Winning may not be everything, but it sure as hell beats losing
In our case the team appears to just fold up. It exhibits neither fight nor pride nor grit in their game and hence the understandable uproar
By Malik Arshed Gilani p.s.n.
A great man once said, "Play up, play up, and play the game" to which in another age another person countered "winning may not be everything, but it sure as hell beats losing". Both the statements about cover the entire range of any debate.

Roger Federer deals with the hurt with tears
Everyone on earth values friendship, and you will not witness a better embodiment of that than the sight of one great champion comforting another
By Abdul Ahad Farshori
The Swiss great cried, and it was hard not to cry with him. The sight of Roger Federer's lower lip trembling would have been enough to start most soft-hearted observers off, but by the time his tears started flowing, a far proportion of the 15,000 Australian Open crowd at the Rod Laver Arena and the millions watching around the world were probably reaching for the tissues too.

Yet again a tornado of distressing events has interrupted the progress of Pakistan cricket. What seemingly began with the shameful defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in Lahore picked up pace with the exit of Director General Javed Miandad.

With the recent jolt to the setup, will it be justified now to bring the Cricket Board under the complete control of the sports ministry? Recently the sports minister Aftab Shah Jilani criticised the PCB affairs and questioned the recent appointments of former Test players in the Board. The minister was also critical of the flurry of statements given by the director-general, the chief selector, the national team coach on various issues.

The question is that why have we failed again even with the star-studded management. This was not the first time Javed Miandad expressed resentment, he was also upset when he was snubbed and not included in the organising committee before the final ODI against Sri Lanka in Lahore, although Chairman Ijaz Butt intervened to defuse the tension but cracks were visible in the ranks of the PCB.

By the look of things it can be predicted that Miandad might be reinstated but what would happen next as the rift amongst the top officials is evident. Moreover a senate committee is also not fully satisfied the way affairs are being managed such as the hiring of top officials without newspaper advertisements and sacking of numerous employees. Some quarters are also not in favour of ex-cricketers running the affairs of the game, no doubt playing and managing are two different things all together as we need good players in the field and good managers in the office. All in all the cricket board has been passing through an awful phase.

If the above mentioned miseries are not enough then add the cancellation of the ICC Champions Trophy which was earlier scheduled to be held in Pakistan. No points for guessing that the law and order situation here led to the decision. As far as the next World Cup in 2011, which is to be jointly hosted by Pakistan, is concerned now nobody would bet on the World Cup happening in Pakistan either. Secondly the result of The Oval Test match against England and Pakistan changed again, and England were awarded victory.

I must say that the ICC showed its weakness but the PCB failed to impress as well. The ICC was of the view that the decision was taken after receiving input from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of the Laws of Cricket. The MCC expressed serious reservations when the ICC changed the Oval Test result in Pakistan's favour and said that it would set a wrong precedent, but then the ICC did not pay heed to the resentment but now they suddenly realised that the MCC was right and the PCB also did not take a firm stand on the issue.

The umpire who was the centre of attraction at The Oval (Darrell Hair) has come out of the dark too after this move and he went on to demand not only an apology but the top brass of the ICC to step down over their handling of the Oval Test. Even though the ICC has snubbed the demand, it has surely put a scar on the face of the ICC. Should not the PCB also ask for at least an apology as many feel the premier cricket body made it a joke by changing the result and who knows there wouldn't be another change in the future?

Another major development was the appointment of Younis Khan as captain in place of Shoaib Malik. The 26-year old Shoaib Malik was appointed captain after Pakistan's first round exit from the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. It was then feared that in view of the past track record of Pakistan cricket he would not be a successful choice. Before the recent Sri Lanka series Malik's tenure as captain was extended for an indefinite period, but dismal performance of the team against Sri Lanka led to his dismissal.

With Younis's appointment many would recall the incident in October 2006 when he refused to lead the team in the Champions Trophy held in India. He said that he did not want to be a dummy captain. Now the question is that has he been assured of the powers he wanted to exercise or would he again surprise us all with his blunt attitude?

