Khurram Manzoor was the revelation of the series, which signifies the extent of Pakistan's failure. His attitude and application in a crisis were refreshing © Getty Images

Mohammad Yousuf wants to learn how to captain. Intikhab Alam wants his players, especially the seniors, to learn from their failures. Pakistan's emphasis on learning is admirable, but it is also baffling. A learning culture does not exist in the Pakistan team, an excuse culture does. In fact, the calls for learning sound like just another excuse to deflect criticism from the leadership and management of the Pakistan team.

Pakistan have been taught much over the last two tours, particularly by a professional Australian team, but they have learned little. The mistakes are the same and the captaincy no better. The same problems that existed before the New Zealand tour still exist today. No progress in the areas of concern.

Have Pakistan learned who should partner Salman Butt? No. Have Pakistan learned who is an alternative to Younis Khan at number 3? No. Have Pakistan learned the identity of their first choice to bat at number 6? No.

Mohammad Yousuf's tactics have provoked disgust © Getty Images

With the entire world against it, the Pakistan cricket team has conspired to ensure that its deepest wounds are self-inflicted. We've seen some of the worst fielding from an international cricket team, something nobody can do anything about apparently. And now, just when we thought we'd got away with it, farcical run-outs have returned to remind everybody that Pakistan cricketers are only ever one step away from schoolboy errors.

It's been a dismal effort in Hobart, and nothing has been more dismal than the captaincy of Mohammad Yousuf. One of the great fascinations of cricket is the importance of leadership and how different styles of leadership can dramatically influence performance and results. We can't, however, expect every captain to have the psychological skills of Mike Brearley, the guts of Steve Waugh, or the warrior ways of Imran Khan. But we can expect competence, especially from somebody who has been an international cricketer for over a decade.

Yousuf's plea that ex-captains should stop criticising him and offer guidance is simply pathetic. You should never stop learning but if you're struggling with the ABCs and times-tables of cricket captaincy at the age of 35, you might as well give up. Yousuf's defensive approach has cost Pakistan in each Test match in Australia. Release the pressure from Test batsmen and they will plunder you. Ricky Ponting must be laughing his pants off. Yousuf has played his batsmen into glorious form.

	Without his batting ability Kamran Akmal would be universally condemned, and perhaps that is his salvation © AFP

The manner of Pakistan's final day capitulation in Sydney was always going to hurt players and supporters. Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal and Misbah ul Haq in particular were unlikely to extract much sympathy.

No surprise there then, but Team Pakistan has managed to find another way to surprise us. The host television company could not have hoped for better other than to organise a Pop Idol style public vote to decide who will keep wicket for Pakistan. Stumper Idol doesn't have quite the same ring to it but I'd have tuned in.

My guess is Kamran would be voted out. Most fans have lost faith in his glovework and the Sydney Test just reminded everybody how often he has dropped important chances, opportunities that decide between success and failure.

	Asaf Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan © AFP

To the President of Pakistan,

We, the supporters of Pakistan cricket, demand an immediate end to the systematic destruction of Pakistan cricket.

Cricket is the single-most visible embodiment of the aspirations of the global Pakistani nation. Our cricketers are the most visible ambassadors of an embattled country. Cricket fans are representative of every walk of Pakistani society. The history of Pakistan as a nation and a cricket team is intertwined, and some might say cricket is a mirror reflecting the state of the nation.

We care about the present and the future of Pakistan cricket because we care about the present and the future of Pakistan itself.

Successive regimes of the Pakistan Cricket Board, under the patronage of the President of Pakistan, have indulged in nepotism, cronyism, and financial mismanagement, to name a few misdemeanours. The cricket board has been run unprofessionally in an age of professional international sport. Decision-making has been for the benefit of the individuals representing the cricket board rather than for the national cricket team or the hundreds of millions of cricket fans from all countries who support the Pakistan cricket team.

The result of this systematic mismanagement has been the isolation of Pakistan cricket from the international cricket community and the destruction of Pakistan as a force in the world of cricket. The Pakistan cricket team once made us proud, it is now the starkest example of how to waste the natural abilities, talents, and resources of the Pakistani people.

