MUMBAI: Perhaps the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may not have immediate plan to arrange a few sessions for Mohammad Aamir, who has been freed from the jail after serving half the term with any psychologist, however, Maqbool Max Babri, the mentor, who worked with the team before the 2009 T20 World Cup, has advised him to create dreams for the future.

Speaking exclusively to The Sports Encounter from Dhaka, where Max Babri is managing the Pakistan golf team, said, “I will want him to look at himself, create dreams for the future, create strategies for moving towards achieving those dreams, review past and learn from it, have faith in ones abilities and energy to go for the dreams. Create work ethics”.

When asked which would have been his more joyful moments- (a) when first got call to play for the nation or (b) freed from the jail, the noted psychologist said, “Both moments are important for him. But as the time is not stationary, the joys of each new moment are bigger than the earlier joys”.

“It would be a great disappointment for him if the ban is not lifted, as he is one of the players that apologized unconditionally and accepted that he did wrong. Also he is so young and the career is ahead of him”.

“I have worked with him. I like him very much; he was just around 17th at that time. Fundamentally he is a great kid. Certainly if I am given an opportunity to mentor him I will gladly do it. I think myself and people like me owe it to young persons that they are guided towards the path that will earn them abundance both in fame and respect”.

“I believe he will bounce back very rapidly, and impress everyone”.

He comes from a simple family near a small city called Gujar Khan near Rawalpindi. He is a family person and may have got distracted. I guess we will now be mindful of his family and their reputation”.

“He has had great mentoring in the Academy in Rawalpindi managed by Mr. Bajwa, who have been a very significant and positive influence on him”, the psychologist signed off.

“It is rather unusual and uncommon”, the 73-year-old Englishman, who too was captain first before playing his first ever Test against India (Delhi, 1972), said from England. “I have no idea but can’t see any reason why this is not common now”, he said.

“As long as the new captain can share his views and opinion in team meetings, I see no reason why he (Bailey) cannot be a successful captain. Even if there are senior players in the team, the captain who has not played any match at international level before, should not find it difficult to adjust in the team”, he further added.

George Bailey

“If the new captain, who has not played any international match before, is a batsman, he should also seriously concentrate on his batting and handle the captaincy issue separately. Similar criteria should apply to the bowler-captain”.

“The captain who has not played before should keep the dressing room atmosphere healthy. I had no problem in handling the players and felt no pressure as I knew all of them and played with many in county matches”, he further added.

Bailey was announced as Twenty20 captain of the Australian national cricket team in 2012, succeeding Cameron White.

George Bailey

Before Bailey led the side against India, the last man to captain a Test-playing nation on his first international appearance was Clive Rice, when South Africa returned to the fold with three one-day internationals in India in 1991-92.

Mohammad Aamir was one of the three Pakistani cricketers detained in different British prisons in the infamous spot-fixing case. However, his good behavior during detention has earned Aamir an early release from the scheduled six months.

The other two cricketers were the then captain Salman Butt and the senior fast bowler Mohammad Asif who along with their agent Mazhar Majeed were involved in illegal practices during the international cricket matches.

Mohammad Aamir, 19, became a young sensation in 2009-10 cricket season when he dismantled the world’s top batsmen with his lethal pace and sublime swing bowling as many cricket experts had regarded him as the best bowling talent in such a tender age. Some former Pakistani Test cricketers went to the extent of labeling Mohammad Aamir as the best bowler at this age, even better than Wasim Akram and Imran Khan.

However, Pakistan’s 2010 tour to England proved a U-turn in Mohammad Aamir’s career when during the Lord’s Test in August he along with the two senior cricketers became part of the spot-fixing scandal which brought shame and disrepute to the Gentlemen’s Game. Thereafter, the three cricketers were banned by the ruling International Cricket Council (ICC) from all formats of cricket for different periods.

A legal proceeding in the London Southwark Crown Court then found the three cricketers and their agent guilty of corruption and jailed them in different British jails for multiple months at the start of November last year.

After getting released from the young offenders institution, Mohammad Aamir is likely to return home but his visa allows him to stay in England till the end of March and sources told The Sports Encounter that he is in no mood to hurry his return.

The sources further informed that the left-arm fast bowler will consult his legal team to lodge an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the five-year ICC ban which were imposed in February last year.

It is important to mention here that Mohammad Aamir’s partner in the spot-fixing scandal, Mohammad Asif, has already appealed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his seven-year ICC ban.

The judge conducting trial at the Southwark Crown Court, Jeremy Cooke had described Mohammad Aamir as Unsophisticated, Uneducated and Impressionable and Readily Leant On By Others but he also mentioned evidences proving that the left-armer had previously discussed rigging a match with one of his betting contacts in Pakistan.

The doors of international cricket are still open for Mohammad Aamir who has taken 51 wickets from his 14 Test matches as Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said last year that the fast bowler was a great find for Pakistan cricket and he will be considered for national selection after the ICC would clear him.

Zaka Ashraf had said, “Whenever he is cleared by the International Cricket Council and serves his punishment, we think he needs intense counselling and then the selectors can decide about him”.

The International Cricket Council has stepped up its efforts against the scourge of spot-fixing following the scandal but the illegal international betting network is quite strong and a lot more is yet to be done in this regard.

According to organizing secretary Qaisar Saddiq Bhatti, in the one kilometer time trial, Awais Ali of Faisalabad won gold medal with timeline of 1m21s50p, Talha Babar of Lahore bagged silver in 1m 24s 75p time while Shafaqt Ali from Multan earned bronze medal with 1m34s30p.