With Shoaib Malik's removal history actually repeated itself as Pakistan has never had happy moments under a young captain whether he is Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis or Shoaib Malik the senior-junior rift has always ruined the environment. Unlike South Africa, Australia, India, Sri Lanka or England where captains are relatively young, in Pakistan it has always been a headache therefore in future this issue needs to be taken care of amicably.

With the performance of Shoaib Malik as a captain no one can argue as he won 24 out of 36 ODIs he captained including a Pakistan record 12-match winning streak, but most of the victories were against weak teams. Now the new captain, who has played 58 Tests and 180 ODIs, and previously led Pakistan in six ODIs but won only two, must be under a lot of pressure to regain the lost glory when he would resume duties in the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka later this month. Apart from the captain and management some other senior fellows should also be checked and one name is of Shahid Khan Afridi who has been a part of the team since 1996 and the most experienced of the current lot. His performance has also been below par.

Afridi who has played 271 One-day Internationals claimed 31 wickets and scored 292 runs in 22 matches he played since January 2008. By going through his recent record it is obvious that his better performances were against the weak outfits as out of the total 292, he scored 198 against the weak teams of Zimbabwe (130), Bangladesh (64) and West Indies (38).

His bowling is not extraordinary either. Although he has claimed 31 wickets since January 2008, again he only managed to excel against fragile teams such as Bangladesh (15 wickets), Zimbabwe (5 wickets), West Indies (3 wickets) and Hong Kong (2 wickets). Against India and Sri Lanka he managed to take only five and one wicket, respectively.

By going through his overall performance one would notice that he has not been performing well against strong teams. Against Australia out of the 27 ODIs he played, Shahid with an average of 16.88 scored 439 runs and claimed 25 wickets. He played 61 matches against India, scored 1404 runs with an average of 25.53 and claimed 35 wickets. Against England his record is not impressive either as in 17 ODIs he scored 271 runs at an average of 18.07 and claimed 27 wickets.

Another good team is South Africa against which 'Boom Boom' emerged as an ordinary performer as, with an average of 23.81 he scored 500 runs in 22 ODIs he played and claimed 20 wickets. Against Sri Lanka he claimed 33 wickets and scored 796 runs at an average of 20.41 in 45 one-day mates. A glimpse of these statistics clearly suggests that he has to either pull his socks now or choose modelling as a full time job.

In the end. the acknowledgment of the Sri Lankan board's gesture would be utterly justified as with the Pak-Sri Lanka ODI series the Pakistani cricket grounds at last hosted a foreign eleven for a full series. No doubt the PCB management played a highly commendable role in persuading the Sri Lankans in spite of the pressure upon them from the Indian side but I give full marks to the Sri Lanka board as they helped us in the time need therefore they should be called friends indeed.

These days the government of Pakistan is appreciating with open heart the efforts of "Pakistan's friends" and the recent conferment of civil awards on a few US officials is in fact indicative of the fact that Pakistan respects its friends. Many in Pakistan would not be surprised if the honour is also given the Sri Lanka board which certainly has played its part in somewhat fading the tarnished image of Pakistan worldwide; moreover, the new PCB management of former stars also deserves a pat on their backs for their efforts to make the home series possible.

Sri Lanka's master off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan surpassed Wasim Akram's world record of 502 wickets in One-day Internationals, after getting the wicket of Gautam Gambhir in the fourth One-day International against India at Colombo on Thursday.

Muralitharan has now become the highest wicket-taker in One-day Internationals with 503 wickets. He achieved this milestone in his 328th One-day International at an average of 22.75. He has taken four or more wickets 24 times in an ODI.

In Test cricket too, Muralitharan is the most successful bowler with 769 wickets in 125 appearances with an average of 21.95.

Murali, 36, is the first bowler in the history of the game to take over 1,200 wickets in all international cricket. If fitness allows him he can easily play till the 2011 World Cup and set an impossible bowling record for any bowler.

