Monthly Archives: January 2012

Pakistan v England Second Test at Abu Dhabi

28 Saturday Jan 2012

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For three days and three-quarters of this test match England looked as if they would handsomely avenge the humiliation of the first.

Then, their batting folded inside two hours for 72 runs.

Andrew Strauss later said the wicket was excellent and good for cricket giving everyone a chance.

That though does not explain how the world’s number one  side collapsed to her lowest ever score against Pakistan, when she was only chasing 144 to win. This is a Pakistan team that is blooding new players, and has very little apart from Younis Khan and Gul in terms of experience.  Perhaps, they are more hungry than an England team who currently have four excellent bowlers in Broad, Anderson, Panesar and Swann, and a world-class batsman in Kevin Pieterson and little else. On their day, in familiar conditions, Morgan, Bell, Trott et al can fire, but if they are to remain number one that will not be good enough.

Pakistan first innings score of 257 was about a hundred runs short, and with a lead of 70  England took the attack to a brittle Pakistan batting line up in the second innings, with Panesar justifying his inclusion with 6-62.

Panesar could not have guessed that his opposite number, one Abdur Rehman, would go on to destroy the English batting line up finishing with 6-25.

Pakistan’s other spinner, Saeed- the dorsra – Ajmal also became the fastest Pakistani to secure 100 wickets, beating Wasim Akram and Mohammed Amir, who is currently serving a prison sentence for spot fixing.

Pakistan, led by a very impressive and stable Misbah, are looking like a team with a bright future.

At present, the records just keep being broken.

England for their part have lost this test series.

Perhaps, its now time to dump some of those players that have not performed – and have been frankly flattered by their previous performances – and try out players keen for the chance to shine.

The inclusion of Ravi Bhopra in the Third Test at Dubai would be a start.

Super Soccer Sunday

23 Monday Jan 2012

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Two games yesterday may have decided the outcome of the Premier League – one of them could also have been a turning point for the manager of a once great Arsenal team.

Arsene Wenger substituted an inexperienced but highly creative and energetic Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Andrey Arshavin.

That decision was greeted by disbelief by a large section of the Arsenal faithful, who have regarded Wenger for such a long time as infallible, and by his own captain, the star player that is Robin van Persie.

Unfortunately, Arshavin was unable to block a Man U surge that resulted in the winning goal.

The irony being that most of the second half, Arsenal had a number of opportunities to kill the game.

Arsenal are still stylish when attacking, however they are weak at the back – something their great manager has failed to deal with.

And with their current position of fifth – out of the reckoning for a prized Champions League spot – could we just be seeing a contemplation of the unthinkable, the end of the long reign of Arsene Wenger?

As for the first game, Manchester City managed to defeat the surprise that is Tottenham Hotspurs under Harry Redknapp in a very unconvincing fashion.

Once again they were weak in the first half, and almost managed to convert a two goal lead into defeat had Germaine Defoe managed to get a boot onto a great cross from Gareth Bayle.

Eventually, Mario Balotelli – hero or villain take your pick – coolly placed a penalty kick into the back of the net to seal the deal for Roberto Mancini’s men.

City have carved-out results, even when they were not playing well.

United have not played well, but are still at number two.

Both say Spurs are still contenders, and on the evidence of this performance they may not be wrong.

That just leaves behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

Press TV is taken off the Airwaves

23 Monday Jan 2012

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TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Everytime I flick on to the PressTV channel of my freeview box, I get a blank screen.

That’s because Of com has taken the Iranian-owned station off air, citing the failure to pay a six-figure sum for broadcasting an interview with someone who later said what he had said had come about under duress, and a number of breaches of editorial standards.

PressTV for its part says this is censorship, and that it has been penalised for the line it has taken on last year’s Royal wedding – remember this is a revolution that overthrew a monarch – and for its coverage of the riots that hit Britain.

Phil Rees, who has appeared on the station as a journalist and media analyst told RussiaToday that at the “end of the day” this decision had more to do with Iran’s relationship with the West, and with Britain – whose embassy in Tehran was recently stormed – in particular.

PressTV  suffered from weak journalism, and was seen by many within the industry as a propaganda channel, the ideas of fairness, balance and impartiality in its newscoverage were often not present, something that will no doubt be levelled at RussiaToday and the Chinese-owned CCTV.

That said PressTV did bother to cover the civilian toll of the Afghan and Iraq wars, and a viewer was given a fresh point of view, one seen through the eyes of someone regarded in this country as ‘other’.

George Galloway’s slot gave people who would not get the chance to be heard on television the opportunity to get their point across.

And occasionally their documentaries brought something new, like the truck drivers journey through Siberia.

And unlike many newsrooms, it was also a very woman friendly environment – you only have to look at the number of women presenters to appreciate that.

With tension mounting in the Strait of Hormuz, it would have been better to have allowed this channel to continue its broadcasts from its Hanger Lane office.

Instead, by closing it down it looks like someone has decided to silence a flawed, but still alternative voice.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222180.html

Who will rebuild Libya?

20 Friday Jan 2012

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RussiaToday broadcast a report yesterday in which they highlighted the unruly and undignified rush for contracts to rebuild a Libya, that was largely destroyed by Nato bombing.

Predictably the report says it’s the countries – Britain and France in particular –  that flattened large parts of Libya who are set to benefit, with Russia and China who had signed deals with the old regime of Colonel Gaddafi the ones to miss out.

