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Afghanistan Crushes US

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  • Afghanistan Crushes US

    Don't worry folks. No bodies here. It is actually a good news story. Afghanistan has beaten the US in T20 cricket. It went on to beat Ireland & has qualified for the T20 World Cup next year.

    You have to admire these kids. it can't be easy to focus on sport in a nation as troubled as Afghanistan, but they have managed to overcome some hefty obstacles to get themselves to the world stage. They will get to play against some of their heroes - people they could only have seen on TV. Even better, T20 is rapidly expanding & has a lot of money behind it. If any of them are good enough they might actually be able to make a dollar or two. I hope they do their country proud.


    'We are the Rocky of world cricket' - Hamid Hassan
    Cricinfo staff

    February 11, 2010

    Afghanistan's battle against adversity during their rise up the cricket ranks has all the makings of a Hollywood script. Now, after their victory over USA which confirmed progression to the Super Fours of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers, Hamid Hassan, their star performer, has compared his country's success against the odds to the iconic boxing movie Rocky, with Hassan himself delivering the knockout blow.

    Hassan took 3 for 14 as USA were restricted to 106 for 7 in their pursuit of 136 on Thursday, and it gives him a tournament haul of eight wickets at 8.12. Hassan, who spent time as an MCC Young Cricketer along with team-mate Mohammad Nabi, has been a regular contributor to Afghanistan's growing list of international victories with his pace bowling.

    "I am a big fan of American television and movies and my favourite film is Rocky - I vividly remember watching it when I was growing up - and one of my heroes is Sylvester Stallone," Hassan wrote in his Cricinfo blog.

    "I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team - we both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up the rankings. It is easy to forget how far we have come in the last two years since we played at the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey."

    Afghanistan are now one step closer to reaching the World Twenty20 in West Indies having just missed out on qualification for the 2011 World Cup and Hassan couldn't help but think ahead to the possibility of facing the leading teams in the world.

    "We all want to win the tournament," he said. "Having the chance to play against India or South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20 really would be like Rocky having the chance to fight the champion and we are determined to make our dreams come true."

    Rocky overcame all his obstacles to become the champion, and don't rule out Afghanistan scripting their own, real life, glorious ending.


    Afghanistan Destroys the United States ... in Cricket

    February 11, 2010 10:17 AM

    ABC's Nick Schifrin reports from Islamabad:

    Interesting story today out of Dubai, where the out-of-nowhere Afghan cricket team continues to impress, easily beating the lowly American side in the qualifying tournament for the World Cup in Twenty20 -- a form of cricket that lasts as long as a baseball game. Think seventh inning stretch instead of tea breaks.

    Afghanistan’s first ever nationally recognized cricket team has been a source of pride in a blood-soaked country since it was born shortly after the Taliban were overthrown.

    Most of the players are Pashtun -- the same majority ethnic group from which the Taliban come -- and trained themselves to play on barren dirt and concrete fields outside of Peshawar, Pakistan, near their refugee camps.

    Their families had been displaced by the Russians, then by the civil war and finally by the Taliban -- but exactly 30 years after the Russians invaded, a team of young talents came within one match of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup (the version with longer matches). It was an amazing feat for a first-time qualifying team, let alone one from a country that has suffered from so much violence.

    "I asked the boys how they feel about it: 'It's not war, just sport', they said,” coach Kabir Khan told the Independent newspaper when asked about playing against the United States. "These players have a real hunger for the game. Throughout their lives they have seen real lows and a lot of hard times during the war and afterwards. They want to prove to the world that there is more to Afghanistan than war."

    Next up for the Afghan side: the next step toward qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup. Next up for the American side: hoping to get a little help to advance to the next round.
    sigpic

    Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

  • #2
    good sir.............NEVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!!!.......and cricket is a sport?

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    • #3
      Originally posted by wellman View Post
      good sir.............NEVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!!!.......and cricket is a sport?
      Savage!!!

      You dare to speak ill of the second most popular sport in the world. BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!!!

