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Andrew Strauss retires from all forms of professional Cricket

ShoaibCricket1256 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:39:03 -0500

Breaking News

England test Captain, Andrew Strauss has announced his retirement from every format of competitive cricket after his team lost the No. 1 test ranking due to the 2-0 defeat at the hands of the South Africans.

The ECB had announced that they will be a holding a news press conference at noon on Wednesday but did not announce the reason for it. Several English newspapers had speculated that he would retire. At 12 o’clock ECB chairman Giles Clarke, announced officially that Andrew Strauss was stepping down as England Test Captain and also retiring from all forms of Cricket. It was also announced that one-day captain Alastair Cook would be taking the reins for the longer format as well.

The arrival of the cricketing prima-donna

ShoaibCricket1256 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:56:06 -0500

The Kevin Pietersen saga that has unfolded over the past few weeks has been quite disturbing. Pietersen, or KP as he likes to be called, is a rare genius talent. He has the ability to destroy any bowling line up in the world at virtual will. He wanted to preserve his body and retire from ODI cricket and to continue in T20 and Test cricket. This was declined by the ECB and hence Pietersen had to retire from both limited over formats.

Now Pietersen has said that he can't guarantee if the third Test match against South Africa at Lords is his last for England. His blamed teammates for a parody Twitter account; clear signs that the relationship is broken and probably beyond repair. The ECB's hands are clearly tied in this situation; they have issued central contracts that say you are either available for all limited overs or none. If they bend the rules, even for a genius like Pietersen, other players could, and probably would, make their demands. Graeme Swann is a case in reason, he has publicly criticised the 50 over format and its future in the game.

England are not the only ones to see the dark side of player power. The West Indies and Pakistan have had their fare share of problems too. Players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Barvo have held the WICB to ransom for a prolonged period. The fact the majority of the West Indian players were reluctant to sign central contracts was a clear indication that their priorities were somewhere else.

By Imran Asghar

Pakistan keep medal hopes alive with exciting win against RSA

ShoaibCricket1256 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 07:15:51 -0500

In Pakistan’s penultimate Pool A match at the Riverbank Arena, fans were treated to some enticing and electrifying hockey in what was otherwise a grim

and miserable day due to the rain.The match was a do or die situation for Pakistan who needed to win in order to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals.

South Africa started strongly with Thornton McDade scoring in only the first minute of play putting the South Africans into the lead. 25 year-old Abdul Haseem Khan scored then scored the leveller for Pakistan. South Africa then once again took the lead as Justin Reid-Ross scored off a penalty corner.Pakistan then scored two goals in quick succession thanks to Shafqat Rasool and Abdul Haseem Khan for the second time in the match. With Pakistan in the lead, the Proteas hit back once again with Reid-Ross scoring his second goal of the match in the last minute of first-half play. The score at Half-time being 3-3.

Pakistan suffer defeat at the hands of hosts

ShoaibCricket1256 — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:01:16 -0500

Pakistan’s Olympic campaign suffered a big blow when they lost 4-1 at the hands of Host nation GB in the Pool A hockey match. Pakistan was hoping to win the match in order to secure the points that they desperately needed to progress to the further stages of the tournament.

However the hosts did not allow such a victory as they enforced a crushing defeat at the Riverbank Arena. Team GB pressed there case for victory in only the 4^th minute of play, as James Tindall scored for the home side. He was then backed up by the good British defence that did not allow Pakistan the opportunity to level the score. Jonty Clarke then scored the second goal for the home side as GB extended their advantage on the Pakistanis.

In the second half, British star Ashley Jackson stole the show with two goals in relatively quick succession to put the home side in a secure position from which there was no coming back for Pakistan. Captain Sohail Abbas salvaged some pride for Pakistan as he successfully scored in the last minute off a penalty corner.

The group standings are still the same with Pakistan positioned in third. Pakistan now have two matches remaining, against South Africa and Australia.

Pakistan gain first win of Olympic campaign

ShoaibCricket1256 — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:12:09 -0500

In the recently concluded Pool A Hockey match, Pakistan secured a good win against South American giants Argentina. With Argentina tipped to win

the game comprehensively, following some poor hockey from the green shirts. However they impressed a decent Pakistani contingent at the Riverbank Arena in London and delivered a 2-0 victory, with Muhammad Imran and Captain Sohail Abbas being the scorers.

Though Argentina played decent and defensive hockey, the lapse in concentrations cost them two penalty corners on which Pakistan were able to capitalise and secure the win. Pakistan are now placed third in the pool with hosts GB above them in second due to a better goal difference and the mighty Australians sitting nicely at the top of the pack.

Pakistan’s next match is on the 3^rd of August against hosts GB, and the green shirts will be hoping for another win to almost secure their involvement in the next stages of the competition.

