Azhar Ali, pictured here in Uncharacteristically Unseemly Haste mode
Big Picture History will hang heavily over this series. Three Pakistan players are serving custodial sentences after being found guilty on match-rigging charges during the 2010 series in England. …
The cricket in this series should be fascinating enough before the inevitable controversies interfere
England star batsman Kevin Pietersen has revealed that his side has made a pact on not to sledge the Pakistan team about the spot-fixing scandal that had sent shockwaves through cricket in 2010.
England fast bowler James Anderson has warned that he will not tone down his aggressive style to help Anglo-Pakistani relations in Dubai.
Stephen Brenkley, writing in the Independent, says Pakistan have rebuilt considerably since the scandal-marred England tour in 2010, ensuring consistency in team selection under Misbah-ul-Haq. But the behaviour of both teams, he says, will be closely scrutinized for signs of friction. Pakistan seem, in short, to have got their act together. But that will not prevent an air of suspicion and intrigue around the Dubai International Cricket Stadium tomorrow. Misbah and Mohsin are trying desperately to move on. They have convinced their colleagues to forget the past and England too…
Andrew Strauss should not get caught up in trying to ensure England’s series against Pakistan in the UAE is incident-free, Michael Vaughan writes in the Daily Telegraph. England’s aggressive body language in the field is one of their biggest strengths, Vaughan says, and they must use it because they will be up against the best bowling attack they have faced since they went to South Africa two winters ago. Aggression is not all about being lippy. England are aggressive in other ways. In the field it is with their body…
India’s rapid dip in fortunes since winning the World Cup should not surprise anyone, Mihir Bose says in Outlook. The Indian cricket team has a general lack of willingness to achieve greatness, he says, something which reflects a broader theme in the mentality of all Indians. Far from being the new-era Indian from a town once famous for its British-era mental home, Dhoni has been shown up to be the clerk he is. I was struck by this thought when, just before the England series, he chose to launch his…
Chris Tremlett has acquired an aura of genuine menace
As many as 22 former and current Members of Parliament and seven senators have written letters of endorsement to induct Frederick Heather into the 2012 Canada Sports Hall of Fame. Heather, who played a major role in the growth and development of cricket in Canada, moved to the country from England in 1921 and died in Toronto in 1976. Heather is being nominated in the Builder’s category for the Sports Hall of Fame – the category recognises “outstanding contribution to Canadian sport as a leader, administrator, official, coach, business leader,…