Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

[samb]

Your comments remind me of the time when people use to curse Musharaf and they were finally able to take him down. After that, they got Zardari as president.

So curse Afridi as much as you want, I will be right here laughing at all of the people who cursed Afridi and got someone more worst than him.

What people don't understand is fine, what he did was unacceptable, no question about it. But why this small thing doesn't register in your brain cells:

Who else do we have ? Yousuf ? Younis ? Kamal ? Malik ?

How about we stop playing at international level till we find a captain without any flaws ? sounds good ?

first of all, get some sense of perspective. these comparisons between professional cricketers and people who head political parties and have the support of millions of Pakistanis are retarded... and for some reason, they seem to be really popular on GS.

secondly, I was against Musharraf and still am. I don't have a problem with Zardari. for me, he's not the issue. and while he hasn't done too many good things, he hasn't done too much wrong in my book... and I'm definitely not one of those people who want a uniformed dog like Musharraf back...

thirdly, there can be no worse captain than Afridi.

fourthly, I agree. we've run out of candidates. and it's funny the main reason why we've run out of ppl is because of players like Afridi. had Afridi, Yousuf, etc cooperated with Malik and no sabotaged him, maybe Malik might have been successful as captain and we wouldn't be sitting here discussing worst case scenarios and how we've run our of captaincy candidates, etc...

[inzi_rocks]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

no comment!

[fkhan2]

@inzi_rocks

no comment!

please yar kuch tu bolo...

[SalmanNY]

@Captain1

This may not be best of example, but would you hire some accountant in jail or would you hire someone honest who tells you the truth? Probably people like you would hire someone in jail because he thinks like you??

Bro, in all honesty, I didn’t even get your example.

[SalmanNY]

first of all, get some sense of perspective. these comparisons between professional cricketers and people who head political parties and have the support of millions of Pakistanis are retarded... and for some reason, they seem to be really popular on GS.

secondly, I was against Musharraf and still am. I don't have a problem with Zardari. for me, he's not the issue. and while he hasn't done too many good things, he hasn't done too much wrong in my book... and I'm definitely not one of those people who want a uniformed dog like Musharraf back...

thirdly, there can be no worse captain than Afridi.

fourthly, I agree. we've run out of candidates. and it's funny the main reason why we've run out of ppl is because of players like Afridi. had Afridi, Yousuf, etc cooperated with Malik and no sabotaged him, maybe Malik might have been successful as captain and we wouldn't be sitting here discussing worst case scenarios and how we've run our of captaincy candidates, etc...

Mairaye Bhai, I don't want to get into this political debate but if you can accept a chor, badmash, sattay baz, a known criminal as your president, then people like yourself, deserve him.

I do not know the details of Shoaib's captaincy, but I just read on Jang, that Malik was praising Afridi on how well he lead the team from front and said nothing but good things about him. So, not sure what exactly happened, but if it was as bad as you are saying it was, I do not think Malik would be praising Afridi for his efforts like that.

Also, Malik is another breed of Yousuf. He does NOT have the charisma or the balls to captain a team. Just like Yousuf, he just does NOT have the authority over the team. On the other hand, just like Imran Khan, Afridi proved in the last ODI, that he can bring life in the team, we all saw it, we all witnessed it.
-Salman
PS: You need to check your book, if we start listing the things Zardari has done wrong, there will be no end to it, and you know that.

[SalmanNY]

You are not the only one who thinks like that. The whole nation has compromised its values because we are a insecure bunch.

We don't trust that standing in a line would get us somewhere...we don't trust discipline, the infrastructure..our fellow citizens etc. We are a failed generation. Shame on us!

Words of my Dad.

[ravage]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

why is politics the benchmark here? is our screwed up system of political governance necessarily to be the case for every organization we have? I have lived in Pakistan long enough to know that every organization isnt led by Zardari/Musharraf and nor is the corruption and dishonesty and cheap politics endemic in our political class necessarily present in every other organization.

its a strawman argument.

[SalmanNY]

^ see once again, ur missing the point. You cannot compare it like that. The example your giving doesnt work here. The accountant would be in jail because he would have ripped other people off to benefit himself.

The difference here is Afridi didnt do this for himself but did it for Pakistan. Yeah, no doubt it was a stupid thing to do when there's about 30 camera's around you and you have been caught doing pitch dancing before and have about 15 years of international cricketing experience.

But once again the point is, he was desperte for Pakistan to win...he's the type of player who would go to lengths just to make Pakistan win. But, obviously, he should only be made captain again with a stern warning that if anything stupid like this happens again you will not only be stripped of captaincy, but you will never represent Pakistan ever again.

