Crucket

Wednesday’s heavy loss to Pakistan maintains our exemplary record of zero wins against Pakistan in the Emirates. We had 10 failed efforts to record a win against Pakistan in Sharjah, and now we have added 1 at Abu Dhabi. (Thanks to Leg Break for bringing this to my attention.)

That really is some record. 0-11 over 23 years. There would be few, if any perhaps, comparable records of team match-ups in one country. You would almost want tonight’s game to go the same way, just to maintain that record.

The Cricinfo preview to this series tried to make the case that this series was “simply a compelling series between two eminently watchable sides”, as if there was no other context to it, dismissing the battle for 4th spot on the ICC ODI ranking table and any talk of Pakistan wanting revenge for their defeat to New Zealand in the recent Champions Trophy semi-final.

Well actually it is not merely a compelling series. It is about rankings and revenge for the Champions Trophy. But it is also about that record I mentioned above and whether New Zealand can crack it. And if they can, can they maybe get some payback for some of the previous results in the Emirates, such as the 10 wicket loss in ’86 or the final in ’96 where we failed to chase 160 and now the ’09 138-run drubbing.

However, more important than all the other factors that might go into a series or a match against Pakistan, every single game that we play against Pakistan, of any format anywhere in the world, until memory fades, is about revenge for the semi-final of the ’92 World Cup. One day Pakistan will pay for the heartbreak they caused in knocking us out of that tournament!

So the Black Caps are now in the United Arab Emirates to play Pakistan in three one-dayers and two 20-20s (dropping an ODI from the plan from the original announcement). In fact, the first game is on Tuesday (Wednesday our time no doubt). I’ve added the series to my schedule here.

The ODIs will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the western-most of the UAE’s seven emirates, while the 20-20s will be played at the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, in the next emirate to the east. I recall when cricket in the UAE used to be an annual international fixture. But that was at Sharjah, the third emirate from west to east.

Sharjah used to host a melange of ODI series, with a medley of cups and trophies, under a confusion of sponsors, with e.g. the Pepsi Cup being held one year and the Coca-Cola Cup the next. But there hasn’t been any cricket held in Sharjah for many years. It hadn’t occurred to me that Sharjah had fallen off the cricket map. Apparently, Sharjah has been tainted with the stain of match fixing and the stadium there has been abandoned to the wildlife. I’d somehow managed to miss all that.

But cricket is back in UAE. (And of course, let’s not forget that the ICC has its offices in the tax haven of Dubai.) Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have built magnificent cricket stadiums and are crying out for top class team to come and play against Pakistan.

This happens to be a home series for the Pakistan team, despite being playing hundreds of miles from Pakistan. Perhaps the only significance in this is that Pakistan get to use their groundsmen to prepare the pitches.

Players to watch

Scott Styris: He hasn’t had a turn at bat in an ODI for over a year. Have the selectors been justified in keeping him out?
Tim Southee: Another player returning to the team. To date, he alone is all the selectors have identified as the future of New Zealand bowling. If this is going to eventuate, he is going to have to make an impact at some point.

Younis Khan: Out and in as captain in the matter of a few days. He’s done it before and has had periods where he refused to take the captaincy. You’ve got to assume he doesn’t like the job, or he just likes to shake the boat.
Mohammad Aamir: Another Pakistan teenage tear-away. Fast, accurate and aggressive. It is usually a curse to have such things said about you, but he could be a new Wasim Akram.

Just a couple of days after Leg Break got me all worried about whether the postponed “home” series against Pakistan, slated to be played partly in New Zealand, would actually go ahead, New Zealand Cricket has confirmed that the series will happen this year, with four ODIs and two 20-20s to be played in the UAE in October and the three tests to be played in New Zealand in December before Pakistan’s tour of Australia.

I’ve updated my schedule page to fit these in. It looks a pretty full schedule, with cricket being played in pretty much every month for the next 10 months.

This bifurcated tour counts as a home tour for Pakistan, so they get the proceeds from the tour. Which will probably be quite a disappointment for them when they get the gate takings.

With Pakistan due in Australia for Boxing Day, it is likely that the test leg will actually start in November. This will be the earliest start for a test tour in New Zealand. We quite regularly have tests played in mid-Dec., though I note that we didn’t even have tests as early as Dec. before 1995.

The Otago Daily Times is getting quite excited that Dunedin might get one of these tests against Pakistan. I don’t think we should be too amazed however, as it’s long been the practice of scheduling the first test, at the coldest part of the season, in the South Island for tours by Subcontinent teams. (I love the ODT for the way they cover Otago cricket in the same way other papers cover NZ cricket. I really miss the Evening Post, Wellington’s long demised local newspaper, who were equally parochial about Wellington.)