Match Fixer Mazhar Majeed

I’ve been doing it [match-fixing] with them for about two-and-a-half years and we’ve made masses of money,” Majeed said. A shocking claim made by a 35 year-old man who was arrested by police last night on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

According to Telegraph Mazhar Majeed, a London-based businessman, has been accused of accepting £150,000 from an undercover journalist in return for telling Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to deliberately bowl three no-balls last Thursday and Friday.

Mazhar further says “I manage 10 of the players, I do all their affairs like contracts, sponsorship, marketing, everything really. The players would never tell anybody else. They were the ones who actually approached me about this.”

The News of the World reporters filmed meetings with London-based middleman Mazhar Majeed, who told them in exactly which overs of the Fourth Test the no-balls would be delivered. “This is no coincidence,” Mr Majeed told them as the action developed as he had described.

The Daily Mail goes on to write “Scotland Yard are understood to have launched an investigation into accusations that pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir colluded with fixers by bowling no-balls to order. Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal are also alleged to have been involved.”

Pakistan tour manager Yawar Saeed added: “I can confirm we are aware of the allegations. Scotland Yard (Metropolitan) police are with us now at our hotel and we are helping them with their enquiries. ”This is as much as I can say at the moment.”

Salman butt with mazhar majeed

This shameful revelation makes one wonder what has gone wrong to Pakistan cricket which has a glorious past. Our cricket history is full of heroes and victories but recent events call for a complete change in the management and the playing eleven. They should be punished in such a way that newcomers dare not indulge in such activities. If we keep on calling players like Asif again and again then we will never have a international quality team.

Players cannot make such fixed-deals without involving the management so when the trial begins everyone from the top management should be tested. A complete clean up of the whole system is required. Take their pays back,  seize their accounts and make them an example for all. Allah blessed them with talent, oppertunity and fame but they did not deserve it. I am not accusing anyone until after the judgement. Scotland Yard already made an arrest from the hotel Pakistan Cricket team is staying and I hope more arrests will take place. Mazhar claims 7 out of playing eleven or may be 10.!!!!

Once investigation has started lets dig deep as we all remember the 1999 World cup final at Lords, the way Pakistan lost after playing superbly in the event, and many more such matches. Lets wash our dirty linen in public this time….nothing behind closed doors.

Pakistani cricket fans are so heart broken that they will not make any more cricket heroes in near future. Good bye cricket, the cricket we loved and lived!

Technorati Tags: daily mail, england, lords test, match fixing, match fixing scandal, mazhar majeed, mohammad aamer, mohammad amir, mohammad asif, news of the world, Pakistan cricket, salman butt

Shahid Afridi

Pakistanis love Shahid Afridi and are ready to forgive him for everything. Afridi  instantly won the hearts of every Pakistani when he scored the quickest century years ago. We loved him even if he threw away his wicket or tried to eat the ball! Because  his body language on the field shows his sincerity to the  team and to the  country.

With years of experience behind him we accept and pray that he proves to be the right choice to captain Pakistan. Pakistan’s legendary former captain Imran Khan spoke out in support of Shahid Afridi on Friday, saying the all-rounder should be given a long innings to stabilise a team hit by controversy.

“Afridi should be given a long run as Pakistan captain,” Khan told AFP, saying that frequent rotations at the top destablise the team.

“Who else if not Afridi?” said Khan.”I think if they had made anyone else captain, problems would surely have persisted, so I think Afridi was the best choice available.” Read more.

Afridi!  do not defame your team mates in public, you are the captain, talk to them personally. Define rules before the match begins and no blame game afterwards. If you do not want them to look at girls, tell them. Best of Luck!

Technorati Tags: captain afridi, Cricket, cricket captain, Pakistan cricket, Shahid afridi

Afridi & kids

Dressing room atmosphere

Though Pakistan began the T20 World Cup with two consecutive losses in the warm-up matches, they lifted their performances remarkably during the crunch games. Afridi’s energy was one of the reasons for the transformation as he lifted the team on several occasions with his sensible batting and lethal bowling.
Asked to rewind the dressing room atmosphere, he said: “Before the World Cup we played four one-day international matches against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We did well against the World champions and the performance lifted our morale. When we arrived in the UK, we played two warm-up games against India and South Africa. Though we didn’t win, we performed well in both the matches.

“Besides, all the senior players took up responsibility. We all realised that the World Cup is a global event and we should try our best to win it for the country. We face several problems on the domestic front. So we were focused to win it for the people of the country.

“The senior players, including Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, Umar Gul and me, decided that we should take up responsibility rather than leaving it to the young guys. We all realised that if senior players perform up to their potential, definitely we have a chance to win. In every team there are three or four match winners. We all were motivated and keen to win the cup.”

