have the temprament and class but may not be having a good season - so that does not mean he has to be neglected -

again , who will head the cricket board is unknown - but my personal feel is that nasim ashrafs resignation will not be accepted -

i think i have said what all the people have been saying - nothing new - but every drop matters -

Was it the shock of the defeat against Ireland ? or was it the fear of going back to pakistan and facing the public reaction ?

Or was it his passion for cricket and sincerity with the pakistani cricket team that led to his death ?

Its a sport, but for a person like Bob who ate,drank and slept cricket, he took it more personally -

more personally than any Pakistani cricket team member ?

may be he knew all his efforts, all his hard work, has come out to this - pakistan loosing to ireland - the biggest upset in the history of the cricket - and may be in the entire sporting world.

may be over stressed ?
may be diabetic condition ?

Bob Woolmer had troubles coaching the Pakistani cricket team - he faced criticism from every quarter-from the pakistani cricket experts, to the pakistani fans and some bit from the administration- mainly asking for his sacking as the coach of the pakistan cricket team.

But guess all this is about to change -
as it is said one's death brings out the good qualities of that person -

Bob Woolmer is no longer in this world, but his services for the pakistani cricket team will be remembered - specially his motivation of the team which performed well in the India, without big stars - drewing the test series and winning the odi series 5 - 2 and winning many matches and series' at home and abroad-

During all the current political turmoil, the axing of the chief justice of pakistan, the protest of lawyers, the storming into the property of private news channel, we , the pakistanis , looked at one thing to cheer us up - CRCIKET.

But it did not cheer us up.

As if the current crisis wasnt enough, we now have antoher crisis - this time CRICKET -

Though not many would have dared dream Pakistan loosing to Ireland, but looking at the inconsistent and unpredictable nature of the pakistan cricket team - this would have happenned.

People may say whatever they may- bad selection , bad performance, bad team, bad shots - it simply wasnt pakistan's day.

Pakistan cricket team has seen many lows- from lowers ever score in the odi, to loosing to bangladesh in wc 99 , to loosing to india and loosing the final of the wc 99 -

we have seen many lows -

but this time this low is far much steeper - and will take a long time to resurrect.

What may be, the fans will ask for retirements, removal etc of all sorts -

May be the immediate measure is for Imran Khan to take up as teh head of the cricket board. He has declined this offer many a times, but may be he should at least try to improve one department of our country.

specially since his political party focuses on the youth of the country, and cricket is one game that the youth is passionate about, it might be the time that he should think of taking up the role of the pcb and start re-engineering the things - this might also give some mileage to his party and his political career.

THINK !

With tv channels emerging more faster than rabbits breed, having the freedom of expression and freedom of speech , media has never been so vocal as it is now.

We now have all sorts of tv channels from drama to news to entertainment to regional languages.

One thing that is really annoying are TIME CHECKS.
Its 8 am , its 8.15 am, its 8.16. am ....

We may not be the most time abiding nation, where time has no importance, where nothing is on time except the 9 o clock news on ptv, its annoying to see a TIME CHECK, in most cases, every 15 minutes which is some how always sponsored and or branded.

To me time check is nothing but another way to make money. Most of them already display time on their screen, and if I had to be so much aware of the time I wouldnt be watching the television then.

We never see time checks on any Indian or arabic or any other channels so why do we have to have time check on ours ?

Another thing that WE note is comedy is going no where. What comedy that we now see is only expressional/acted and not verbal / dialogue. The character tends to do all sort of unsorted actions and the studio laughter reminds us that this is something to laugh. I dont want to see some thing good to laugh , I want to hear some thing good.

The only jokes we hear are in the talk shows and current affairs programme, specially if some politician is invited.

With all sorts of channels now coming up, I think that there should be a comedy channel too , which should serve quality comedy and not nonsense acting comedy.

Talking of tv channels, the latest addition was the channel AAG.

One of their promo or public service message is "do not forget your roots" - easier said than done -

a few of the programmes containig BEEP words ....may be not forgetting our roots, but stretching out so much that we will finally fall off from our tree ?

Where might is right, where there is law of the jungle, where the powerful opresses the poor ....

this is what is called world -

and in here it is very much the truth.... as the political culture is crafting it seems that we are having a war with in a war.

but lets not talk about it for a while.

lets talk about the cricket worldcup 07 held in westindies.

Pakistan lost to westindies , some what poorly - after putting an impressive bowling display - pakistan losts its way in the last 5 overs of the westindian innings, where more than 50 runs were scored in the last 5 overs -

and guess , pakistan lost by 52 runs ...

so this again shows the importance of last overs scoring ...

and again pakistani batting collapsed -
bolwing is not to be blamed for this defeat .. they bowled well ..
its the batsmen who some how loose their footing and play rash shots ...

anywhow , this was pretty much expected of pakistan ...
and some how some teams will loose atleast one of their game before going on to the super 8 .

so this is just the starting ..
but perhaps all the experts that there tv channels employ will have something to stay to cover up for the time and to make up for being awake so late into the night...

2 more games to go for pakistan before the super 8 -
and its just the start ..

but what if pakistan is unable to make to the super eight ? any thoughts ?

the isntant thought that comes to my mind that all the marketing campaigns of all the companies , who has started special promos in the worldcup will come to an abrupt halt ? and may be not getting the results as they might expect :)

anyhow, singing off for now .