In the four kilometers individual pursuit, Awais Ali of Faisalabad secured gold medal in the time line of 6m21s90p, Sunny got silver in 6m03s97p time while Nasir of Gujranwala won bronze.

IOC Member in Pakistan and Punjab Olympic Association president Syed Shah Ali was the chief guest of the opening ceremony and awarded medals to the winners. Former POA secretary Latif Butt presented a shield to the chief guest.

On Thursday, two road events will be held at Abdullah Interchange Ring Road at 9am and team sprint qualification rounds.

46th Punjab Cycling Championship

The third Test starting from Friday will decide if Pakistan can clean-sweep the world’s number one Test side while on the other hand England would be looking for a consolation win in the Test series as Pakistan have already gained an unassailable 2-0 lead with a match to spare.

With Ian Bell struggling with an injury, England might give Ravi Bopara a chance to have a crack at Pakistani spinners who have scathed English batsmen in the first two Test matches of the series.

Following is the list of squads for England and Pakistan besides match officials ahead of the Dubai Test.

Pakistan squad includes Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younus Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Aizaz Cheema, and Wahab Riaz.

The complete England Test squad includes Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Steve Davies, Monty Panesar, and Ravi Bopara.

The on-field umpires would be Simon Taufel and Steve Davis from Australia, Television Umpire would be Shahvir Tarapore from India, while Jeff Crowe from New Zealand would fulfill his duties as Match Referee.

David Warner – 102* (51) for Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars, match 2

The first truly amazing performance came in the 2nd match, when, after chasing a challenging 154 for victory, David Warner from Sydney Thunder made a mockery of it, scoring 102 not out off 51 balls to virtually single handedly win Sydney Thunder the match against one of the pre-tournament favourites Melbourne Stars. This was to be one of only two victories for Sydney Thunder, and highlighted just how good a player David Warner is.

Hobart Hurricanes defending 140 by bowling out Perth Scorchers for 109 – match 4

The leadership of Xavier Doherty and his abilities as a team bowler were really put to the test when, away from home, he was able to defend a low 140 against the team that would eventually finish runners up, the Perth Scorchers. Doherty himself took 1/15 off his 4 overs as all 6 of his bowlers took wickets and Hobart Hurricanes set themselves up to be the early favourites for the competition.

Shaun Marsh scoring 99* (52) Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Renegades, match 9

Marsh was meant to be injured and wasn’t meant to be fit for the Indian test series yet this performance convinced performers to bring him in. The fact that he scored just 17 runs in 4 tests and 6 innings at an average of less than 3 in the series highlights just how well he did here against a Melbourne Renegades outfit who had just scored 3/188 off their 20 overs, and it was in Melbourne. But Shaun Marsh did it virtually single handedly to win a game that Perth had no business getting close to, and showed his star quality.

Chris Gayle 100* (54) Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide Strikers, match 10

Anything Warner can do Gayle can do better was a catch cry here as Gayle produced a match winning performance of his own to keep the Sydney Thunder in finals contention, in spite of their star captain David Warner being away on test duty and not available. The target was a lowish 155 but Gayle still had enough time to record his first century of the tournament and validated the huge amount of money paid for his services.

Xavier Doherty 4/17 (4) Hobart Hurricanes vs Adelaide Strikers, match 12

Poor old Adelaide were on the receiving end of big performances 2 matches in a row, this time coming up against a bowler on fire as Hobart’s captain Xavier Doherty led them to their 4th win in 4 matches and virtually qualified them for the semi finals with only 4 of their 7 matches completed. Adelaide were chasing a challenging 172 but had no chance as Doherty opened the bowling, taking 2 wickets with the new ball then came back to ruin the match as a contest.

Melbourne Stars 5/128 failing to beat Perth Scorchers 136 all out, match 18

Melbourne Stars had succeeded in bowling Perth Scorchers all out for a miserable 136, a very gettable total, and, barring being bowled all out, should have won easily. Yet they turned in the worst batting performance of the tournament as out of form captain Cameron White opened the innings, scoring a miserable 1 off 9 deliveries then out of form George Bailey (oddly named as Australian T20 captain to replace White) made an equally miserable 1 from 5 batting at number 3. Matthew Wade rescued the innings somewhat, batting with Quiney but the run rate was 4 instead of the 6.8 that they needed and there was too much to do in the end, as they fell 8 runs short, were not bowled out and had plenty of batting to come in what was an embarassing effort from two teams who ended up making the semi finals, with Perth being runners up.

Bottom placed Brisbane Heat won their first game against top placed undefeated Hobart Hurricanes, match 19

In an absolute shock, Brisbane Heat managed a mammoth 201 against the best bowling attack in the competition, and then managed to hold on by 3 runs as the top batsman in the competition, Travis Birt, who scored 74 off 36, just barely failed to get Hobart home. Hobart needed 4 off 2 balls with Birt and the impressive Owais Shah batting but instead Birt was run out and then off the final ball, with 4 needed, Owais Shah was out caught off McDermott and Brisbane had won. Brisbane still failed to qualify for the finals, only just, but Hobart ended up losing form and being knocked out at the semi finals stage. This was easily the biggest upset of the tournament. Brisbane had entered this match 0-4 while Hobart were 4-0.