Murali has captured most wickets against Pakistan -- 88 at 24.62 in 60 One-day Internationals. In the same number of matches against India surprisingly Murali has taken only 72 wickets with an average of 31.08 which is Murali's highest bowling average against any team. Against Australia his average is just below as compared to against India at 31.07 with 51 wickets in 31 matches. New Zealand is his favourite hunting team with 68 wickets in 39 matches at an average of 18.54.

Throughout his career, Murali has been Sri Lanka's main bowler both for taking wickets and for keeping the runs in check. But in the second triangular series final against world champions Australia at Adelaide two years back, Muralitharan conceded a world record 99 runs in his 10 overs. Of course, it was Muralitharan's most expensive ODI figures. His previous-worst was 73, conceded against Pakistan at Nairobi in 1996.

Before Muralitharan's debut Sri Lanka had won only 35 One-day Internationals and lost 103. But since Murali was included in the Lankan side they have won 185 of the 327 ODIs they played. His contribution for his team is 23.23% wickets.

Murali's bent-arm action has remained under scrutiny through his career. He has twice been called for throwing, in a Test match in Melbourne in 1995 and during a One-day International in Adelaide in 1998. The whispers of discontent over his strange bowling action started soon after he became a successful bowler and quietly continued until umpire Darrell Hair's decision to call him for chucking during the Test at Melbourne in 1995-96.

But the ICC cleared his action both times following extensive bio-mechanical research and deep discussion with the experts, but he was again reported for a suspect action two months later after the conclusion of Australia's tour to Sri Lanka.

Muralitharan made his ODI debut against India in August 1993 at the Khetterama Stadium in Colombo in which he took one wicket and conceded 38 runs in his quota of 10 overs.

In an amazing career spanning around 13 years, he has now become one of the most lethal bowlers in the world, feared for his abilities to puzzle even the best of batsmen.

No matter what type of surface he has played on, no matter in which country, and against which team... he is simply great and more than a good bowler.

He has worked his magic in all the major cricket playing countries and today he is recognised as one of the best among them. He has the ability to extract turn even from the most docile of pitches and where nothing works, he brings in to bear his devastating surprise weapon, the fearsome 'doosra' which is a delivery that turns away from the right-handed batsmen.

It was both interesting and painful and the Lahorites were not at all used to witnessing such disasters in a cricket ground, while the sands and stones of Gaddafi Stadium and the grass and soil of its arena were equally shocked to see what they were made to see. Yes, 75 only, and all out for one of the lowest total scores comprising four ducks and four single-digit innings.

Thanks to Umar Gul for his 27 and skipper Shoaib Malik for his 19, which make up more than half of the innings total, which would have been just 29 without their contribution. It were the Pakistan cricket team pitted against tourists Sri Lanka in the deciding third one-dayer at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, after the teams were balanced with one victory each.

Teams win and also lose; it is just a part of the game, and the same is the case with Pakistan. But teams rarely lose like this, even the minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe succeed to avoid such defeats; they play at least face-saving innings. But with the Pakistan cricket team, such defeats are becoming a routine matter.

Low game and little shame; the Pakistan team escaped by a hair's breadth from the grave defeat at the hands of cricket minnows Bangladesh some years back, when skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq played a heroic defensive innings. They are a little ashamed of the early exits from last two World Cup mega events.

In fact, the Pakistani cricket team is addicted to disappointing its nation by losing in a semifinal or final of mega events. Some 21 years ago, the Imran-led cricket team, the hot favourite of the Reliance World Cup 1987, put the whole nation into a very tough ordeal by losing the semifinal to Australia at Gaddafi Stadium when they failed to chase an achievable target of 268 runs.

When the Imran-led cricket team marvellously snatched the 1992 World Cup in Australia, a prophecy expounded at that time by an ace cricket expert that Pakistan will (almost) never be able to repeat such integrity in its performance during the mega events has proven true. In the next World Cup event in 1996, hosted for the first time by Pakistan, Wasim Akram bluntly refused to play in a key match of the knock-out stage against India in Bangalore, leaving the team in the lurch and eventually making the defending champions' extremely disappointing exit. The whole nation was seriously shocked.

