Dr Nasim Ashraf should know better than this

[pacman]

This is a piece from the Editor for The News in London. What mr Shahed Sadullah has failed to understand that regardless of which team will win their group, their icc cricket ranking will determine which matches they will play in the super 8. So if we presume that the minnows are indeed elminated then the we do know exactly when and where each team will be playing in the super 8. So Dr. Nasim Ashraf can plan anything he wants with this in mind. Off course, if any of the minnows do make an upset, they will naturally play those games that the team eliminated would have played.

Before writing such a lengthy piece in a national newspaper, should we not expect that atleast an editor knows the format and rules of the games, before commenting on any issues regarding that? Mr. Shahed Sadullah, do your homework before you write anything please.

Take a look at this site for schedule: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/event.../schedule.html

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=46180 By Shahed Sadullah Editor The News London LONDON: You would not have normally expected the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to be involved in the business of organising cricket tours. But when the NCHD and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are both headed by the same individual, the link becomes obvious and what you would not normally expect comes to pass. Nothing wrong with that as it is all for a good cause. Thus it is that the NCHD has printed a pamphlet proclaiming a World Cup Cricket Sojourn in Barbados according to which, for prices varying between $4,900 per head and $7,000 per head it promises “an unforgettable, all-inclusive 5-night stay at the famous Almond Casuarina Beach Resort” in Barbados, inclusive of two World Cup matches at Barbados — Pakistan v Australia on 13th April, 2007 and Pakistan v India, 2007. For those who take up the offer and land up in Barbados expecting to see the two matches they have been promised, it may be a very forgettable experience since their chances of seeing the games promised by the NCHD in its pamphlet are slim, to say the least. Sixteen teams taking part in the World Cup have been divided into four groups of four teams each. Group A consists of Australia, South Africa, Netherlands and Scotland; Group B of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda; Group C of England, New Zealand, Kenya and Canada and Group D of Pakistan, the West Indies Ireland and Zimbabwe. Two teams from each group go through to the next Super Eights stage. It will be seen that each group consists of two ‘strong’ teams and two so-called minnows, so although the theoretical possibility is there that any one of two of the four teams can go through to the Super Eights, the likelihood is that Australia and South Africa will go through from Group A, Sri Lanka and India from Group B, England and New Zealand from Group C and West Indies and Pakistan from Group D. It has to be pointed out that although this is likely, it is by no means certain; after all, in the last World Cup, Kenya surprised everyone by getting up to the semi finals and in the warm up games, Bangladesh has already beaten New Zealand who went to the World Cup on the back of three consecutive wins against Australia. They don’t call it the game of glorious uncertainties for nothing. Who plays who and where in the Super Eights depends on a particular team’s position in the Group. The ICC’s schedule for the World Cup lists the games in Barbados for the dates in question as involving the teams that top Group A and Group D (on April 13) and the team that tops Group D and the one that comes second in Group B on April 15. The NHCD’s pamphlet therefore in boldly advertising these games as Pakistan v Australia on April 13 and Pakistan v India on April 15 has presumed that (a) Pakistan will top Group D, (b) Australia will top Group A and (c) India will be obligingly come second in Group B. It is not impossible, but it is impossible to be certain about the results to the extent that you could print a pamphlet purporting to sell trips to these games when it is equally possible that the games as advertised may not take place at all. Even discounting any major upset from the minnows, the match at Barbados on April 13 could be either West Indies v South Africa, or West Indies v Australia, or Pakistan v South Africa or the NCHD’s ‘forecast’ Pakistan v Australia. Similarly, the match on April 15 could be either the one mentioned by the NCHD, ie Pakistan v India, or Pakistan v Sri Lanka or West Indies v India or West Indies v Sri Lanka. It is impossible for even the greatest cricket pundit in the world to be sure which one of these many possibilities will come to pass; perhaps the only way is through a process which shall not be mentioned for fear of attracting the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit! What it all amounts to is the fact that the NCHD is trying to raise money, albeit for an undoubtedly excellent cause, but on the basis of what is at best a gross mistake and at worst a misrepresentation. The fact that the NCHD and the PCB are headed by the same individual is even more embarrassing for it is unbelievable that such an initiative could have been taken without the involvement of Dr Nasim Ashraf and the possibility that leads from there, that the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board is unaware of the format of the World Cup, is even more embarrassing. The pamphlet mentions contact points in the US, the UK and Pakistan. For UK it is the rep of the NCHD in the UK Mr Irshad Khokar who admitted that there had been a mistake but added that the pamphlet was only being sent to a few “known parties” and that they were being told that the matches may be different from those mentioned in the pamphlet. He said he would try to ensure that the same clarification is made to those who show interest in the US and in Pakistan. Whether or not this leads to legal action is not the issue. Nor is there any doubt that the motives of all those involved, not least the NCHD, are entirely above board. However, most regrettably, what such things do is to confirm the haphazard, cavalier and thoroughly unprofessional manner in which things are done in Pakistan, even things in which one has every reason to presume that persons at the highest level are involved. It is things like this that make a laughing stock of Pakistan and Pakistanis and give that much sullied and tattered image of the country yet another rigorous bashing. Inzi and his boys will have to work very hard to save their Chairman from getting a very red face. So too will Australia, by having to come first in their Group, and Sri Lanka by having to make sure they push India to second place in their Group. And the minnows must all behave themselves and dutifully lose their matches. This is a time for prayer!

[iafzal]

It sure is time for prayers... for these so called journalists