We demand that cricket does not follow squash and hockey, sports that we once dominated. Instead, we demand that the current cricket board of amateurs is disbanded and replaced by professionals fit to run a 21st century international sports organisation.

We demand that the current crop of exciting players, like Mohammad Aamer and Umar Akmal, has the hope of playing in a national team that makes Pakistan cricket great again and the supporters proud.

We demand that cricket puts its house in order and becomes a shining example of how to revitalise a Pakistani institution.

We demand that the patience of millions is rewarding with action.

As your predecessors knew, the success of the team is also a judgment on the success of your presidency.

Save Pakistan cricket.

Dil Dil Pakistan.

(If you support this letter, join the Facebook group/petition I've set up called 'A million people to save Pakistan cricket." Follow this link)

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January 6, 2010

Fear and dread in Sydney

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 01/06/2010 in Australia 2009-10

	The drum beats for Afridi's captaincy must be growing louder © AFP

A thrilling day of Test cricket has ended in dejection for Pakistan fans and deserved joy for Australia. I say ended, but the gloom set in as soon as Mohammad Yousuf put two fingers up to the warrior tradition of Pakistan cricket by setting a field for 800 for 8 instead of 80 for 8. Cricket is all about numbers and their interpretation, and Yousuf misinterpreted the numbers of hope and anticipation for the numbers of fear and dread.

Captains are celebrated when they turn a match with a fortunate bowling change or a clever fielding position. When they fail it is often quite hard to pinpont the decisive moment unless it is an error at the toss. Yet, Yousuf did something remarkable. For a whole session he pursued such a glaringly flawed strategy that he killed Pakistan's ambitions of winning their first Test in Australia since the mid 1990s. He will always be remembered for it: glorious failures are the stuff of legend.

What goes on inside Yousuf's head is something of a mystery. What motivates him? Why does he choose defence when the whole world would attack? As a younger batsman, he would launch an all-out batting assault at the most inappropriate moments. He must empathise with the rash strokemakers in his team because he has been one of them, and was perhaps among them again today. What goes on inside his head that he can blame his lofted drive for Pakistan's defeat, an uncontrolled moment, but seem oblivious to the two and half hours of stupidity that eased the pressure on Australia, played Australia into form, and allowed them a winning advantage?

It is difficult to be too hard on the man. He blames himself enough, he hurts like the rest of us, and he does care. But is that enough to be captain of Pakistan? It is a position that Yousuf has coveted, and believed he was unfairly denied for too long. Sometimes, however, the ambitions of our hearts and heads overestimate the sum of our capabilities. A close observation of Yousuf's captaincy has been alarming viewing during this cricket season, defensive and uninspiring in the extreme, only serving to reinforce the suspicion that he is captain by default. This morning's session was Yousuf reverting to what he knows best at a time of pressure. At such moments are captains judged.

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January 4, 2010

Discipline and attack work for Pakistan

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 01/04/2010 in Australia 2009-10

	The man who holds the key to Pakistan's victory is Danish Kaneria © AFP

Pakistan should expect Australia to come back hard tomorrow. Ricky Ponting is an aggressive captain and he will believe his team can still win despite Pakistan's unexpected supremacy throughout this match. Mohammad Yousuf's team will need to be on their guard but must fight aggression with aggression, as taking wickets is the surest way to halt Australia's recovery.

I think Pakistan have shocked Australia in the first two days here - in truth, they've shocked even their most ardent supporters. First, a hastily flung together pace attack held an attacking but disciplined line and length. Discpline and attack were also on the agenda when the batsmen took their turn. Some of the shots might have been unnecessarily ambitious but the aggression of Pakistan's middle order was a refreshing sight.

The most accurate barometer of Pakistan's intent is usually their running betweenwickets. At Melbourne the batsmen were on their heels. Here they scampered and rushed through for quick singles. Yes, Pakistan could have secured a bigger lead but a more circumspect approach might well have surrendered as many wickets for fewer runs. The overall approach of the batsmen has been a sensible one: to unsettle Australia at every opportunity.