Brad Hogg 3/20 (4) Perth Scorchers vs Adelaide Strikers, match 22

If anyone doubted that Brad Hogg was the real deal, he showed it in this match with an amazing 3/20, going at just 5 runs per over, as he destroyed Adelaide and with it sent Perth to the top of the table and all but meant that Adelaide couldn’t qualify. Hogg also managed a catch and a run out to go with his 3 wickets.

Luke Wright 117 (60) Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes, match 23

Melbourne Stars had to win their last 3 matches to qualify but the problem was that one of them was against top of the table Hobart. Luckily for the Stars, Hobart had just lost their first match, to lowly Brisbane, but even still Melbourne had to pull out all the stops to win this, especially with Luke Wright producing a 44 ball hundred as Melbourne racked up 203 and just barely managed to win it, in spite of 51 (23) from Travis Birt. A win by 19 runs had all but qualified Melbourne Stars for the semis while Hobart, who had still probably qualified, no longer looked like title contenders.

Steve O’Keefe 3/20 (4), Nathan McCullum 2/8 (2) & Stuart MacGill 2/12 (4) Sydney Sixers vs Adelaide Strikers, match 24

Adelaide might have done a bit better if they weren’t consistently on the receiving end of amazing performances. Chasing just 152 for victory, Adelaide were bowled out for a miserable 87 thanks to Stuart MacGill’s 2/12 (4), Nathan McCullum’s 2/8 (2) and Steve O’Keefe’s 3/20 (4), all miserly performances whilst taking wickets and all by spinners. This set up the Sydney Sixers as having a bowling attack to worry about, also with Steve Smith taking a wicket. And this was against an Adelaide side featuring Australian test spinner Nathan Lyon!

Brisbane Heat beating Sydney Thunder by 91 runs to give themselves a chance of making the semis, match 27

In theory, all 8 teams could qualify for the semis but some of the teams had mathematical chances only, with Brisbane needing to win by 30 runs just to have a chance. But they made that chance pretty significant by winning by a mammoth 91 runs, which all but meant that Adelaide Strikers couldn’t qualify, even if they beat Melbourne Stars in their final match. Dan Christian scored 75 off 47 balls to set up the total and was then economical, conceding just 17 runs off his 4 overs, with the wicket of Daniel Smith to boot, but it was a team effort. Brisbane didn’t end up qualifying, not quite, as Melbourne Stars narrowly beat Adelaide to qualify, but they sure did shake up the competition.

Shahid Afridi’s wide to give Hobart Hurricanes the match against Melbourne Renegades, match 28

Melbourne Renegades needed to win by some 150 runs for any chance of a semi final spot, but even that wasn’t going to happen if Melbourne Stars won (which they did). Nonetheless, for the sake of pride they scored a big 173 with Brad Hodge starring before keeping it tight for Hobart Hurricanes, who looked like failing to chase a big total for the third time in a row. 5 runs were required off 2 balls, then 1 off 1 and then, off the final ball, Shahid Afridi bowled a wide for the most anti-climactic of finishes, which somewhat summed it up.

Sydney Sixers beating Perth Scorchers by 1 run, match 29

Thanks largely to Steve Smith’s 51 off 25 balls, Sydney had clawed their way to 176, bowled out off the final ball of their 20 overs, and then hung on to win by a solitary run against the ladder leaders Perth. It wasn’t enough to change their ladder positions, but it was enough to ultimately help Sydney to win the title. Perth needed 3 off the final ball, and were run out going for the 2nd run that would have tied the match. It meant nothing as far as who plays who in the semis but it meant everything to momentum and these 2 ended up playing off in the final with Sydney winning.

Melbourne Stars struggle to beat Adelaide Strikers and qualify for the semis, match 30

Melbourne did the right thing by bowling Adelaide all out for just 125, with a win enough for them to qualify while Adelaide needed to win by some 80 runs. Yet the 80 run victory looked possible early as spinners Nathan Lyon and Aaron O’Brien were virtually unplayable. But as soon as Adelaide could no longer qualify, they gave up and Melbourne ultimately won easily, ruining Brisbane Heat’s chances of making the semis (Brisbane would have made the semis had Adelaide won by less than 80). Cameron White was still out of form though he did at least score a 6 while George Bailey showed glimpses of form, giving the side some hope of a form turnaround for those two crucial batsmen.

Mitchell Marsh 41* (22) & 2/17 (2) destroys Melbourne Stars and qualifies Perth Scorchers for the final, 1st semi final

In one of the most dominant displays of the competition, Mitchell Marsh showed his star quality as he first bolstered a fading Perth score to get them to 174 and then ran through the Melbourne Stars batting line up. Of course, Matthew Wade, batting at 8, still threatened to get Melbourne close but when he was out it was soon all over as Melbourne fell 11 runs short.

Sydney Sixers defend a low total to upset Hobart Hurricanes and qualify for the final, 2nd semi final

For the 4th time in a row, Hobart found themselves chasing and for the 4th time in a row they struggled. They had been upset by Brisbane Heat, falling just short, and then by Melbourne Stars, and only just got over the line against Melbourne Renegades in the final league match only to lose chasing a low score against Sydney Sixers. Travis Birt for some unexplainable reason could only manage 11 off 15 balls, going at a very slow rate, while Naved ul Hasan batted well at the end but had too much to do and Hobart still lost by 8 runs in spite of Naved’s 30 off 14 with 2 sixers and 2 fours. The wrong team was in the final, or the wrong teams in many ways, but could Sydney go all the way?