Plus, its not like we have great future captain's waiting in the wings to take over...sadly he is our only hope. To me, what Yousuf did while captain was even more embarassing than this. Losing matches when we were clearly headed for a win, and when losing, we looked worse than BD and Zim. Plus, the remarks Yousuf made after Butt ran him out, and when Manzoor scored a very gutsy 77 of 240 deliveries, instead of praising him, he comes out and says his technique is not good and needs to go back and fix that first. Yousuf, your own technique is perfect but what did you do during the whole tour?? Have you ever seen Sehwag or Chanderpaul bat? Did you even score 77 runs in any innings on this whole tour and or NZ tour? If he's saying all this crap in front of the media, I can only imagine what these players go through in the dressing room because of his paindooness. I can go on and on of his list of stupidities just in a couple tours as captain.

Desperete times call for desperete measures.

Bro, don't even get me started on Yousuf. I have never seen more pathetic captaincy in my entire life. After that defeat in the 2nd test match, I just couldn't believe it. Even before the series started, I just couldn't understand why Afridi wasn't the captain for the test matches. If if he was the captain or even if Younis was the captain of that 2nd test match, we wouldn't have lost it, no way no how.

More so, what kind bloody interviews and remarks he was giving ? On the fourth day Ponting is saying that 'If we do our best, we can still win the match'. And Yousuf is saying, 'It's still very hard, its too early to say anything'. Bloody hell man. You are the captain of Pakistan National Team. You don't have an ounce of juice in your balls to say something positive or bold ? I mean how pessimistic & pathetic of a person you are ? If you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything. Especially if it will bring down the moral of your team mates. If you are lacking confidence because you can't speak proper English then refrain your self from saying stupid things and shut your mouth.

I don't care if the rest of the players speak proper English or not, but at least a captain must and should. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with how you play, but too boost your own moral, LEARN FREAKING ENGLISH. So next time you are infront of the mic, you dont stutter or hesitate just because you can't speak proper English.

Our players hesitate and are embarrassed to be MOM, why ? Because they are scared that at the end of the match, they have to be in front of the mic for the interview. Look at Dravid, look at Dhoni, look at Sangrakra (That guy can be an English teacher, seriously). Heck, the Bangali Captain speaks proper English. They are all from 3rd world countries, Unko Kia Surkhaab Kaye Per Lagaye Hoye Hein or were they born with headphones running BBC through their ear drums. Why can't our players be fluent in English so that it helps their cause on the field ?

Ok I will stop venting now. Enough said.

-Salman

[SalmanNY]

@ravage

why is politics the benchmark here? is our screwed up system of political governance necessarily to be the case for every organization we have? I have lived in Pakistan long enough to know that every organization isnt led by Zardari/Musharraf and nor is the corruption and dishonesty and cheap politics endemic in our political class necessarily present in every other organization.

its a strawman argument.

Ravage, can you tell me who makes the final decision of our cricket team?

[ravage]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

what 'final decision'?

[ehsan]