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January 3, 2010

A day for comeback kids

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 01/03/2010 in Australia 2009-10

	Earlier versions of Mohammad Sami would have squandered the opportunity. The 2010 model was unbelievable © AFP

Sydney, the scene of emotional farewells to great Australian cricketers, kindly welcomed back two aspiring Pakistani bowlers to the limelight. It was a day to join the folklore of Pakistan cricket. Lord's might be the home of cricket but Sydney is the citadel, home to the mightiest power in cricket's history. It was a venue for Pakistan fans to savour.

Pakistan's success was delivered by three men, each of whom in their differing ways had fought to establish themselves in the last decade. First was Ricky Ponting, whose decision to bat was the decisive one on a cloudy, green-topped day of seam.

But the rest belonged to Messrs Asif and Sami, the comeback kids of Pakistan cricket. Asif has rarely disappointed, although this is his first great performance. Like Sami, Asif is a rare Pakistan fast bowler to rely on seam before swing. Unlike Sami, he has rarely struggled with his line. Like Asif, Sami was once the great fast bowling hope of Pakistan cricket. Unlike Asif, he rarely got it right. Earlier versions of Sami would have squandered the opportunity. The 2010 model was unbelievable, a flash of what might have been.

Can Pakistan's batsmen now turn the heroics of the comeback kids into a memorable victory?

Follow me on Twitter during the Australian tour: http://Twitter.com/KamranAbbasi

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January 2, 2010

Mo and Inti's Book of Excuses

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 01/02/2010 in Australia 2009-10

While billions of people have been working on their New Year's resolutions, Pakistan fans can sleep safe that instead of setting targets and goals for 2010 the Pakistani "think tank" have been cooking up a series of excuses for the team's plight.

Mr Mo Yousuf and Mr Inti Alam are making a decent late bid to become the pantomime clowns of the 2009-2010 season. Come on chaps, accept some responsibility and motivate your troops instead of saying: "Everything's messed up, it's not our fault, and we can't do anything about it." Here are three extracts from Mo and Inti's Book of Excuses, you might have some of your own to add.

Excuse Number 1: Don't blame us for the witless batting, blame Twenty20. Sounds plausible but forgets the point that most of the batsmen's careers predate the advent of Twenty20. In any case, these are professional players whose brains should be able to switch gears. I much prefer Shahid Afridi's view that Twenty20 has enhanced Test cricket. Indeed, much of Australia's domination of Test cricket was thanks to their one-day rate of scoring. Pakistan's batsmen like to give it a go but can't keep it up for long enough.

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December 30, 2009

Ten lessons from the MCG

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 12/30/2009 in Australia 2009-10

	The Pakistan selectors' view that Younis Khan has to prove himself in a domestic match is laughable © AFP

Pakistan's defeat in Melbourne was fascinating viewing. Test cricket is tough for Pakistan because of how few matches the team has played since 2006. Pakistan's domestic structure is also poor preparation for away tours. Nonetheless, it would be complacent to excuse the defeat on this basis.

The Pakistan team has much to be proud from the performance at the MCG but surely it is capable of more? Here are the lessons I believe Pakistan cricket should learn from the MCG. Feel free to add yours:

1 Australia remain a formidable team. They may not have the batting strength of old but their pace attack is developing powerfully. Since Pakistan will spend much of the next year playing Ricky Ponting's men, they must develop a strategy to combat Australia's pace attack, especially the left armers against whom Pakistan were particularly poor.

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December 29, 2009

Attitude goes a long way

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 12/29/2009 in Australia 2009-10

	Pakistan were under the cosh as the likes of Umar Akmal fought to resuscitate a dying innings © Getty Images

Test cricket has once again proved why it mesmerises like no other. As Shane Watson edged towards his maiden Test century and Australia's first of the summer, Pakistan tried to squeeze the life out his innings.

Adopting a bowling line wide of off stump and an 8-1 offside field, Pakistan's bowlers reduced Watson to scrambling the ten runs to his hundred, when it should have been a relentless march to seal a formidable innings. In the land of Bodyline, MoYoline was born, the greatest scheme that Mohammad Yousuf has brought to the Test arena.

Indeed, had Abdur Rauf held on at point, Watson would have fallen for 99, Mohammad Aamer would have had his sixth wicket, and MoYoline would have become unforgettable. Nonetheless, the moment that Watson clinched his century was one of those precious moments that only Test cricket can bring.

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