      Just kiddin'.:)) It has been said that England's 2 great gifts to the world were the English language & the cover drive. Always thought the English language was a bit overrated meself.
      sigpic

      Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
        Just kiddin'.:)) It has been said that England's 2 great gifts to the world were the English language & the cover drive. Always thought the English language was a bit overrated meself.
        Blah, the Adam Smith and Rugby Union are England's greatest contributions, and Adam Smith only gets a look in because his ideas made the English upper class wealthy enough that they had enough spare time to devise the latter. The fact that they also devised cricket just proves that you can be too rich, anybody who can invent a game that long and boring has just got far to much time on their hands. :))
        "There is no such thing as society" - Margaret Thatcher

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Aussiegunner View Post
          Blah, the Adam Smith and Rugby Union are England's greatest contributions, and Adam Smith only gets a look in because his ideas made the English upper class wealthy enough that they had enough spare time to devise the latter. The fact that they also devised cricket just proves that you can be too rich, anybody who can invent a game that long and boring has just got far to much time on their hands. :))
          Agreed , pass the bottle

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Aussiegunner View Post
            .... anybody who can invent a game that long and boring has just got far to much time on their hands. :))
            Jeez mate thats open up for as much interpretation as the guy at the supermarket this arvo who asked the perp behind the counter "Can I grab two small breasts" infront of his missus.
            Ego Numquam

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            • #7
              The US has a Cricket team


              When did that happen?

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              • #8
                The US has a Cricket team
                Some Americans, maybe. There are a lot of gays on the West Coast who probably play this crap.

                The USA, Gods Country having a cricket team; **** no.
                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Aussiegunner View Post
                  Blah, the Adam Smith and Rugby Union are England's greatest contributions, and Adam Smith only gets a look in because his ideas made the English upper class wealthy enough that they had enough spare time to devise the latter. The fact that they also devised cricket just proves that you can be too rich, anybody who can invent a game that long and boring has just got far to much time on their hands. :))
                  The English upper classes would have gotten rich with or without Mr Smith, but Mr Smith would have struggled to write without the English language (yeah, didn't think of that didya :))). And as for Rugby Union, fine sport, but only the national sport of a few stray island nations - less than 10 million people. Cricket, over 1.5 billion & growing!!
                  sigpic

                  Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Aussiegunner View Post
                    Blah, the Adam Smith and Rugby Union are England's greatest contributions, and Adam Smith only gets a look in because his ideas made the English upper class wealthy enough that they had enough spare time to devise the latter. The fact that they also devised cricket just proves that you can be too rich, anybody who can invent a game that long and boring has just got far to much time on their hands. :))
                    Fishing...now that is what you call long and boring. You sit on your a$$ all day to catch a fish only to throw the thing back.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by dave lukins
                      Fishing...now that is what you call long and boring. You sit on your a$$ all day to catch a fish only to throw the thing in the cooler with the rest.
                      Fixed it for ya.
                      I enjoy being wrong too much to change my mind.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                        The English upper classes would have gotten rich with or without Mr Smith, but Mr Smith would have struggled to write without the English language (yeah, didn't think of that didya :))). And as for Rugby Union, fine sport, but only the national sport of a few stray island nations - less than 10 million people. Cricket, over 1.5 billion & growing!!
                        Cheers to that!! :))
                        Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
                        -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by dave lukins View Post
                          Fishing...now that is what you call long and boring. You sit on your a$$ all day to catch a fish only to throw the thing back.
                          Can you drink while "Playing" cricket?

                          Fishing you can sit and throw a line out with a cricket attached to catch a fish, all the time enjoying your favorite adult beverage.

                          Two pictures follow.

                          One is a nice insect that attracts everything from Bream to Bass. It has a purpose in life.

                          The other is some confused guy that doesn't know if he wants to play Baseball or Croquet.
                          Attached Files

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Gun Grape
                            Fishing you can sit and throw a line out with a cricket attached to catch a fish, all the time enjoying your favorite adult beverage.
                            I can't keep a cricket on a hook to save my life. Either it flies off when I cast, or a bluegill sucks it off the hook 3 seconds after it hits the water.

                            Only thing more frustrating to try to use is wasp larvae. I'm pretty sure nobody actually uses those things. Just a really mean practical joke on noob fishermen.
                            I enjoy being wrong too much to change my mind.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                              The other is some confused guy that doesn't know if he wants to play Baseball or Croquet.
                              Naww.. just a guy who has the skills to excel in both baseball and croquet.. ;) :))
                              Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
                              -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

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