Moises Henriques 70 (41) gives Sydney Sixers the title in spite of Mitch Marsh 77* (57) for Perth Scorchers, final

Perth scored too slowly before Mitch Marsh, coming in at 4, lifted the run rate from a below par 6 per over to close to 8 per over to set a challenging total. Unfortunately, he was let down by the bowlers and Moises Henriques did even better opening the batting and from there it was all over. Somewhat surprisingly, Mitch Marsh only bowled 1 over as Perth still had a chance to win with 4 overs to go, but the erratic Ben Edmondson and Nathan Rimmington, in spite of taking wickets, gave away too many easy runs and Steve Smith made light of it and won the title.

Best overseas performers:

Naved ul Hasan (Hobart Hurricanes, Pakistan) – 35 runs, avg 17.50, S/R 175.00 and 15 wickets, avg 17.00, E/R 8.01 was the best of the bowlers, though sadly can’t play for Australia and Pakistan don’t want him!

Herschelle Gibbs (Perth Scorchers, South Africa) – 302 runs, avg 43.14, S/R 151.75 was fantastic for a retired player, who, unfortunately for South Africa, isn’t available to play for them. He was dominant opening the batting for Perth and a great asset to the side, as they had one of the best international signings of all.

Shahid Afridi (Melbourne Renegades, Pakistan) – 69 runs, avg 23.00, S/R 153.33 and 10 wickets, avg 20.80, E/R 7.47 continues to be a star player, especially in this format, though his batting was inconsistent and his bowling at times underused.

Owais Shah (Hobart Hurricanes, England) – 282 runs, avg 70.50, S/R 149.20 was a great back up for Travis Birt and, while he never seemed to do too much, his record speaks for itself as he had a lot of good not outs.

Chris Gayle (Sydney Thunder, West Indies) – 252 runs, avg 42.00, S/R 150.00 and 1 wicket, avg 110.00, E/R 7.85 showed just what he is capable of, though sadly he only won one match for Sydney Thunder and without David Warner he was helpless.

Luke Wright (Melbourne Stars, England) – 236 runs, avg 39.33, S/R 145.67 and 2 wickets, avg 55.00, E/R 9.16 was at times pretty ordinary but did win Melbourne Stars one match and kick started their march towards the semi finals, so did his job.

Best Australian players:

David Hussey (Melbourne Stars) – 243 runs, avg 40.50, S/R 137.28. He also took 8 wickets, avg 19.50, E/R 7.42 to rightly be named the best player in the competition and was named in the T20 squad and should have been named captain.

Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers) – 309 runs, avg 51.50, S/R 121.65 as well as 3 wickets make Mitch the best batsman and occasional bowler that Australia could be looking towards. He is all of 20 years old and already looks like a much better prospect than his brother Shaun.

Travis Birt (Hobart Hurricanes) – 345 runs, avg 43.12, S/R 168.29 makes him a first choice for the T20 squad and while Hobart relied primarily on their bowling, he was a match winner with the bat too and all but got Hobart the trophy. If only.

Brad Hogg (Perth Scorchers) – 13 wickets, avg 14.69, E/R 5.61 was easily the best economy rate while being equal 3rd on the wicket taking list, not bad for guy about to turn 41 who has been retired for close to 4 years! He has been surprisingly named in the Australian T20 squad, surprising given he has retired but not so surprising given his results, as easily the best of the 4 retirees.

James Faulkner (Melbourne Stars) – 73 runs, avg 18.25, S/R 132.72 and 13 wickets, avg 17.61. E/R 7.89 was the equal 3rd best bowler and a more than handy batsman who looks like a great bowling all-rounder who could be in the Australian team in all 3 formats in the near future, but is especially well suited to the short formats and rightly earned himself a spot in the T20 squad.

Matthew Wade (Melbourne Stars) – 145 runs, avg 29.00, S/R 147.95 and 6 dismissals (5 caught, 1 stumped) in 8 matches were invaluable and he all but single handedly won Melbourne Stars the semi final against Perth from nowhere off his own bat, showcasing what he is capable of. He is deservedly the new Australian T20 and ODI keeper and surely a test cap is just around the corner.

Mitchell Starc (Sydney Sixers) – 13 wickets, avg 13.53, E/R 8.18 showed fantastic form and why he is now on the fringes of Australian selection, with a couple of tests and now in the T20 squad. He was a big part of why Sydney Sixers won the competition.

Clint McKay (Melbourne Stars) – 23 runs, avg -, S/R 143.75 and 11 wickets, avg 19.27, E/R 7.52 was another great performance as one of the best bowlers who was an attack leader and clearly the Stars’ best bowler, ably supported by James Faulkner and the great Shane Warne. His batting was certainly very brisk and could have been more damaging had he been sent up the order.

David Warner (Sydney Thunder) – 102 runs, avg -, S/R 200.00. If you can fault Warner, it is that he only played in one match before being called up to the test side. His side won that match comfortably but without him could only win one more, when opening partner Chris Gayle scored a century. Both together may have been fantastic but without Warner they were nothing. He well and truly deserved his T20 squad call up.

Brad Hodge (Melbourne Renegades) – 190 runs, avg 47.50, S/R 136.69 was once again scoring heavily and once again ignored for Australian selection. The kick in the teeth is that Brad Hogg, with a similar name, was called up aged 41 having retired 4 years earlier while Brad Hodge, aged just 37 and in much better form, was ignored, yet again. Hardly a surprise though and at least this time he wasn’t the absolute best player in the competition like he had been previously when ignored.