Bowling success

Afridi is more renowned for his 37-ball one-day international hundred, but he has transformed himself as a match-winning leg-spinner of late. He bagged 11 wickets at an economy-rate of 5.32 in the Twenty20 World Cup. He admitted he worked hard to remain competitive as a bowler. “I started my career as a bowler. I used to bat at No.9 initially. For the last three years, the captain didn’t use me in the right position as a batsman. I played on almost all position — from No.1 to No. 9. So I decided to focus on my bowling. For the last three years, I totally focused on my bowling. But the people want to see me more as a batsman. Despite some failures in batting, I was focused to do well and talked to myself that I should prove my worth as a batsman as well.”

Controlled agression

Afridi’s batting didn’t click in the first three matches (he scored 5, 13 and 0) in the T20 World Cup, but he reinvented his batting form when it mattered the most. The innings in the semifinal and final were much different from the usual ‘boom-boom’ Afridi style. He changed his carefree attitude for the betterment of the team and it paid rich dividends. “As senior players we have to take up responsibility. During the team meeting we were firm that we don’t want to miss this golden opportunity. I told myself that there is no need to worry even if I miss some balls as I realised it is important to stay at the crease and play a big innings.”

Batting position

The promotion of Afridi to the top of the batting order worked wonders for Pakistan as Afridi recollected how it all happened. “I told the captain that I am doing nothing down the order as a batsman. Now with Abdul Razzaq back in the side, there is less pressure even if we lose one wicket. So I asked him for a chance to go up in the order. For the last four games, he gave me a chance and I performed well as a batsman.”

Asked whether his postion at the top would be permanent, he replied with a smile: “In Pakistan any thing can change.”

Captaincy hopes

Afridi, now a senior player and touted as the replacement for Younis Khan, is not much bothered about captaincy, though. “Playing for Pakistan is a big honour. Performance is important whether you are a captain or a player.”

Test beckons

Considering the maturity Afridi showed in the T20 World Cup, Afridi would have been an ideal choice for the all-rounder’s spot in the Test squad for the ongoing Sri Lankan tour.

“I was in the squad for Sri Lanka, but I told the selection committee chairman that I want some rest after the matches in UAE and World Cup. Test fitness is different from one-dayers. I told him that I will definitely play Test cricket.”

He also voiced his concern over excessive cricket. “Cricket is not sports alone. Now it is more a business. Now the career of a fast bowler is over in 6-7 years.”

Remembering Woolmer

The Pakistan team, after their T20 title triumph, dedicated the title to their former coach Bob Woolmer. Afridi also aknowleded the role played by Woolmer in shaping his career. “He was very close to the players. He always allowed me to play my natural game. He used to tell me ‘Go and play your game. Don’t worry about singles and twos. Play your natural game. You are a match winner’. He knew how to handle and talk to players.”

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com

Technorati Tags: 20/20 world cup, bob woolmer, controlled aggression, cricketers, dressing room, khaleejtimes, Pakistan cricket, Shahid afridi

Muhammad Asif

The Pakistan Cricket Board has fined fast bowler Mohammad Asif Rs 1 million ($12,250) for possessing a small amount of opium in Dubai last year, a PCB official said on Thursday.

“Asif has accepted our decision and he feels he had made a mistake,” chief of the inquiry committee Wasim Bari told the AP.

He will get away with it easily by just paying Rs 1 million after defaming Pakistan all over the world. PCB must have spent more on his case proceedings. He got a chance to play for Pakistan which half of the youth of Pakistan dream to get and he was so casual about the whole thing. I think a harsh punishment should be given to set an example for the coming cricketers. Even if you give him more chances like he got one after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone in October 2006 his attitude will not change. I just heard him on some tv channel saying “I will be back to fitness for pakistan team” as if koi ehsan ker raha ho! and look at Shoaib, so talented and got multiple chances one after the other but he got worse everytime. What is the use of such talent if you bring a bad name with your irresponsible attitude, do not follow rules and spoil the mindset of the whole team.

PCB should make it very clear that this is professional cricket and no spoiled brats are allowed here. No one is indespensible, if we can survive and win without Imran, wasim, Inzimam and Saeed Anwar and many other greats then Shoaib and Asif won’t be missed!

Please –Read more about Shoaib

Technorati Tags: muhammad asif, Pakistan cricket, PCB fine muhammad asif

Enjoy this comparison before the real match begins…

Science verses Art in clash of cultures by Osman Samiuddin

It’s first a clash of ethos, of philosophies and even of time, more than a semi-final. Here is truly man against machine, the art of cricket against the science of it, cricket’s future and cricket’s past. South Africa’s progress to this point has been smooth, well-planned, calculated and inevitable, as if their players were born to do this. Pakistan have got here in shambles – losing games, winning some, treating it all as a bit of fun – and the players not so much born to do this are struggling to discover why they are doing it at all.

South Africa lack nowhere and nothing. If Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are the efficient drones at the top, there is heart in the middle, with the ever-frail skills of Herschelle Gibbs and the creativity of AB de Villiers. Even Albie Morkel, in whom there are glimpses of Zulu, thankfully smiles more. They’ve always had pace, but now they even have spinners, who are not batsmen forced to bowl. Sure, they are a little one-dimensional (watching videos of Umar Gul’s yorkers?), but they are spinners – South African and successful; how often have we said that in the past?

