Unpredictable Pakistan gear up for World Cup

Monday, January 17, 2011 cricket, pakistan, thomas rooney, world cup squad No Comments

With the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup just around the corner, most of the teams which will be participating are currently honing their skills against the competition. As a result, Pakistan are currently over in New Zealand on a tour with the last fixture set for February 5th. Already they have lost two from their three T20 fixtures, and are currently battling out a two Test series before the real indicator of their expected effectiveness at the World Cup when they begin a six match ODI mini-series on January 22nd.

But Pakistan have not won an ODI series for more than two years, when they beat the West Indies 3-0 in 2008, and as a result most pundits aren’t taking their chances of lifting the World Cup too seriously. But it would not be the first time that they have shocked the cricketing world by shaking free from their perceived underdog status to defy the odds and claim a major international crown. Back in 1992, bolstered by the incredible form of captain and national icon Imran Khan, they defied the odds and claimed the trophy, and more recently in 2009 they recovered from a poor start to triumph in the T20 World Cup. That said, they are not many people's 2011 Cricket World Cup tips.

In the 50-over version of the game, they seem to have suffered a bout of stage-fright at the highest level in recent years, failing to get past the first round of matches in their previous two attempts. The problem with Pakistani cricket - apart from the obvious recent spot-fixing scandals of course - is that with the nation putting so much emphasis on their team's results it's almost impossible to live up to their enormous expectations.

This enormous pressure not to lose makes them appear to constantly be playing in a state of disharmony, with results being dependent on a number of star performers, rather than an all round strong team effort and even the Cricket World Cup betting suggests that people think things will be the same this time around.

As a result, they can be somewhat unpredictable and although they can beat anyone in the world on their day, they have also been known to struggle against minnows of the game such as Ireland - the side which eventually confirmed their elimination from the 2007 World Cup.

England break record as winning run continues

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 australia, cricket, england, T20, thomas rooney No Comments

With the players and fans still basking in the glow of their famous Ashes test victory the first of two T20 internationals took place, a form of the game where England can rightly call themselves the world's best.

The last time the two sides met in a T20 international was the World Cup final back in May, a game that saw England finally win a ICC competition after several failed and often humiliating attempts.

In the aftermath of that game the predictable Aussie excuse was that it wasn't really a legitimate form of cricket. A quick hit, a bit of fun, but nothing that really reflects the quality of a team.

That argument looks a little hollow in the wake of their test hammering and the way they approached the first T20 at Adelaide suggests they are ready to take these sort of matches far more seriously.

Shane Watson raced to a 31-ball 59 in an opening stand of 83 with David Warner from just nine overs as the hosts threatened to blast an unreachable score. But the moment Watson fell to Yardy the runs began to dry up, with just 74 added in 11.2 overs and only five boundaries coming in the second 10 overs.

England's innings began with intent and the final Australian score of 157 was looking modest as the visitors flew along to 85/3 after ten, those watching the live scores were convinced the side would romp home.

But Shane Watson led the fight-back, ending with final figures of 4-15 and as three quick wickets fell England needed just four runs from the final over with two wickets remaining, suddenly the score made much less comfortable reading.

That was one wicket, when Graeme Swann was clean bowled by Watson. The next two deliveries to Shahzad were dot balls. With the nerves palpable across the Adelaide Oval a leg-bye brought 21-year-old Chris Woakes on strike with three runs needed from two.

The headline writers were sharpening their pencils as the youngster chopped the ball away for two that levelled the scores and then with the field in for the final delivery confidently clipping the ball off the pads to seal a dramatic record-breaking eighth consecutive T20 win.