Jason Krezja (Hobart Hurricanes) – 11 wickets, avg 19.63, E/R 8.00 was a great asset for Tasmania and one half of the spin twins, alongside captain Xavier Doherty. He was more than a little unlucky not to make it to the T20 squad, given that his figures were better than Doherty’s, but Doherty is the penultimate partnership bowler so perhaps it is better.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Perth Scorchers) – 11 wickets, avg 17.40, E/R 7.25 was more than a little unlucky not to get a test cap but perhaps his lack of experience and at times erratic bowling cost him.

Shaun Marsh (Perth Scorchers) – 117 runs, avg 117.00, E/R 167.14 is a fantastic record, though a pity that it was basically from one innings of 99 not out and then his only other innings netted him just 18 runs. Given his appalling test form, averaging under 3 in 4 tests and 6 innings, it is a bit surprising that he was given a spot in the T20 squad but if you look at his figures he sure is capable and he does have a fantastic T20 record, especially in the IPL.

Xavier Doherty (Hobart Hurricanes) – 8 wickets, avg 27.62, S/R 7.36 may not look so great but he twice won Hobart matches off his own bowling and was a great leader for the team. He bowls so well in partnership with Krezja that he could easily have been named Australian T20 captain.

Aaron Finch (Melbourne Renegades) – 259 runs, avg 37.00, S/R 137.03 was pretty decent and he deserved his Australian T20 spot, though he only just got it.

Ben Edmondson (Perth Scorchers) – 14 wickets, avg 21.21, E/R 8.44 managed 14 wickets but was too erratic to be useful in the Australian T20 squad and was often doing more damage with his erratic bowling than the benefit he gave with his wicket taking.

Marcus North (Perth Scorchers) – 273 runs, avg 39.00, S/R 120.26 was a lot of runs but not really a great strike rate and while he is not bowling he was not really an option for Australia. A good performance just the same.

Nic Maddison (Sydney Sixers) – 275 runs, avg 30.55, S/R 125.57 might not sound like much but for a 20 year old he had done very well and should have been in the Australian T20 squad.

Dan Christian (Brisbane Heat) – 163 runs, avg 27.16, S/R 139.31 and 6 wickets, avg 33.66, E/R 7.21 was servicable without being fantastic, and he was somewhat lucky to be named in the Australian T20 squad, though he had been desperately unlucky not to play a test and this may be making up for it in a sense.

Steve Smith (Sydney Sixers) – 166 runs, avg 23.71, S/R 130.70 and 6 wickets, avg 21.50, E/R 8.06 was pretty unlucky to be overlooked, especially given his fine leadership skills but perhaps there were already too many spinners doing the rounds.

For me, the Australian T20 squad (George Bailey (capt), David Warner (vice-capt), Travis Birt, Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Matthew Wade (wk)) wasn’t too bad, though I would have taken out George Bailey (especially as captain) as well as Dan Christian and replaced them with Brad Hodge and Steve Smith, making David Hussey the captain in Bailey’s place.

I also wouldn’t have had Brett Lee or Shaun Marsh, replacing them with Nathan Coulter-Nile and Nic Maddison. But it isn’t a bad squad and who were the best players in the tournament are largely reflected with the squad’s make up. Somewhat surprisingly, the only player from the top side the Sydney Sixers was Brett Lee, and he probably shouldn’t have made the squad.

DUBAI: Pakistan’s left-arm off-spinner Abdur Rehman rubbished the impression on Tuesday that his team’s victory over England was a fluke or a big surprise saying the Men in Green defeated the world’s best Test side due to sheer hard work.

Abdur Rehman was instrumental in Pakistan’s 72-run victory in the Abu Dhabi Test which gave Pakistan an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series. Pakistan had won the opening Test match in Dubai by 10 wickets after right-arm orthodox off-spinner Saeed Ajmal mesmerized English batsmen with his Doosra.

The third Test starts from February 3, 2012 at Dubai where Pakistan would be looking to complete the clean-sweep against the top Test team in the ICC Test Championship table.

Abdur Rehman took six wickets for just 25 runs in the second innings, his best figures in Test career, which skittled England to their lowest-ever Test total against Pakistan, 72 runs.

Some cricketing pundits have been calling Pakistan’s victory in the Test series as a fluke but Abdur Rehman was not ready to accept the opinion as he told Emirates media, “No, it’s not surprising. We have won because we have worked really hard before the series and in the two Test matches”.

Pakistan’s spinners pair of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman have collectively taken 29 wickets in the first two Test matches and English batsmen have felt the heat in the Emirates grounds where they failed to play the spinning red cherry consistently. Saeed Ajmal is the top wicket-taker in the series with 17 wickets to his name while Abdur Rehman has taken 12 wickets so far.

English batsmen’s inability to handle spin bowling did surprise Pakistani players and Abdur Rehman admitted it saying, “We had no idea that it would finish in three or four days, but since the team did well and the pitches helped us so we won”.

Talking about his bowling partner, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman said, “We have nothing like that he will get wicket and I will be left out, we support each other so much that there comes nothing in our heart, we always think that anyone gets wickets it should be helpful for the team”.

Both the Pakistani off-spinners have stormed into the top ten in the Reliance ICC Rankings for Test Bowlers as Saeed Ajmal is at second place while Abdur Rehman has surged to ninth position for the first time in his career. This is the first time in the last 23 years that two Pakistani spinners are among the top ten bowlers in the Test cricket.