Reality bites

                    Posted by **Sohaib Alvi** on  02 3rd, 2010 |

http://blog.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/290x2301.jpg

I once wrote that Shahid Afridi is possibly the only cricketer in history who is dangerous for both sides in the same match. He is potentially the finest leader along with Younis Khan that we have ready at present (Salman Butt remains the longer term hope). He has also developed into arguably the finest spinner, if not the finest bowler, in one-day cricket. Even his batting has started to utilise brain in addition to brawn.
Why, then, does Afridi get into these moments of madness? I don’t buy his manager’s excuse that he was doing it for his team. Only the fictitious character of James Bond has the license to do what he has to in the name of queen and country. And he doesn’t have 28 cameras surrounding him when he takes a discreet, non-scripted advantage of his co-star while shooting.
The fact that Afridi has upfront accepted his misdemeanour and apologised profusely should close the issue; unless the ICC hound him for claiming that all teams do it. Enough has already been said about his moments of madness; we should reconcile that they will occur again. He clearly learnt nothing from his act of scraping the good length spot on the pitch some years back while play was held up briefly. At the time, he probably thought that the cameras had been switched off. The tape eventually replayed to show the spinner doing a twist while crossing the pitch. Afridi was punished for that antic by the match referee. Then, too, he apologised, saying exactly what he repeated at Perth. Four years on, nothing has changed. In the coming four years, we can expect little to change as well.
I want to clarify that what I am about to say next is not in no way a defence of Afridi, but needs to be said nonetheless. Indeed, what Afridi did is unpardonable and it’s surprising that he got only a two-match ban: it was worth more than that.
That said, equally blatant – and some not-so-blatant acts – have been committed by other players on which match referees and commentators have remained silent. It is on record in at least one case relating to Australia’s wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist, in a group match during the first Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
Gilchrist received a throw from the boundary and upon collecting it rubbed it rapidly on the hard surface around the stumps – the antic was telecast by the channels. I was in the control room at the time as I was providing commentary for the match, and even pointed it out to a former Test captain of Pakistan who was in the studio. We had the move replayed for the captain, and he agreed that it was a clear violation of law 42-3(b). I am not claiming it was ball doctoring because Gilchrist plays fair and is known to be a ‘walker’ if he feels he has nicked it. But even he would have a hard time explaining what he was doing it if the clip were shown to him again.
The point is that no one commented on Gilchrist’s ball rubdown even though it was in full view and the camera covered it for the entirety of the act. Where were the match officials? Where were the eagle-eyed, patriotic and sarcastic Australian commentators?
In a similar incident at the start of this year, England bowlerswere pulled up by South Africa’s team management for Stuart Broad ‘spiking’ the ball](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/cricket/2796244/England-ball-tampering-bust-up.html) with boots by stepping on it and scuffing it while James Anderson was caught on camera for using his fingernails to take off leather off the ball.
Incidentally, the umpires during that incident hailed from Australia and New Zealand, and neither had played first-class cricket so wouldn’t know the clandestine techniques of ball tampering. Both the team managers were white as well. The ICC announced that no formal complaint had been made within the stipulated time and the matter was closed.
Astonishingly, David Lloyd said at the time, “If you’ve played international cricket, you’ll shrug your shoulders at these allegations. We all know that it goes on all the time.” Afridi should use that quote in his defence if ICC pursues him further on similar claims.
But former England captains Michael Vaughn and Nasser Hussain as well as journalist Simon Wilde asked whether the same matter would have been dismissed without an investigation if they had been Pakistani bowlers.
Previously, in 1994, the then England captain, Mike Atherton, was caught in a blatant act of ball tampering by the TV cameras at Lord’s. When the English press brought it up he was quickly and quietly fined to pre-empt a ban and kept the England captaincy.
The Australians have reportedlydabbled in the art too, but you won’t find it on the mainstream news/videos, just as you won’t find the Gilchrist rub.
I say again that this track record does not exonerate or justify Afridi’s stupidity. As a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, he bit the ball with none of the subtlety that Broad and Atherton have been accused of. And if the ICC charge him for accusing other teams of ball tampering, he can always refer them to former England captain Marcus Trescothick’s autobiography, published last year, where he admits England regularly tampered with the ball. Of course the ICC never looked into the issue despite documentary evidence and a confession.

The Dawn Blog Blog Archive Reality bites

[Captain1]

@ravage

why is politics the benchmark here? is our screwed up system of political governance necessarily to be the case for every organization we have? I have lived in Pakistan long enough to know that every organization isnt led by Zardari/Musharraf and nor is the corruption and dishonesty and cheap politics endemic in our political class necessarily present in every other organization.

its a strawman argument.

Politics will definitely be dragged as comparison, why? The chief is President, non of selectors/administrators are hired based on merit, there is no specific criteria.

[fkhan2]