In the 1999 World Cup tournament, everything was going so smooth for Pakistan, but the whole struggle went fruitless when Pakistan in the final were all out in 39 overs by giving Australia a meager 132-run target, which was achieved by Australia in just the 21st over.

The story of the 2003 World Cup played in South Africa is even more heart-breaking. The Waqar Younis-led Pakistan team set a new precedence by 'managing' an early exit from the tournament, leaving once and for all the headache of playing and losing cricket and disappointing the nation. Pakistan's failure to reach the Super-Six round was prompted by its defeats at the hands of Australia, England and India; the victories against minnows Namibia and Netherlands were meaningless.

In the 2007 world cup event on the Caribbean islands, the Inzamam-led team improved their 'record' of the first-round exit; four years ago they lost to the equally experienced teams of Australia, England and India and managed to beat the minnows Namibia and Netherlands; but this time, after losing to West Indies, they lost to new minnows Ireland to complete their early-exit process. Shame on the team for such disgracful defeats.

And in the Twenty20 World Championship final against arch-rivals India, the Pakistani team failed to achieve the target of 157 runs, as the 10 players failed to play all the 20 overs. While the Indian total depended on the 75-run knock by Gautam Gambhir, none of the Pakistani players could score a fifty, while Hafeez, Kamran, Shoaib and Afridi were the batting specialists and expected to lead the innings, they shocked the nation by returning to the pavilion by scoring only 10 runs collectively. The Pakistani innings shamefully comprised three ducks and two single-figure individual innings.

In the Asia Cup tournament in Pakistan last June, at the Super Four stage, the three teams -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India -- won two matches each, however, Pakistan was beaten by the two teams on points table. Pakistan's defeat in the Asia Cup is a continuation of its past record which proves that the team had been losing and losing on every front, and in every tournament. Pakistan's failure to qualify for the final of the tournament is exactly as per fears of aware cricket lovers of the country.

Similarly, Pakistan lost the last ODI series in India because they were ready to lose. They were, no doubt, aggressive chasers of a total as high as 321 runs; they were yet inconsistent in the department of batting. They were the Pakistan cricket team who swung from victory to defeat during the series; they lost the first ODI but won the second, then again lost the third and again lost the fourth, completing their loss in the series: the victory in the last ODI is almost meaningless.

Indeed, the Pakistan cricket team has been disappointing the nation by losing easy victories, and this is a conclusion well supported by its cricket history in the last two decades.

The public protest soon after the shame game had ended is an alarm of what is lying in the store as a public reaction to such heart-breaking performance. It is strongly feared that, if not protests, public boycott of the game may come as a reaction to such disastrous cricket. While a common Pakistani is seriously troubled at all the social, economic and national levels at the hands of government policies, this test of public patience may incite them to a very aggressive reaction.

The removal of Shoaib Malik from captaincy and installing Younis Khan in his place are just an eyewash; they are less likely to improve the working of the team. The PCB must think seriously over this abysmal decline of Pakistani cricket.

Most concisely, Pakistan's cricket needs a conscious evolution. Management and the players alike have completely failed to evolve a developing culture. We have gotten stuck with self-preservation, intrigues and power-sharing. Mr Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board's Chairman should now see it as a last chance of reviving the Pakistani game.

In spite of criticism regarding his inability to react sleekly against the core issues, he is still considered as someone who could hold the bull by the horns. We need to concentrate on developing an ethical culture where everyone takes responsibility for the health and direction of cricket's progress.

Cricket management, more elaborately, can be described as thinking and behaviour intended to create and perpetuate a graceful interstellar environment indefinitely, through methods that are only compassion and sense of responsibility therefore in harmony with professionalism.

A true cricket management must represent a desire to contribute to the practical, methodised and spiritual fulfillment of all players and people in the work-staff. The needs of many are the needs of the few! We need to evolve systems and to me, evolution is a constant process that we participate in consciously, or unconsciously.

