This is the conclusion we’ve reached. Far from being a see-saw on a roundabout in an earthquake, Pakistan cricket is actually very stable. It’s just that different branches of it have to compensate when there’s upheaval elsewhere so that the whole remains perfectly balanced.
Last month, Pakistan lost a Test to Zimbabwe. At the time, Zimbabwe weren’t even ranked bottom of the Test teams. In fact, they weren’t listed because they hadn’t played enough matches in recent years. Some people said it was an encouraging performance, but really we all know that it was just Pakistan.
Most teams would have had their confidence dented by something like that. Pakistan barely noticed. Instead, they moved onto a Test series against the best team in the world with complete conviction that they would win and are currently building a large first innings lead.
Meanwhile, their cricket board has been dissolved.
This is the way it works. It’s like air trapped under wallpaper. You squash down the chaos bubble in the Test arena and it pops up in administration. We can only assume that during the Zimbabwe defeat, the board was operating smoothly, pausing only to light joss sticks and meditate.
Ged’s back.
As in, returned (after a holiday in Malawi).
I don’t have Marie-Strümpell disease or anything like that.
Daisy and I were at Johannesburg airport late Monday, where we were able to watch part of Day One of this test on television.
I have never watched cricket in the rarefied atmosphere of the Highveld before. Everything seemed to happen that much faster than it does at sea level. Or perhaps it’s just that we were watching highlights rather than the live thing.
There are a few reasons why it is good to be back in the land of the internet connection. This website is one of those reasons.
wow 72-4 with amla gone in the last over of the day… saffers are now officially up shit creek
Beating South Africa will overcompensate for the other crises. To restore harmony, Misbah must resign as captain, retire, and be replaced by Mohammad Yousuf
Then he needs to make a comeback, with half the squad sacked for good measure.
I dont get you lot.
One of the game’s colossuses has announced his retirement and all you can think about is a silly game where the two teams are impersonating each other.
Get with the program, and doff your hat to the genus from mumbai.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/679933.html
erm .. genius from mumbai
i should think it takes more than one of a kind to make a genus
No doubt KC is in so much shock from the great one’s retirement that writing about it, nay thinking about it, will cause him to blow his fuse and spend the rest of his life in an asylum
The genius from Mumbai? Tillakaratne Dilshan was born in Kalutara, Sri Lanak.
I shall miss him dearly.
All genuses are from Lanak.
I refuse to correct my mistake, or admit that my joke would work better if skid was talking about that Tendulkar guy, and that I didn’t actually click his link.