The ICC, Racism-Offences and Decision-Making

Today the ICC, bizarrely subsequent to the news being publicized by the Proteas fearless leader at the toss of the 4th ODI, announced the punitive sanctions made against Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. A four match ban, which resulted in a lot of reactive 'too little, ban him for life' statements, as well as 'too much, …

Un-Tebbitable

In a time when "Lord" Tebbit and his ideology should be dead and buried, we're living under an increased perception and awareness of tribalism and xenophobia. Whilst societies have opened up globally, states are making efforts to harden and close borders. Cricket, and sport broadly, is both a method of disrupting such or, conversely, reifying …

On Sarfaraz Ahmed & South Asian Anti-Blackness

In the short time since Sarfaraz made on-field comments to his teammates in Urdu regarding Phelukwayo, there has been a considerable (and justified) Cricket Hubbub™. The incident, in which Sarfraz said: 'Abhay kaalay, teri ammi kahan behti hain, kya parhaa ke aya hai?' Involves a very nuanced, contextualised translation. Language matters, and cannot be removed …

Pakistan: 11 T20 Specialists?

Pakistan: 11 T20 Specialists? The roadmap of Pakistan’s current T20 status, comprising a number of world records and repeatedly referred to as clinical of late, demonstrates a strong understanding of the T20 ethos; the boys in green haven’t lost a T20 series since the last T20 World Cup, piling on an impressive 11 series wins. …