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Remember the old saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”  In January 2010, that adage does not apply to Tiger Woods.  This week Vanity Fair features a shirtless Tiger Woods on its cover.  The golfer with the impeccable sense of timing on the golf course couldn’t have picked a worse time to pose for a magazine with his shirt off.  Amid the stories of marital infidelity, this is the type of exposure Tiger is trying to avoid.

The photo was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz before Tiger had his car crash that started the media onslaught.  Vanity Fair released the cover photo this week, along with promises of a full photo spread inside the magazine when it hits newsstands in the coming days.

I don’t think this photo spread is going to win Tiger any support.  New Yorkers were given a sneak peek of the cover photo featuring a muscular Woods without his shirt, holding barbells in his hands. One of the sound bites we ran on Monday’s Action News at Eleven featured a man saying (more…)

Just last month, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were caught ball tampering in a test match in Cape Town. Let alone any action taken against them, even an inquiry wasn’t held. The ICC, which is very quick to hand out bans to Pakistani cricketers actually said, “With play on day four of the match having resumed, the deadline for submission of such notification has now passed.” Talk about double standards! However, former Captain Michael Vaughan was spot on, having said, “England have been caught and we have to hold our hands up. They were thinking they were smart but they’ve been very silly… What would we say if it was Pakistan?” Sunday Times’ Simon Wilde was equally honest, having said, “There was enough in the footage to suggest that an inquiry was worth making and if the bowlers in question had been Pakistani you could bet that most opponents would have been asking directions to the referee’s room.”

Wasim Akram invented the art of reverse swing and he was immediately labeled a ball tamperer by English cricketers. Of course, no evidence was found against him. In (more…)

What on earth will be more embarrassing for the cricket loving nation than this? Shahid Afridi has been caught by TV camera suspect as tampering the ball by biting it with his teeth in the dramatic fifth and final ODI at the WACA Ground in Perth. Television cameras caught the captain taking two vigorous bites along the seam of the ball at the end of the 40th over. The ball was immediately examined by the umpires and replaced. One of the more bizarre incidents to have been witnessed in international cricket which no one wants to watch again.

As a consequence of this Shahid Afridi has been banned for two T20 matches. Afridi apologized for his actions last night claiming they were borne out of frustration. The desperation to win the match by hook or crook was evident from his behavior showing that the moral of the team is at lowest (more…)

Like most people of my generation it was only at the turn of this century that I began to appreciate the beautiful game. Throughout the first decade of the 21st Century, there were many great players who lead their sides to greatness. From World Cup finals to domestic titles, these players were the best of the best. These players make this game great; keep us glued to our TV sets and even inspire us to have a kick around and during the last ten years, there has been a whole good lot of inspiration.

As a passionate lover of the game of football, here is my countdown of the best ten players of the decade. I have taken into consideration individual performance and success, combined quality, longevity — players who were associated for a good six years with the game, team success at club and international level, as well as overall influence and talent in the world of football. Leadership too was also a contributing factor.

Lionel Messi and Kaka miss out because their reign over a decade has not started as yet. England trio of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard failed to make the cut due to their failure to perform for England (missing out on Euro 2008). (more…)

Match Facts
Sunday, January 31
Start time 12.30pm (0430 GMT)

Big Picture

Avoiding humiliation is probably as great a motivator as anything and it is only the thought of preventing the second-ever 5-0 whitewash in their history that will spur Pakistan to seek their first win of a long and increasingly arduous tour. That the first came under the captaincy of Imran Khan, against West Indies in 1988, will be of little consolation.

Mohammad Yousuf’s men have cut sorry, disparate figures as the tour has progressed since the Sydney Test. They were expected to put up a fight in the ODIs and though they (more…)

Australia 207 for 9 (Richardson 44, Sarmad Bhatti 3-33) beat Pakistan 182 (Ghumman 41, Hazlewood 4-30, Doran 3-32) by 25 runs

Australia followed the lead of their senior team as they shut down Pakistan’s challenge to claim their third Under-19 World Cup trophy. Pakistan’s top side has lost seven matches in a row in Australia recently and Azeem Ghumman’s boys had a chance to give the country some cheer when they held their opponents to 207 for 9. It proved to be too many (more…)

Pakistan U-19 213 for 6 (Hammad 92, Aziz 39, Holder 2-28) beat West Indies U-19 212 for 8 (Brathwaite 85, Dowrich 55, Bhatti 2-37) by four wickets Hammad Azam, not for the first time, guided Pakistan to a tight win to ensure their progress into the final of the Under-19 World Cup. West Indies, backed by Kraigg Brathwaite’s 85, had posted a competitive 212 and looked good defend it after an early burst by their seamers had reduced Pakistan to 49 for 4. But Hammad, aided by valuable contributions from Rameez Aziz and Mohammad Waqas, fought hard with an unbeaten 92 to seal victory by four wickets with nine balls to spare.

With conditions supporting the seamers early on, Jason Holder, fresh from a match-winning five-for against England in the quarter-final, dented Pakistan at the start of their chase. He nipped out the openers Ahmed Shehzad and Pakistan’s highest scorer Babar Azam in no time. Pakistan captain Azeem Ghumman fell next after promising to revive his team in a 26-run stand with Ahsan Ali, but when both fell within a space of 14 runs, West Indies were favourties.  (more…)