Recently, the sequence of cricketing events has hardly given anyone hope and it is no secret that Mr Butt's PCB is pushing things to the limit, to a point where we can see the death horizon, an imaginary point in the future time, where we will not be able to recover from abusing our planetary spaceship.

This crisis hasn't occurred to us, it is the result of what we have and are still doing to ourselves -- irresponsibly. In addition, we have neglected to pioneer mental technology and social wisdom with the same vigour that produces technological tools and results, so our physical achievements greatly exceed our ability to manage them and ourselves.

The most significant factor stressing the biosphere in the number of people working and living in it; population in the PCB shot close to a 1000 employees as compared to approximately 30 plus in the 1990s. The quantity of people have increased logarithmically, exceeding infrastructure capacity and resources. Cricket is living a slow death that is hard to comprehend on a global basis, but calls us to question our integrity and adopt new concepts in social management. Our survival depends on replacing those rigid win/lose attitudes with a win/win behaviour that is flexible and sensitive to harmonious co-existence with all things.

Even if we decide to introduce the reorganisation theories, fair and square, and we hold the employment to zero percent immediately, all our consumables must become renewable, and recyclable, just to maintain sanctity and a semblance of balance, without making our challenge any tougher. Now, we listen to assumptions that Miandad would be recalled to the top-tier after people from the power-cauldron have started to put their foot down. Our problems will never be solved if we continue making choices unconsciously -- without regard for the consequences. Motivation comes with realisation that our survival depends on changing the predominant ways of thinking and doing things. This living generation must begin taking responsibility for its custody and preservation of cricket's legacy now. We need to move beyond selfishness which breeds failure and seek the consciousness of sustainable success.

Presently, in spite of Mr Butt appointing ex-stars we haven't seen the PCB environment buzzing with success. Ironically, on occasions we may have asked ourselves the following questions: How do I know something for sure? When Shoaib Malik is sacked in between a series and Younis Khan is elevated to the country's captaincy, Javed Miandad resigns over a role and money row and things not coming up practically, shambles, bewilderment, poor definition of roles, dearth of methodical handling of core issues, abrupt and unwarranted reactions to criticism, failure to curtail pilferage of documents and close to the chest decisions, and sham reorganisation policies -- what can I count on?

What is the meaning of such decisions? Where can I find the answer to these questions? These might seem like impossible questions, however, the only truth that matters must apply and work in the real place. Since we are the cosmos come to consciousness, viable and original truth can only come from the credibility inducers and other such decisions taken with a clear mind and those without skepticism. I want to stress the importance of ultimate truths, so it is possible to remove subjective opinion from conflict over issues of management, player-selection, reorganisation and financial discipline and other sustainable work practices.

PCB is the largest identifiable unit we can describe in Pakistani cricket, and literally a container for everything that exists within the parameters of the game. Even if it changes radically from its current form which seems most unlikely since the first three and a half months of Mr Butt in power couldn't be brushed aside during which he has come up as a man trying to tackle problems in his own rough and ready style and still the issues have slumped to controversial resignation of Miandad plus an untimely removal of Shoaib Malik as country's captain.

It is still highly probable all the energy and matter in the PCB will always be in some tangible balance. The entire cosmos is alive. From the delicate wings of the butterfly to the immense power of Mr Butt, everything is going through various states of change constantly, recycling energy (though presently resurrecting negativity) into policies and transforming policies into practicality. The constituent parts of this transformation make it a living reality just as an atom is living, just as we are things living in it.Cricket for the PCB and for us is our mother god, the source of birth of our fantasies, ambitions and pride and our extended planetary home. It is only through the consistency of its performance that we are permitted this fragile opportunity to be nurtured as the men running it. We will always be dependent on her health for our well being, and there is nothing more essential to forming a responsible philosophy than this elementary truth.