Abdur Rehman, who has taken 68 wickets from 14 Test matches, had the license to feel proud of his performance and its outcome. He said of his rankings, “It’s good, a very good feeling and now I am in top ten and it is after a long time that two Pakistani spinners have come in the rankings, so I am happy that I am among those bowlers who are world’s best”.

Abdur Rehman did tell the reporters why Pakistan have been so successful against England in the United Arab Emirates. He attributed the success to a marvelous game plan and hard work. Abdur Rehman stated, “What we are trying is to give them a tough time, contain them so that they make mistakes. That was the game plan of the captain and the coach, so they made mistakes after getting fed up”.

At first glance it seemed an odd choice to even have a separate professional league, given that we already had a KFC Big Bash, which produced such amazing performances and had teams that won Champions Trophies and the like. Now we were replacing it with a Big Bash, whose major sponsor was KFC! The city-based teams sounded exciting but of course Australia only has 6 states and 2 inland territories so it wasn’t the same situation as India’s IPL had.

There were 3 major choices for the 2 extra choices: 1) The two capital cities of the 2 inland territories, Darwin and Canberra 2) The two largest cities outside of the capitals, in the two biggest cricket-playing states, Geelong and Newcastle 3) Two remote areas, such as Broome and Mount Isa, or Alice Springs and Kalgoorlie. Yet instead of any of these IPL-like choices, they instead went their own way, with 2 teams from the same cities of Melbourne and Sydney. Granted that Melbourne and Sydney are the two biggest city-based towns but it was such an odd choice. The only benefit I could see was to encourage people from both Melbourne and Sydney to go for 2 teams each, so that when one was playing away they could support the other, much like how teams in the various football leagues like to have 2 in each state.

Would having 8 teams, still basically state-based but technically city-based, but with 2 in each of the biggest cricket-loving states work?

They only had 2 overseas players, unlike the 4 per playing 11 and 10 per squad that the IPL has. And with the BCCI not allowing any Indian players to participate, there surely wouldn’t be much overseas interest either.

The big difference was that players were allowed, nay encouraged, to change states. And many of them did, too. Over half stayed in their regular state (Melbourne for Victoria, Sydney for New South Wales, Hobart for Tasmania, etc) but some moved.

And the second big difference was that we had retired players. 4 of them in total. Shane Warne went to Melbourne Stars, and Matthew Hayden went to Brisbane Heat, both players who had been playing in the IPL since retirement so were hardly big surprises, but nonetheless quite exciting as they hadn’t been playing in Australia. But then two odd ones, Brad Hogg for Perth Scorchers and Stuart MacGill to Sydney Sixers. So 4 teams had retirees but the other 4 did not.

The first match was reported as having low attendances. Lower than the previous season and much lower than expected. It was deemed that the Big Bash was a failure. The entire first round of matches had less than expected attendances. The whole series seemed to be doomed.

And yet as soon as the announcement of failure came out, it was counter reported that it was in fact a roaring success, with triple the previous year’s TV audience. And, of course, they make most of their money from TV, not from live attendances. People who had Australian pay TV Foxtel or Austar were subscribing to the series as they did internationally.

The hype in the general public was that of excitement. With fewer matches than in previous matches (only playing each other once instead of twice), the contests were more important. Many matches were close and could go either way. There were big performances, as in previous editions, but they were somewhat more important.

Going into the final round of league matches, 3 teams had qualified for the 4 team finals, but 5 teams were playing off for the final spot. Going into the final match of the final round, still 3 teams were fighting for the 4th and final spot in the finals! Not just the two teams competing, but if the lower ranked of the two teams, Adelaide Strikers, won but only narrowly, then Brisbane Heat would qualify. As it stood, Melbourne Stars won and thus qualified for the semi finals.

In the semi finals, we had 2 matches where the team batting first won, but only just holding on after huge comebacks towards the end of the matches. And then the final went the other way, against the grain, as the team chasing, Sydney Sixers, came over the top to win quite easily in the end.

There was so much talk about the series when it ended. Shane Warne should captain the Melbourne Stars next season. Adam Gilchrist should come out of retirement to play. Brad Hogg, one of the retirees, should be in the Australian team. And, somewhat amusingly, he was! Hogg is now in the Australian T20 team, 4 years after he retired, and he still isn’t playing first class cricket!

It might not have made as much money as the IPL, nor as much as it would have made had Indians been in the tournament, but it nonetheless was an exciting contest, far moreso than the KFC Big Bash, the state based competition that ran in previous years. It was talked about a lot more and was a lot more exciting.

And they did it by doing it their way. They had 2 teams from the same city, instead of having 8 different cities. They had only 2 overseas players per squad, and some teams only played 1 per playing 11. They didn’t disclose how much each player went for in the public auction, and they didn’t do it over one day but rather over several weeks. It was in many ways more professional than the IPL without the fanfare but in many ways a better contest.

Perhaps in future editions they could have more overseas players. Perhaps they could have sides from Geelong and Newcastle. But perhaps they did everything right this time.

What do you think? Success or failure? Do you think that they should do anything differently next time?

MUMBAI: Kevin O’Brien, the fastest centurion at the 2011 World Cup (Ireland vs England, Bangalore) is hoping to remain colourful in the next IPL season in India.

Speaking exclusively to The Sports Encounter from Dublin, the 28-year-old Ireland all-rounder said, “With my natural hair colour being orange, it makes sense to dye the middle of my head blonde, and the right side of my head green to make the Irish national flag of the Tri-colour”.

