ICC could look again at result of forfeited Oval Test SYDNEY, ICC president David Morgan said Wednesday the result of the controversial 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan could be reconsidered after pressure from Marylebone Cricket Club.The result of the forfeited Test match was changed from an England win to a draw by the International Cricket Council in July but the MCC said on Sunday the move contravened the laws of cricket and set a very dangerous precedent.

Morgan, in Sydney ahead of next year’s women’s World Cup, said the ICC might look again at the decision, which was made before he became president.The MCC World Cricket Committee is a very responsible group, he was quoted as saying by media.

It is made up of some of the world’s top cricketers and chaired by (former England captain) Tony Lewis and I would be very interested in hearing what has been reported.I’ll be very interested to actually read their minutes and I’m sure they will make that available and it’s something we (the ICC) will have to consider very carefully.It was a decision that was made by the ICC and it’s a decision that I was not happy with.He added: I was president-elect and I didn’t believe it was appropriate to change the result of the England-Pakistan match.The first and only forfeit in the history of Test cricket took place in August 2006 when Australian umpire Darrell Hair and his West Indian colleague Billy Doctrove penalised Pakistan five penalty runs for alleged ball-tampering.

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Following is one of Mirza Ghalib’s famous ghazals. We think it will be interesting if we let our readers try to translate it. You can choose a language and style of your own. You can translate it in English or salees (easy) Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi etc. You can translate it funny, silly or melancholy. You can turn it into a ‘azad nazm’ or even make ‘nasr’ (prose) or a story out of it. Wanna take this challenge? Bring out your creativity. There is no wrong answer here.

The scene below is from June 01, 2008 where people are seen pushing a broken down bus near S.M. College, Karachi. The photo is a very good representative of our society in literal as well as philosophical way.

Let me tell you why I think so..

(1) Literal in a sense that such scenes are very common in Pakistan where passengers of a bus are also asked to push it when the engine dies down.

(2) Philosophical in a sense that note the dua (prayers) written on the bus as ‘allah nigehban’ (May God Protect You) and ‘allah mehrban’ (May God be Benevolent to you). But unlike our symbolic and ritualistic society these brave men are not waiting for some divine help to appear. They are taking matters in their own hands and should I say..‘himmat-e-mardaaN, madad-e-khuda’ (God helps those who show courage).

I’ve read somewhere that while the war of independence in 1857 was getting crushed by the British, the ladies in old city Delhi were heard saying:

‘khuda karay faraNgioN ki topouN mein keeRay paReN” (May God put pests in the guns of colonial powers). Of course such prayers were not going to be heard. In the end Delhi lost its power seat for the next 90 years.

Allama Iqbal has also said:

    Khuda ne aaj tak us qaum ki haalat naheeN badli
    na ho jis ko khyal aap apni haalat ke badalnay ka

Fourth edition of National Twenty20 Cup concluded in Lahore today with Sialkot Stallions retaining the Champions title for third year running. Runners Up Karachi Dolphins were left wondering about their luck and skills as they have now appeared in 3 Finals in the past 4 tournaments and lost everytime.

Final Score: Karachi Dolphins (125/9), Sialkot Stallions (126/3). Detailed Scorecard here

Following have been winners and runners-up of 4 twenty-20 national tournaments that have been played in Pakistan so far.

2004/05: Winner: Faisalabad Wolves, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins
2005/06: Winner: Sialkot Stallions, Runners Up: Faisalabad Wolves
2006/07: Winner: Sialkot Staliions, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins
2007/08: Winner: Sialkot Stallions, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins

13 teams from all over Pakistan took part in this year’s tournament. They were divided into 4 pools with winners of each pool qualifying for semi-finals. The points table at the end of pool matches looked as below.

Semi Final 1: Karachi Dolphins (69/1) beat Islamabad Leopards (68)
Semi Final 2: Sialkot Stallions (117/6) beat Lahore Lions (111/6)

Karachi and Sialkot both had a star-studded team. To me, atleast on paper Karachi’s team looked stronger with services of 6 players who have representated Pakistan’s national team.

Karachi was lead by Shahid Afridi. It also had Pakistan’s 5 other ODI players: Fawad Alam, Sohail Khan, Naumanullah, Khurram Manzoor and wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed.

Sialkot was lead by Pakistan’s national team captain Shoaib Malik and it also had the services of Pakistan’s 3 national ODI players Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rehman and Kashif Raza and 1 test player Qaiser Abbas.

Shoaib Akhtar ki wapsi

Ofcourse a big news for this year’s tournament has been the return of Shoaib Akhter. He played for Islamabad Leopards and his performance remained as follows

v Karachi Dolpins: 4 runs in batting and 3-0-22-0 in bowling.
v Multan Tigers: did not bat and 4-1-14-1 in bowling

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to arrange a home series have been dealt a blow as West Indies have opted not to tour next month because of security concerns.
Senior players had already expressed concerns about visiting Pakistan and the decision comes a week after the West Indies women’s team called off the Pakistan leg of their Asian tour.Donald Peters, the chief executive of the West Indies board, said negotiations are on to reschedule the tour. “We are in talks with the PCB at present with the hope of getting the tour deferred to another date, but at this time we are not going to tour the country,” Peters told Caribbean Media Corporation Sport.

“At the end of the last (WICB) board meeting, the directors wanted a security report on the situation in Pakistan and I contacted the PCB. I had requested a security plan from them that was okayed by their police and military.

“They got this plan and sent it to me and we were then looking further at getting an independent security firm but this was not done because we had decided that at this point it was not really safe for the players to go to Pakistan.”

Pakistan have already had two high-profile postponements this year: Australia’s tour was put off, as was the Champions Trophy. They have not played a home Test since October 2007 and the only tournaments they have hosted this year are the Asia Cup and ODI series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

I do not think that I am the only who who has been quite stunned by the near-total radio silence from Gen. Pervez Musharraf since he was forced out of the President’s office.

Of course, one realizes that he has probably been advised - maybe ‘told’ - to keep a low profile by the military itself. Possibly, that was part of the unstated ‘deal’ that led to his resignation. Moreover, one must confess, that given all the passions he can still ignite amongst his detractors as well as his supporters, it is probably a good think that he has kept a low profile. Pakistan is already too traumatic a place. There is already “too much news” in Pakistan as it is. A little quiet from the Pervez Musharraf front is, therefore, probably good for the general and good for Pakistan too.

But that being as it is, one is quite surprised at the silence nonetheless. Silence is certainly not characteristic of the man. And he obviously has a lot that he could say, especially given all the events since his departure. That he has kept his restrain - or been made to keep his restrain - is, therefore, certainly surprising and possibly admirable.

Except, that it seems that he has finally broken the silence - but only briefly and most cautiously. One hears that he will also soon start saying more - on the international lecture circuit. Whether one agrees with him or not, it will no doubt be worth a listen.

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The date for Lollywood Film Star Sana’s marriage with model Fakhar Imam has been finalized at the end of this year on December 13.The Mehndi will be on December 14, Baraat on December 15 and Valima on December 16.

Sources said the marriage is scheduled in December because Fakhar is busy in building a house to present it to Sana as the marriage gift.

MUMBAI: Three more players from Pakistan have joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
According to an Indian media report, Lahore Badshahs, led by Inzamam-ul-Haq, has acquired the services of three more Pakistani cricketers to play in the ICL.

These three cricketers are Tahir Mughal, Shahid Yousuf and hafeez Khalil while one more Bangladeshi player Nazimuddin has joined Dhaka Warriors, a new team in the ICL.