Cricket has one indispensable and primary quality from which all others are derived and that is-success. From success comes freedom and opportunity for development everywhere with equal potential. We can define freedom as the ability to improvise stale policies and rudimentary decisions infinitely within the boundary of sanity. Outside of success, nothing can survive for long. Natural freedom and success exist simultaneously, co-dependently, with the result being performed consistently to embody the third essential quality of management -- trust. Success, freedom and trust are the holy trinity. Regardless of trivial justifications for failures and inability to take criticism and blames as evident from sporadic public appearances of people from PCB's top tier, they are universal glue that makes everything possible. To ignore this, defy it, or deny it, is to reject our mother while feeding through the umbilicus.

Fair selection and intellectual honesty were the key words missing from previous regimes barring Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia's tenure that now seems something remarkable and brilliant, and in the most basic form merit and honest selections describe the attraction between all things. In personal relationships (Yawar Saeed, Intikhab Alam, Saleem Altaf and Mr Naeem, the Financial Advisor) it describes a fatal but often spiritual magnetism, where we are drawn together naturally, instinctively and emotionally to care for each other regardless of the end-product.

As demonstrated recently the new enrollments whether of the manager of the Pakistan team, coach or the financial advisor, with Miandad demanding more financial rewards and trying to align Mr Wasim Bari in his pursuit, it was like a nuclear attraction of oppositely charged particles. Compassion is the metaphysical theme of God, connecting the astonishing diversity of life everywhere and regrettably it has been missing from PCB's priority list, until now.

The power of intellectual honesty is not well demonstrated in the working of the PCB as still it has continued to survive on the basis of its indispensability otherwise we would see evidence that the cricket board is destroying itself without providing freedom for the opportunity of success. Intellectual honesty and compassion are the food and method of peaceful corporate co-existence by default. Freedom is not an option to success. It is our state of existence, the first and only understanding of success. Cricket management is not getting a few friends within the inside circles, and then trying to triumph by defacing the reality.

It is true that Mr Butt has played school, college, university, first-class and international cricket and it is part of history that he picked the downtrodden Lahore cricket into a story of success. He was the man who actually took Dennis Lillee by the cuff and coerced him to apologise to Miandad when he was managing the 1981-82 Pakistan team to Australia. He rediscovered a new work-team with Yawar Saeed and governed Lahore cricket successfully and shrewdly until he had to leave the scene to concentrate on his private business.

When picked on PCB's Advisory Council by Dr Nasim Ashraf he soon related to his persona, standing up to authority and challenging decisions. And finally, when His Excellency President Asif Ali Zardari picked him up ahead of Mr Arif Ali Khan Abbasi as Chairman of the PCB it was like a whiff of fresh air for the Pakistani game. Almost four months into his tenure as PCBís Chairman, it seems Mr Butt hasn't found his feet touching the ground.

When we abuse freedom it is harmful to everything else by reducing the amount of freedom available. Laws are usually made to curb the loss of freedom, but a law is a reduction of liberty in itself. Mr Butt needs to understand Ken Burns cites jazz as an embodiment of freedom, where one can play anything, as long as it is sensitive to what the other cats are playing and does not interfere with their freedom of expression. We must all protect the inalienable right to freedom by exercising it responsibly in life and everything else. We have freedom to be responsible, or irresponsible, to ourselves and each other.

Responsibility it would be to take people to the task for corruption if they really did. The lengths we will go to avoid responsibility are really quite embarrassing. From the top to the person who stole or pilferage any money, who stole even two photographs from the library, stealing, making excuses and lying have become modern art forms executed with malice of forethought.

Any six years old will tell you this type of behaviour is bad or not good. I am not writing about making a mistake of judgment. I cite adult actions that are unethical and immoral, entirely preventive to cricket's success, undermining trust, freedom and expert-management we all thrive on.

Winning may not be everything, but it sure as hell beats losing

A great man once said, "Play up, play up, and play the game" to which in another age another person countered "winning may not be everything, but it sure as hell beats losing". Both the statements about cover the entire range of any debate.

Pakistan's cricket team is once again in the wars. The swings of the team from winning one day to bombing out the next are of obvious concern to cricket lovers all over our Country. This pattern is repeated with monotonous consistency and hence the screams for answers. Whilst we all appreciate that winning or losing is a part of any game, the mode of losing is indicative of the character of a team.