[Take a look at England vs Ireland: Fall of Wickets – Highlights]

“It’s the third year the Irish cricket team are involved in ”Shave or Dye” campaign which is run so well by a leading radio station here in Ireland, Today FM. The last two years I have dyed my hair blonde and pink, but this year could see a slight change in colours”, he further added.

The shortlist of the 144 players for the IPL 2012 auction includes O’Brien brothers (Kevin and Niall).

Enjoy Highlights of England vs Ireland: Out of the Park

“It would be a great privilege to play in the IPL 2012, as it’s a great chance to play with and against the worlds greatest players. Hopefully my World Cup innings against England will stand me in good stead for being picked up by a franchise on Saturday. I would love to play for any one of the franchises and hope that one of them can see my ability and my results in the UK 20/20 season last year for Gloucestershire where I scored a hundred off 44 balls. With 20/20 cricket being so important for Ireland this year, I want to get as much experience as possible in the most exciting form of the game”, the hard-hitting Irish all-rounder added.

Explaining the reason to be colourful, he said, “It’s a great charity and it touches so many people around the world. Last year it raised over $2 million, and was helped greatly by our magnificent World Cup victory over England”.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Ireland stun England with huge run-chase

“The public donate money to the charity through the radio station, with text messages, and people calling in to donate money. People donate money to friends and family for either shaving their hair off, or dying their hair colour.  It runs for around two months and sportspeople all around Ireland get involved and do as much as they can to promote and get publicity for the charity”.

“It is in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, which is a self run charity, which was founded in 1963 and has grown into the national charity for cancer care, the leading provider of all information relating to cancer prevention, detection, treatment and support.  They are the largest voluntary funded of cutting edge cancer research in Ireland”.

“Only recently I found out about Yuvraj Singh, who is in all the Irish players’ thoughts. He is a great cricketer, and he was generous enough to swap our signed shirts, with his enscription reading, “Best wishes to Kevin, great knock against England, keep it up, Yuvraj”. I’m sure he will make a full recovery from his illness, and will be back in the blue shirt of India very soon. I look forward to that day, and can’t wait to play him again, as he is such a wonderful player”, Kevin signed off.

PUNE: An outstanding table-clearing break of 134 by defending champion Aditya Mehta set him apart from the rest of the cueists on the second day of the 78th National Snooker championship at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Tuesday.

The Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSPB) cueist Mehta won his second game in as many days in Group A of the league phase in the 78th Manisha-National Billiards and Snooker championship being organized by the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra and the PYC Hindu Gymkhana.

Playing against qualifier Yogesh Sharma of Maharashtra, the Mumbai-based Mehta was tentative at the start when Sharma attempted escapes to keep his opponent at bay in the first frame.

There was slow progress before table opened up and Mehta was able to pot better colour balls than Sharma to take the frame 68-55. Again, Sharma tried to find escapes in the second frame, but once Mehta found a clear line he went on to clean the reds before taking the frame 71-3.

Not allowing to get locked in snooks, Mehta, who has been playing on the proTour in England this season, dished out an amazing table-clearance of unfinished 134 to post his second win in the league.

In snooker, maximum break possible is 144 and Mehta was just 10 below—showing his control over the green baize and the lines right from the start of the championship. He won 68-55, 71-3, 134-0.

Last year’s runner-up, Alok Kumar, also of PSPB, scored his first win—a 3-0 victory of Lalsanzela of Mizoram in Group B. Alok had just one notable break, a 50, in the third frame before he won 68-40, 50-11, 76-39.

But it was qualifier Brijesh Damani who let known his intentions by winning back-to-back matches, including one against No 3 seed Neeraj Kumar of Railways. Bengal cueist Damani in fact scored straight-frame win against Neeraj, who had finished third at the last Nationals in Chennai. Earlier, Damani had beaten Sajan Bopanna of Karnataka 70-16, 62-4, 59-49.

Another qualifier showed that he too was ready for the big game as Durga Pradesh of Railways defeated Devendra Joshi of PSPB 3-1 as the Railways cueist scored two wins to stake claim for the knock-out phase.

Durga Prasad first defeated Akshay Kumar of Uttar Pradesh 62-53, 66-23, 52-83, 41-61, 60-22 in tough five frames before he found his bearings and let the cue do talking against Devendra Joshi despite losing the first frame. He won 14-52, 54-41, 54-42, 63-36, in Group I.

Meanwhile, Kamal Chawla of Railways and four-time champion Pankaj Advani of PSPB recorded easy wins in their second league matches. Chawla defeated Anand Raghuvanshi of Maharashtra 71-34, 53-47, 59-14, while Advani blanked Dhawal Mackwana of Gujarat  83-36, 75-20, 67-26, including a break of 56 in the first frame.

However, former champion and No 7 seed Manan Chandra, playing in Group G, was taken to the distance by fellow Delhi cueist Rishit Jain before the Petroleum Board cueist prevailed 3-2. Manan won 73-8, 59-57, 36-57, 19-61, 69-32—clearing showing that he is out of touch with the sport that he dominated during his junior days with his great potting.

Results: Men’s Snooker: League phase:

Group A: Sunil Kumar (HP) bt Sumesh Turki (J and K) 3-0 (47-40, 75-20, 57-22); Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Yogesh Sharma (Mah) 3-0 (68-55, 71-3, 134 (134)-0).