Russia, said the report, did not figure highly in Gaddafi’s calculations when it came to awarding contracts.

China and Russia have not invaded anyone’s country, and have simply respected the sovereignty of all the nations that they have made business deals with.

Both say the UN Security Council resolution they supported  did not permit regime change in Libya.

And yet they are being punished – this is not international law.

A Chechen boy is dragged from his home by Russian soldiers

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Analysis, Breaking News, Comment, International News, Media, Politics, Race Relations, Religion, Russia, Television, Terrorism, USA

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TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Last night’s BBC documentary Putin, Russia and The West contained perhaps the most powerful and disturbing footage broadcast on terrestrial television yet.

A boy from a village in Chechnya is dragged out of his home by Russian soldiers, he is heard screaming for his life – ‘hy-aa Allah’ – and the narrator tells us that his body was found much later buried in a Russian base.

The pictures which were shot before the Moscow Theatre siege, and of course much earlier than Beslan, are perhaps also the first hard proof of what Russia’s soldiers were doing as they attempted to reconquer Chechnya for their president, Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s military doctrine when it comes to conquering and reconquering its restive Muslim provinces has been simple – the harder you hit them, the less likely they are to come  back again.

Russia’s soldiers were of course the original ethnic cleansers, a process that began under Ivan the Terrible is still ongoing to this day in the Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingush Settia.

Little wonder then that the West has found it hard to accommodate Russia as a part of Europe or Nato.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01b3hkm/Putin_Russia_and_the_West_Taking_Control/

Pakistan v England, Ist Test at Dubai

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Analysis, Asia, Comment, Sport, UK

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Pakistan have defeated England by ten wickets, a victory achieved in three days. This was a comprehensive defeat for the world’s number one ranked team at the hands of a thoroughly professional – bet no one has ever said that about a Pakistan cricket side before –  team, which if you didn’t know had been rocked by a spotfixing scandal which resulted in three star players serving prison sentences.

To be honest, you would never have guessed that there had been any such problem by the manner in which they steamrollered England, who didn’t seem to have grasped that being number one means that everyone wants to have ago at you.

The first innings was the Saeed Ajmal show, the off spinner showing that you don’t have to be Abdul Qadir to destroy a batting line up.

Predictably, there was someone on hand to cast doubt on his amazing preformance – five LBWs in his seven wicket haul at a cost of 55 runs.

Bob Willis – the former England captain who destroyed the career of fast bowler Norman Cowans – said the famed ‘dosra’ amounted to chucking.

He made his comments on Sky – and thankfully not on the cricket field, remember all those comments about bad umpiring that accompanied Abdul Qadir’s nine wicket haul for 56 in the first test at Lahore in 1987, or accusations of ball tampering when Waqar and Wasim used Sarfraz Nawaz’s sandshoe ball with devastating results.

The spot fixing saga was unique, because for the first time Pakistani players were in the wrong, which gave their detractors – all of whom would swear that they are not racist –  free rein.

England’s bowlers, especially James Anderson and Stuart Broad, clawed back their position late on the second day, however, Akmal – replacing his brother, the light fingered Kamran as wicketkeeper – posted 61 which probably swung the game decisively in Pakistan’s favour.

With seven wickets down for 87 in their second innings, England were finished. Fans of Kevin Pieterson will have to wait another day to see him shine, for England’s most gifted batsman managed a meagre two runs in both innings.

England’s postmortem – once some stop  complaining about Ajmal’s bowling technique – will focus on poor shot selection, a lack of preparation, the truth is though Pakistan led by Misbah ul Haq, who is a calm, seemingly natural leader, have signalled they are back, and they have done so by trouncing the best team in the world.

Wonder what England’s response will be at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

TEMPLATE NEWS 2011

Dehumanising the Enemy

13 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Analysis, Comment, International News, Media, Politics, Terrorism, UK

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Four young men laughing at each other’s jokes – could be a scene from any Saturday night, especially if they all had too much to drink.

Problem is this was no joke, the four marines were urinating on the bodies of three men, they called ‘Taliban’.

Predictably, yesterday’s video posting drew outrage with concerns about how the US could be seen in the Islamic World.

You can draw your own conclusions about that, however you may want to consider whether the actions of those four men is all that surprising.

The word ‘Taliban’ is used by soldiers in Afghanistan – and by many people over here – in the same way as you would talk of a pest that needs to be eradicated, in the same way also as the Lord’s name being taken in vain.

Hezbollah has also been used, as has Hamas, and as talk of war with Iran gets closer so will references to the stranglehold of that country’s clerical elite – the ‘mad mullahs’.

Go back further, and ‘Gaddafi’, ‘Saddam’ all received the same treatment – never mind the fact that many died fighting, if not for them, but for the nation that they led.

Both men were treated appalingly when they met their end.

And go back even further to the Vietnam and Korean Wars, and the carnage unleashed by aerial bombing was fine in the minds of the pilots because they were fighting the Vietcong, Communists, Gooks.

Go back further to Dresden, Hamburg, the wooden homes of Tokyo, the killing fields of the First World War.

Then, war was being waged against the Nazis, the Japs, and before them the German Guerilla.

As waging war becomes easier – modern drone strikes do not even need the conscience of a pilot – it is important to remember that the results are still as bloody and devastating to those we regard as the enemy.