In our case the team appears to just fold up. It exhibits neither fight nor pride nor grit in their game and hence the understandable uproar. The national press are fully entitled to castigate the team and portray the ire of their readers when such inexplicable disasters take place, but and I say this with much respect, the Parliament, the Senate, the House of Lords, The Commons or Upper and Lower Houses of any government normally do not get involved in such a public and advertised manner. This should always be left to the Cricket Board.

Behind the scene efforts by power centres must surely be made to ensure corrective action is taken.

It is easy to be critical and judgmental about any subject. It is much more difficult to propose actions to resolve problems that beset any difficult situation. I am ignorant about the personal or administrative details that affect the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or the team which causes such disasters, so I shall refrain from pontificating.

In these columns I would like to generically examine the qualities and methods that add up to make a great team. I hope that this will stand the test of the readers as they are qualities that have been, are being and will continue to be exhibited by the worlds leading elevens.

National pride is an absolute must in winning teams. One might argue that in soccer great club teams include players who are foreign to the team they play in. This only proves the rule as these players may play for any club around the world, but come the World Cup and you will never have, say, an Italian player playing for another country. Viewing the leading teams in the world one can visibly see the pride that players exhibit when they wear their national colours. This body language is shown by the Australians when they wear the 'baggy green', and is equally matched these days by the South African and Indian players when representing their respective countries.

The management of and development of players must rate very high on the scale for continued success. Results most strongly suggest that a firm, low key and professional style of control produces the best results. Those managements who believe that fame and fortune from the game belongs to the players and not to those managing the game seems to best succeed. Having lived abroad for many years and travelled extensively in cricketing countries one has not come across the thirst for fame that is exhibited in Pakistan by those who in the near past took up the charge of cricket.

It is evident from the Pakistani experience between 1998-99 to 2008 that political influence, superficial cricket knowledge, just love for the game and a desire for fame are insufficient tools for successful management. A comprehensive management skill, a deep understanding of the players and their backgrounds, an in depth knowledge of the game, combined with the ability to command the respect of world class players are the qualities that have proved to be successful around the world and in indeed periodically in Pakistan.

Like all team games, cricket requires the combined efforts of eleven people. Individual heroics may on the odd occasion win out but that would be the exception rather than the rule. Teams that were man for man weaker than competing elevens have repeatedly exhibited this truth by consistently out playing 'bigger teams' as a result of team effort.

Winning teams have always been led by good captains and all great teams by great captains. History proves the truth in this statement. A captain must be able to unite the players under him and have the ability to extract their best from them. This requires him to be comfortable in his position; he has to be a role model who remembers that familiarity breeds contempt. A captain requires being honest and upright in his dealings on and off the field.

It is near impossible for any player who has compromised his own integrity in any form to be able to regain the confidence of his team. The standard of discipline that is imposed upon and accepted by the players contributes in fair part to the success ratio of any team. This also extends to the discipline of physical fitness. It is essential that one standard must apply to the entire team with no exceptions. No team can afford to carry VIPs. The standard of discipline must not be quantified by ostensible lip service overtly shown towards authority but by the weightage paid to team rules. Regrettably in our country obeisance continues to contribute greatly in judging this quality.

In Pakistan the personal life of the players is subject to unnecessary laws and rules. It is the task of management, manager, coach and captain to ensure the consistent enforcement of sensible rules that have a direct impact on the ongoing standard of performance of a player on the field alone. There must be no compromise on fitness or on any shenanigans that bring disrepute to the country or the team.

Beyond these tenets the players must be allowed the freedom to relax and enjoy themselves as they please. We must appreciate that every defeat cannot be laid at the doorstep of a discotheque nor can any rigid enforcement of behavior standards guarantee victory. Selling one's players down the river for whatever reason cannot possibly contribute to success.