Group B: Bharat Sisodiya (MP) bt Lalsangzela (Miz) 3-1 (44-53, 61-56, 62-27, 63-52); Pulkit Thukral (Del) bt Peter Lalrintluanga (Miz) 3-0 (66-7, 63-15, 49-25); Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Lalsanzela (Miz) 3-0 (68-40, 50-11, 76 (50)-39).

Group C: Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Sajan Bopanna (Kar) 3-0 (70-16, 62-4, 59-49); Bhadresh Panchal (Guj) bt Aamir Hussain (Ben) 3-2 (37-64, 66-41, 70-56, 30-70, 71 (47)-11); Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) 3-0 (58-26, 83-56, 64 (56)-7).

Group D: K Venkatesham (Rlys) bt Pratik Jain (MP) 3-0 (57-26, 65-33, 70-35); IH Manudev (Kar) bt M Yogesh Sharma (Kar) 3-0 (58-20, 68-17, 75-27).

Group E: Himanshu Jain (AP) bt Anuj Sharma (Goa) 3-0 (59-14, 90-41, 70-1); Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Anand Raghuvanshi (Mah) 3-0 (71-34, 53-47, 59-14).

Group F: Rajat Khaneja (Chd) bt Nikhil Ootam (Mah) 3-1 (69-18, 36-69, 62-28, 56-47); Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Dhawal Mackwana (Guj) 3-0 (83 (56)-36, 75-20, 67-26).

Group G: Divya Sharma (Har) bt Dhruv Varma (Pun) 3-2 (64-28, 30-44, 53-41, 40-49, 57-44); Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Rishit Jain (Del) 3-2 (73-8, 59-57, 36-57, 19-61, 69-32).

Group H: IV Rajeev (AP) bt Varun Madan (Del) 3-2 (36-87, 60-42, 43-59, 80-13,  66-35); Ahsan Ul Haq (Ori) bt Sukumar Barman (Asm) 3-0 (76-41, 69-49, 59-47); Rafath Habib (Rlys) bt Varun Madan (Del) 3-0 (63-16, 76 (40)-22, 59-17); IV Rajeev (AP) bt Ahsan Ul Haq (Ori) 3-0 (64-11, 73 (51)-21, 110 (64)-4).

Group I: Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt J Varun Kumar (TN) 3-1 (64-54, 70-37, 30-73, 78-62); Amarnath Sharma (Meg) bt Mridul Das (Asm) 3-2 (34-47, 70-27, 71-36, 13-57, 49-37);  Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 3-1 (8-69, 89 (49)-10, 63-4, 61-31); J Varun Kumar (TN) bt Amarnath Sharma (Meg) 3-0 (65-23, 75-27, 63-38).

Group J: Sumit Talwar (Chd) bt Deepak A (Kar) 3-2 (49-60, 32-47, 50-42, 61-24, 63-1); Vinayak Agarwal (UP) bt AR Arjun (Kar) 3-0 (53-15, 94-60, 53-46); Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt Vinayak Agarwal (UP) 3-0 (85-21, 84-10, 95-19).

Group K: Vipin Premi (UP) bt Rahul Bhargava (Raj) 3-1 (61-50, 45-54, 59-08, 56-40); Vijay Nichani (TN) beat Pushpinder Singh (Rlys) 3-1 (58-32, 60-23, 33-66, 70-37); Shivam Arora (Mah) bt Vipin Premi (UP) 3-0 (76-25, 64-17, 67-64).

Group L: Shoaib Khan (Ben) bt Rupesh Chauhan (HP) 3-0 (50-04, 55-15, 70-9); Durga Prasad (Rlys) bt Akshay Kumar (UP) 3-2 (62-53, 66-23, 52-83, 41-61, 60-22); Durga Prasad (Rlys) bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 3-1 (14-52, 54-41, 54-42, 63-36); Shoaib Khan (Ben) bt Akshay Kumar (UP) 3-2 (40-77, 7-61, 59-18, 70-9, 56-41).

Group M: Senthil (TN) bt Valney Gomendis (Goa) 3-0 (54-47, 65-26, 76-1); Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Shankar Rao (AP) 3-0 (80-30, 82 (82)-4, 67-13); Senthil (TN) bt Kamal Rohmetra (J and K) 3-0 (67-41, 47-45, 65-37).

Group N: Gunjan Patel (Guj) bt Imran Ganj (TN) 3-1 (23-62, 74-37, 52-46, 73-38); Sundeep Gulati (Del) bt Rishabh Pandya (Mah) 3-0 (63-61, 66-47, 62-34); Lalrina Renthei (Miz) bt Gunjan Patel (Guj) 3-1 (56-52, 55-6, 20-53, 73 (44)-7).

Group O: Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Ben) 3-0 (65-15, 70-43, 63-42); Hasan Badami (Mah) bt Rushabh Jain (Mah) 3-2 (68 (68)-11, 65-70, 18-72, 71-58, 53-39); Dhvaj Haria (Guj) bt Shyam Jagtiani (Ben) 3-0 (72-41, 75-43, 55-41).

Group P: Rovin D’Souza (Mah) bt Anupam Jha (Bih) 3-0 (71-11, 67-22, 89-9); R Girish (Rlys) bt Faisal Khan (Rlys) 3-2 (70-59, 25-68, 0-85 (85), 63-49, 80-69); Manish Jain (Ben) bt Rovin D’Souza (Mah) 3-1 (82 (45)-53, 37-70 (46), 53-10, 67-24).