With Sri Lanka already playing in Pakistan, and with official confirmation having also landed from the New Zealand authorities, Pakistanis should expect a full season
CRICKET appears to be back on track in Pakistan with Sri Lanka already engaged in the Asian Test Championship final against Pakistan in Lahore, and an official confirmation having already landed from the relevant authorities in New Zealand for a short two-Test, three-One-Dayer tour to compensate for the tour that was cancelled in the wake of those infamous terrorist attacks in New York and Washington which had direct implications on Pakistani soil.
A team of Australian officials was also in Pakistan to assess playing conditions and other facilities ahead of the team’s scheduled tour to Pakistan later this year. That also seems to be very much on the cards, and thus, all of us cricket-lovers can heave a sigh of relief after all the disappointments we have undergone in the last few months.
Though I have no personal knowledge of it, I did see a few reports in newspapers, suggesting the Asian bloc did have a role in putting things back on track, and there was some sort of cooperation between the cricketing authorities of Pakistan and India. They also raised their collective voice in the matter of International Cricket Conference’s selective panel of match referees. It was rumoured that the panel was going to have no member from either India or Pakistan, but after a few warning shots were fired, the panel, when it was announced, did have Pakistani representation.
If the Pakistan Cricket Board can get settled the controversy surrounding the bowling action of Shoaib Akhtar, it will have indeed done for Pakistan cricket more than any earlier PCB management has ever done. The sitting management has played its cards well, having won several rounds against the ICC, and getting settled Shoaib Akhtar’s case will be a bright feather in its already colourful cap.
Elsewhere in the world, the dumping of Mark Waugh, following that of brother Steven Waugh, did not come as a surprise. In fact, had he been included in the team, that would have been a real surprise. One of the factors in dropping Steve from the side was to take away the protective shield from around Mark’s automatic selection despite a string of low scores.
It was his superb catching abilities in the slips that was being paraded around for a while as his man claim to selection apart from hopes of a revival in batting fortunes, but it was never going to last after Steve was himself dropped from the team who was not only the captain of the side, but was also a rock in the middle order who never believed in putting a low price tag on his wicket, making the opponents work every bit of their way to see his back.
While Steve is still the captain of the Australian Test side, he is no more a part of the tour selection committee. And with the kind of record-shattering win in the first Test of the current series — the fourth one in a row against the South Africans — his immediate career at the Test level seems to be secure, but Mark has his back to the wall, and will have to either deliver in a big way, like he did when he was under pressure a couple of years ago, or shall get ready for an unceremonial dump in the cut-throat world of Australian cricket.
With Sri Lanka already playing in Pakistan, and with official confirmation having also landed from the New Zealand authorities, Pakistanis should expect a full season 