Whilst one could endlessly list qualities that impact on making a successful team space does not permit this luxury. However this list would be incomplete if one did not mention the importance of game development in the country. The quality of domestic cricket is an essential pillar of this process. The format in this field has to be tailored to the genius of each country. Successful models from other countries can act as a guide but cannot be adopted without taking our own needs into account.

Improvement in this field is an ongoing process and drastic changes that seek overnight success are doomed to fail. The end system must be able to provide the best possible chances for talent to shine and then mature in a competitive atmosphere from the grass roots upwards to top grade cricket.

Fair and unbiased selection procedures must ensure the selection of the best available players at any level. The last listed consideration shows that countries with relatively smaller populations are still able to produce consistent world beating teams. Team selection includes the vital need to provide timely opportunity to younger players and then giving them a fair period to prove themselves.

Time and again it is seen that management stick to aging players for fear of losing. This is even more pronounced in cases where managements rely upon their players to keep them in their posts. The current Australian side proves that even the best in the world require timely changes if they are to stay at the top. Failure to recognise when players are peaking and need to be dropped can only lead the team into a cyclical performance curve rather than one of consistency.

I can only hope that the above lists at least have all the most important facets that contribute towards the making of a great team. Talent has consciously been kept out of this discourse as this God given gift has been wasted by more than one international player by indiscipline, unfitness and lack of integrity and thus by itself is insufficient as a reason for success. What is most regrettable is that whereas players get their come uppance for their misdeeds and actions the top managers of the game are able to come and go with not so much as a 'by your leave'.

The Swiss great cried, and it was hard not to cry with him. The sight of Roger Federer's lower lip trembling would have been enough to start most soft-hearted observers off, but by the time his tears started flowing, a far proportion of the 15,000 Australian Open crowd at the Rod Laver Arena and the millions watching around the world were probably reaching for the tissues too.

If that had not done the trick, then the sight of Rafael Nadal, his conqueror, putting his arm around him in friendly consolation, would have set off a worldwide outbreak of sniffles. Everyone on earth values friendship, and you will not witness a better embodiment of that than the sight of one great champion comforting another.

Federer did his best not to take the limelight away from Nadal at the moment when Spain had its first Australian Open champion and the winner of a match of enduring quality had just taken his sixth Grand Slam title at the age of only 22, but the Swiss player's was a scene-stealing performance nonetheless.

Federer is, as Nadal said in his acceptance speech, one of the greatest players of all-time, but he came second on the night -- and that hurt like hell. As Federer said just before the sobs took over, "God, it's killing me".

He had played, at times, every bit as well as a 13-time Grand Slam champion might expect to. In the fourth set in particular, his tennis was sublime, but by the time the contest moved into its fifth set and its fifth hour, Federer's brain appeared to have been fried by the mental pressure Nadal had been exerting on him since the very first ball.

"I mean, this is, surely one of the matches in my career where I feel like I could have or should have won," said Federer, who repeatedly had break points snatched away from him by Nadal's remarkable ability to find a first serve or a rasping forehand winner when threatened.

"You can't go through your whole life as a tennis player taking every victory that's out there. You've got to live with those, you know. But they hurt even more so if you're that close, like at Wimbledon or like here at the Australian Open. So that's what's tough about it."

He did not seem to regret the tears afterwards. Federer is a thoroughly modern man and so would probably not normally be concerned about a public display of emotion, but even he might have preferred it if this one had not been quite as public as it was. "In the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad, you know, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you," he explained afterwards.

He had, by his own admission, played a poor fifth set and was critical of his own serving, but in the end such things are details which will probably be largely lost in time. What cut him to his very core was the knowledge that, for the fifth time in his career, he had been denied a Grand Slam victory by Nadal, and so missed out on the chance to equal Pete Sampras record of 14 major titles.

Nadal's first thought when he had accepted the trophy was to reassure Federer that he believes the Swiss will match and then pass that historic marker before his career is out. "Rog, sorry for today," said Nadal, turning to his friend with genuine compassion in his voice.

Federer mustered a weak smile and nodded his appreciation, but the pain was still there on his face. It wasn't long before the tears began to roll again.