Foreign Entertainment

Pakistan's first "home" series since losing hosting rights got off to an interesting start. First there were the Twenty20 victories against Australia, a team that tormented them earlier in the year, then traumatized them in the World Twenty20 semi-final. But how would Pakistan do in Test matches? First came the crushing defeat in the first Test, with Australia sealing a comfortable victory by 150 runs. Things seemed back to normal for Australia and Pakistan, but it's never easy to tell with Pakistan. Australia found this out the hard way on the first day of the second Test.

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Even before it started, this third game between Australia and England was set up to be one of the more interesting cricket matches in recent memory (maybe even since the Twenty20 World Cup final between these two teams). After ruling cricket with an iron paw for a decade and a half, Australia had gradually been ceding territory to their old enemy - first losing the Ashes in 2009, then losing the Twenty20 final, and now facing a 3-0 scoreline to England, of all teams. This, the (more or less) same Australian team which humbled  the (more or less) same England team 6-1 only a year ago. 

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For the first time in their history Spain has won -- the World Cup. Spain won a few things before the Spanish Armada but since then the pickings have been slim. Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup over the Netherlands sent the the country in to a state of joy. It was fiesta time all over Spain. Spain won, 1-0. A single goal in extra time, by the Spanish grand hero, the player Andrés Iniesta, put Spain in the victory column.

Joy in Spain and sorrow in the Netherlands. The Dutch were so disappointed. I wonder if there were enough handkerchiefs to go around? The Dutch should have prepared themselves. Their loss was foretold. The Octopus Paul predicted the Spanish victory. The Dutch only have themselves to blame, if they didn't stock up on tissue and get in a good supply of crying towels.

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Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the most controversial and accomplished figures in cricket, announced that the upcoming Test match against India in Galle, Sri Lanka, will be his last. Choosing to concentrate on the shorter formats of the game, Murali will walk away after 133 tests. His figures currently stand at a record 792 wickets, a best-innings return of 9/51, a best-match haul of 16/220, and an average of 22.71, with 66 five-wicket sets and 22 ten-wicket sets.

The figures, impressive, legendary and record-breaking as they are, tell only half the story. He holds the record for the most wickets in international Test & ODI cricket, has taken more five-fors than any other bowler in history, and was called the "best bowler ever" in the 2002 edition of the Wisden Cricketer's Almanac. Wisden also called him "the leading cricketer in the world" in 2006. He's taken a 5-for against every Test-playing country, and has taken 50 or more wickets against all of them - England, Australia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.  He's the only player to have taken 10 or more wickets in four consecutive games, and he's done that on two occasions. "b(owled) Muralitharan" is the most common dismissal in Test cricket. Matthew Hayden and Kevin Pietersen have singled out Murali as the toughest bowler they've faced. 

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