@ehsan

Reality bites

Posted by Sohaib Alvi on 02 3rd, 2010 |

http://blog.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/290x2301.jpg

I once wrote that Shahid Afridi is possibly the only cricketer in history who is dangerous for both sides in the same match. He is potentially the finest leader along with Younis Khan that we have ready at present (Salman Butt remains the longer term hope). He has also developed into arguably the finest spinner, if not the finest bowler, in one-day cricket. Even his batting has started to utilise brain in addition to brawn.
Why, then, does Afridi get into these moments of madness? I don’t buy his manager’s excuse that he was doing it for his team. Only the fictitious character of James Bond has the license to do what he has to in the name of queen and country. And he doesn’t have 28 cameras surrounding him when he takes a discreet, non-scripted advantage of his co-star while shooting.
The fact that Afridi has upfront accepted his misdemeanour and apologised profusely should close the issue; unless the ICC hound him for claiming that all teams do it. Enough has already been said about his moments of madness; we should reconcile that they will occur again. He clearly learnt nothing from his act of scraping the good length spot on the pitch some years back while play was held up briefly. At the time, he probably thought that the cameras had been switched off. The tape eventually replayed to show the spinner doing a twist while crossing the pitch. Afridi was punished for that antic by the match referee. Then, too, he apologised, saying exactly what he repeated at Perth. Four years on, nothing has changed. In the coming four years, we can expect little to change as well.
I want to clarify that what I am about to say next is not in no way a defence of Afridi, but needs to be said nonetheless. Indeed, what Afridi did is unpardonable and it’s surprising that he got only a two-match ban: it was worth more than that.
That said, equally blatant – and some not-so-blatant acts – have been committed by other players on which match referees and commentators have remained silent. It is on record in at least one case relating to Australia’s wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist, in a group match during the first Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
Gilchrist received a throw from the boundary and upon collecting it rubbed it rapidly on the hard surface around the stumps – the antic was telecast by the channels. I was in the control room at the time as I was providing commentary for the match, and even pointed it out to a former Test captain of Pakistan who was in the studio. We had the move replayed for the captain, and he agreed that it was a clear violation of law 42-3(b). I am not claiming it was ball doctoring because Gilchrist plays fair and is known to be a ‘walker’ if he feels he has nicked it. But even he would have a hard time explaining what he was doing it if the clip were shown to him again.
The point is that no one commented on Gilchrist’s ball rubdown even though it was in full view and the camera covered it for the entirety of the act. Where were the match officials? Where were the eagle-eyed, patriotic and sarcastic Australian commentators?
In a similar incident at the start of this year, England bowlerswere pulled up by South Africa’s team management for Stuart Broad ‘spiking’ the ball](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/cricket/2796244/England-ball-tampering-bust-up.html) with boots by stepping on it and scuffing it while James Anderson was caught on camera for using his fingernails to take off leather off the ball.
Incidentally, the umpires during that incident hailed from Australia and New Zealand, and neither had played first-class cricket so wouldn’t know the clandestine techniques of ball tampering. Both the team managers were white as well. The ICC announced that no formal complaint had been made within the stipulated time and the matter was closed.
Astonishingly, David Lloyd said at the time, “If you’ve played international cricket, you’ll shrug your shoulders at these allegations. We all know that it goes on all the time.” Afridi should use that quote in his defence if ICC pursues him further on similar claims.
But former England captains Michael Vaughn and Nasser Hussain as well as journalist Simon Wilde asked whether the same matter would have been dismissed without an investigation if they had been Pakistani bowlers.
Previously, in 1994, the then England captain, Mike Atherton, was caught in a blatant act of ball tampering by the TV cameras at Lord’s. When the English press brought it up he was quickly and quietly fined to pre-empt a ban and kept the England captaincy.
The Australians have reportedlydabbled in the art too, but you won’t find it on the mainstream news/videos, just as you won’t find the Gilchrist rub.
I say again that this track record does not exonerate or justify Afridi’s stupidity. As a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, he bit the ball with none of the subtlety that Broad and Atherton have been accused of. And if the ICC charge him for accusing other teams of ball tampering, he can always refer them to former England captain Marcus Trescothick’s autobiography, published last year, where he admits England regularly tampered with the ball. Of course the ICC never looked into the issue despite documentary evidence and a confession.

The Dawn Blog Blog Archive Reality bites

Thanks for sharing Ehsan bhai.

I completely agree with the author and thats what I have said before because I also dont agree that Afridi did the ball biting thing just for his country and we should not try to find something postive in what he did.

It was a stupid mistake, he apologized, got punished, lets finish this chapter, don’t over dramatized this situation and don’t mix this issue with his future captaincy.

[waleedhbk]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

the question is that if afridi does not desrves to be captain ?????than who
Yousuf dont have the class ............younis have already sais he aint interested
Malik was tried before

[Captain1]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

^ Wouldn't be surprised if Kamran gets the title next

[waleedhbk]

@Captain1

^ Wouldn't be surprised if Kamran gets the title next

he should learn some wicket keeping 1st lol :D

[Captain1]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

^ we are talking about PCB here

[Fayz]

Next time some idiot like Darrell Hair suspects a Pakistani, we should accept it like bayghairat people that we are. We are giving this right to others to look at our country's flag and make a judgement

We are so desperate to win that we are willing to ignore such acts and move on. Not only move on, but have Afridi lead the team.

Condemning such acts wouldn't suffice in my opinion. Our nation needs more from you. These cricketers are role models for crying out loud. What kind of morals are you teaching just to win the next series?

Please have the courage to take a loss than to support this moron. I would take Yousuf's whitewash embarrassment over Afridi cheating anyday!

[a1kashur]

Re: Afridi banned for 2 T20s for ball tampering

[waleedhbk]

@Captain1

^ we are talking about PCB here

n i was talking about Pakistan Cricket