The whole machinery is intimidating, determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins in this format, they have apparently also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They are well-trained, well-oiled, and their psychologist talks about120 contests and of processes over outcomes and how choking is not really an issue anymore. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts. They are cricket’s future.

Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don’t control their extras, they don’t run the singles hard and they field as if it were still the 60s. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. They did hire a psychologist though, and you can only imagine what those sessions were like and how much they actually talked about sport and cricket. There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a ‘Pakistan’: that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don’t plan or account for it. Read more

Technorati Tags: Pakistan cricket, pakistan vs south africa 19th june 2009

I am unable to think of anything else after the attack on the Sri Lankan players. I wish to point all my fingers towards India the way they forgot their pain and started blaming us. But we are not taught to blame others without proof! I wonder if any Pakistani can do such a thing to our friends, neighbours, guests. Then who are these people? They are perfectly trained and are operating according to a plan. Where are they getting the instructions from? There are unlimited questions but such a thing should have never happened and that too on Pakistani soil. My heart cries for the Sri Lankans who came forward in our time of need and we could not protect them. We salute them and should try and make it up to them in whatever way possible.

I grew up watching cricket in Imran Khan days and cricket gave us immense pleasure over all these years. What really worries me is that what is the future of Pakistan cricket now????

Check this link for details

http://teeth.com.pk/blog/2009/03/03/sri-lankan-players-attack-amid-a-political-security-lapse

Technorati Tags: attacks, blog, Cricket, friends, imran khan, india, Kids, lahore, pain, Pakistan, Pakistan cricket, Pakistani, security, sin, sri lanka, STR, tea, terror, terror attacks, time, US, walk, war, WHO

This is what Younis Khan, the newly appointed captain of Pakistani cricket team, had to say after scoring 306 runs/ not out. One day of play is left in this first test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which means we will not see a winner on the 5th and final day. This is the first triple hundred against Sri lanka!

But still for me it was a wake up call. I don’t know since when I lost interest in cricket but its exciting to see Younis play like this. I hope rest of the team plays well under him. I hope the sad days for Pakistani cricket lovers are over.

Bravo Younis Khan

Technorati Tags: Pakistan cricket, pakistan vs sri lanka, triple century, younis khan

Pakistan lost the 3rd ODI in Lahore on 24th January 2009.
SCOREBOARD:

Sri Lanka Innings

Tillakaratne Dilshan not out 137

Sanath Jayasuriya c Ajmal b Gul 45

Kumar Sangakkara run out 50

Thilina Kandamby c Manzoor b Sohail Khan 32

Mahela Jayawardene c Akmal b Gul 18

Chamara Kapugedera c Akmal b Gul 0

Farveez Maharoof not out 8

Extras: (5lb, 13w, 1nb) 19

TOTAL: (for 5 wickets) 309

Overs: 50. Batting time: 221 minutes.

Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-180, 3-237, 4-284, 5-284.

Did not bat: Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis.

Bowling: Umar Gul 9-2-45-3, Sohail Khan 10-1-52-1, Rao Iftikhar 5-0-53-0 (1nb, 5w), Saeed Ajmal 9-0-51-0 (1w), Shahid Afridi 10-0-60-0 (2w), Shoaib Malik 7-0-43-0 (5w).

Pakistan Innings
Khurram Manzoor c Maharoof b Kulasekera 3

Younis Khan lbw b Thushara 4

Salman Butt c Kandamby b Kulasekera 0

Kamran Akmal lbw b Thushara 9

Shoaib Malik c Jayawardene b Maharoof 19

Misbah-ul-Haq c Sangakkara b Thushara 0

Shahid Afridi b Kulasekera 0

Umar Gul lbw b Mendis 27

Rao Iftikhar lbw b Muralitharan 0

Sohail Khan b Muralitharan 4

Saeed Ajmal not out 2

Extras: (1lb, 6w) 7

TOTAL: (all out) 75

Overs: 22.5. Batting time: 104 minutes.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-5, 3-17, 4-17, 5-18, 6-22, 7-68, 8-68, 9-72.

Bowling: Nuwan Kulasekera 7-2-17-3 (3w), Thilan Thushara 7-1-33-3 (2w), Ajantha Mendis 3-0-10-1 (1w), Farveez Maharoof 4-1-12-1, Muttiah Muralitharan 1.5-0-2-2.

Toss: won by Sri Lanka.

Umpires: Asad Rauf, Pakistan, and Nigel Llong, England.

TV Umpire: Nadeem Ghouri, Pakistan. Match referee: Chris Broad, England.

Result: Sri Lanka won by 234 runs.

Series: Sri Lanka won 2-1.

Technorati Tags: india cricket, Pak vs srilanka scoreboard, Pakistan cricket, Sri lanka Vs Pakistan, srilanka cricket