Pakistan vs Spain Half-time update

ShoaibCricket1256 — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:48:25 -0500

The Pakistan team that came out to face Spain in their first match of the olympic campaign, was very different to the team that pakistani fans had to endure during the recently concluded sultan azlan shah cup. The Pakistanis played with intent and control and did not allow the Spanish players who are ranked 3 places above the green shirts to steal the show. At half time the score remained 0-0 with 3 penalty corners being seen, 2 from Pakistan and 1 from Spain. Shakeel Abbasi, Pakistan's star forward createdsome opportunities but the green shirts failed to take advantage but will go into the second-half slightly on top and looking to secure a win.

Spain's captain Santiago Freixa injured his arm near the close of the first half and his condition is unknown currently.

Pakistan clinch thriller to gain last ball tie

ShoaibCricket1256 — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:15:14 -0500

A riveting match that saw arch-rivals India and Pakistan lock horns in the Final of the ACC Under-19s Asia Cup. After their group clash, which saw Pakistan pull off a one run win, both teams would be aiming to put this aside in order to boast Asian supremacy. In a match generally dominated by the Indians, Pakistan were able to pull off a thrilling last ball tie, with both teams sharing the spectacular trophy. Indian Captain, Unmukt Chand, called correctly and won the toss deciding to insert Pakistan into bat.

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam and tournament top-scorer Sami Aslam walked out to bat and would have had a score of near 300 in mind in order to provide their bowlers with something to defend against a strong Indian side. Aslam scored his second century of the tournament to carry his side to a decent score of 282 with the help of a timely 48 from Umar Waheed.

Clinical Pakistan take series lead

ShoaibCricket1256 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 11:44:57 -0500

Mahela Jayawardene won the toss on an overcast and cloudy day, hoping to follow the same pattern as the T20Is; set with a target on the

board which was defendable in the evening. Pakistan put into bowl, were outstanding with the new ball as the seamers, led by Umar Gul, took quick wickets and key moments in the game to leave SL at 6-56. Rain halted the Sri Lankan innings several times making the contest into a 42 over one, but Middle Order Batsman, Lahiru Thiramanne shined through the dismay, scoring an unbeaten 42 to scratch Sri Lanka up to a paltry total of 135.

All of the bowlers were helped in useful conditions and several shined in a generally low quality batting display from the Lankans. Mohammad Sami who was making a comeback after 5 years absent from the ODI scene, took three wickets to further press his case for selection in the Test team as well as a ticket back to Sri Lanka for the Twenty20 World Cup in September. Sohail Tanvir bowled well, getting the new and old ball to swing and cause problems for the home team especially the right handers who found his action hard to pick. However he was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket and ended with figures of 0-30 off his 8 overs. Mohammad Hafeez Bowled his full quota of 10 overs picking up two wickets and only conceding 20 runs in his 3^rd most economical bowling performance in his career.

Captain Malik guides Sialkot to 7th T20 win

ShoaibCricket1256 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:14:38 -0500

After a week of exuberating Cricket at the Pindi Statdium in Rawalpindi, which saw fans turn out in their thousands to catch a glimpse of their cricketing heroes, we finally have a Winner. For the 7^th time Sialkot takes home the Faysal Bank T20 Cup and that to in convincing style, with all the players contributing to the dominance throughout the tournament.

After losing the toss, Shoaib Malik’s Sialkot Stallions were asked to field on what seemed to be a good and dry pitch, very much suited to batting. Shahzaib Hasan started strongly, attempting to hit every ball out of the park, however he failed to take full advantage of his form and soon started a small slump which halted Karachi’s progress in the post-powerplay overs. Khalid Latif stood firm scoring an elegant 81, as Karachi creeped up to a decent 167/8 after a late burst from young Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, picking up 4 wicket in the last over.

Umar and Bowlers secure series win

ShoaibCricket1256 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 07:54:29 -0600

In the end, the Pakistani bowlers were able to deliver a decisive victory over the fighting Bangladeshis, who put up a much improved batting performance from the woes in the first ODI. Nasir Hossain, shined with a sparkling and gritty maiden Hundred at the packed Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Misbah won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed a better batting surface than the one that they played on 2 days earlier. Pakistan lost Imran Farhat early and it was down to Mohammad Hafeez and Veteran Younis Khan to rebuild.

Bangladesh kept the score in check and broke important partnerships at the right time as Hafeez played an atrocious shot to Imrul Kayes and Younis was caught dead in front to leave Pakistan is some slight bother. Misbah had a very calm and steady approach and took a while to get going but power hitters Umar Akmal and the Talismanic Shahid Afridi played very useful innings boosting the Pakistani total to a very much defendable total of 262.