Happy Independence Day! - Talking Point

Roshan Pakistan
The phrase: "Roshan Pakistan" closely translates to "May my Pakistan have a bright future". Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and blessed independence day! Today, the 14th of August is a very important day in the history of all muslims, as today, the Muslims fought for their freedom and were the first to achieve their freedom in the East. An entire nation was carved out of the historical India on the basis of religion. As Pakistanis, we need to remain united and work towards acheiving self-sufficiency. Our top priority must be to improve and support our country by every means possible, to make it a better place for not just Pakistanis, but everyone else who visits this land of warmth and hospitality.

We as Pakistanis love to celebrate as many events as possible, whether it is the birth of our nation, the Prophet's birthday, Pakistan day and whatever else we can possibly find to commemorate. This of course indicates that we are by nature, fun loving and jubilant people. One thing we must not forget is to remember the basic principle behind our independence, that is, the foundation of a nation that braces itself upon religion - Islam in our case. Therefore, our every action must coincide with the teachings of Islam, that is, to love and care, to preach peace over hatred, forgiveness over vengeance, to side with the truth no matter what, and to remain united under one flag.

We must also pay tribute to all those who so graciously gave up their lives to provide us with the feedom that we enjoy today. If we think about it, the importance of having a free country like Pakistan is truly a blessing, and something we all tend to take for granted. The only country that will always accept us no matter what, is our homeland, Pakistan. Even as citizens of foreign countries, we will always remain as foreigners not only in the hearts of the local inhabitants, but within our hearts as well. We belong to Pakistan and we must accept it by heart that we will forever be Pakistanis. I for one am proud to admit the fact that I'm Pakistani and I'm ashamed to not have been raised up in my own country, but then again it was not in my hands to choose my place of residence. There are so many things I've missed out, so many basic aspects of our society I am not even aware of, and probably will never know about. However, it is never too late to learn.

We must all work together with our hands, with our minds, with our wealth, with our hearts and with all our might to give to Pakistan what it rightly deserves from us. We must learn the invaluable lesson of unity and patriotism from the great American leader, John F. Kennedy, when he spoke the following wise words at his inagural address on January the 20th, 1961:

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you:
Ask what you can do for your country"

May God bless our nation and it's people and may He guide us towards success and true feedom from within, when one Pakistani can look at another as a Pakistani, and not as a Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi or Pathan. Ameen.

I have put up several 'milli naghmein' or "Patriotic songs" on this lovely day. Simply click on the song you would like to listen to, and a new window will pop up and start playing the song.

Note: You will require Internet Explorer 4+ to play the songs.

Qaumi Tarana - National Anthem of Pakistan

Vital Signs - Dil Dil Pakistan

Vital Signs - Dil Dil Pakistan (Remix)

Junoon - Jazba-e-Junoon

Junoon - Azaadi

Junaid Jamshed - Jeetaein gay


I've also put together, a set of picture of Pakistan and it's people. Enjoy!



Pakistan Pa'indabad!

Sin City - Movie Review

Frank Miller's Sin City
I just finished watching this comical/animated movie and it is absolutely the craziest movie I've ever seen. It is a huge parcel with immense animated action, along with sex, gruesome violence, huge explosions, treachery, drama, all packed into one out of sequence strip. It was somewhat reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", who incidentally happened to be a "special guest director" for this particular title. The movie had Tarantino written all over it, with all the blood and gore in addition to the non-sequential script of the movie. The only reason I didn't dislike the movie was because it was based on Frank Miller's comic books. I never actually read the comics, but I did play a PC game called "Max Payne" which contained storyline comics which bore an uncanny resemblance to the animated strips in the movie.

I personally believe Tarantino has a deranged imagination and it shows in the movies he directs. He was a 'special guest director' of this movie and I can hardly imagine what the movie would be like if he were the main director. All in all, I would recommend watching the movie at least once; for the explosive action, drama, and lively cinematography. The most attractive aspect of the movie was the use of black and white colors for a better part of the movie, with the exception of some scenes were extremely vivid colors like bloody red and fluorescent yellow were used. The fusion of two such extremes gave the movie a subliminal sense of seductiveness.

Musical Entertainment - Humor

A lot of you may have heard of Daler Mehndi, but some of you may haven't. Well, if you haven't already heard of him, he's a very renowned Punjabi singer from India. He is recognized by his unique, yet lively sense of dressing, which includes his colorful turbans. He has a heavy, yet distinctively appealing voice which matches harmoniously with his music. Here's his most popular 'internet' song, titled: "Tunak Tunak"

Rock on, dude!
Anyway, I was searching for the video clip for this song, when I came across this hilarious skit that some students at Buffalo University performed on a dance floor and I absolutely had to share it with everyone. Before you watch the following video, I'd recommend watching the original video first as it will be much more fun watching the people in the second video imitating Daler Mehndi's steps.

Note: You will require Quicktime to play the following video. Quicktime can be downloaded here.

Tunak Tunak parody skit

And no, he's not the guy in my icon.

Another day, another year - Talking Point

Well well... there goes another year in my life. I officially turn 25 today, the 9th of August and I feel like I'm still 18. When I contemplate my behavior, I still find it hard to get over the fact that I'm now 25. I feel like half the time before I start feeling old has passed. Well, that's about it from me for today. God bless you all!

Kissing the heavens - News

An artist's impressionof the Burj TowerImage Source: BBC
The recent rivalry between some of the biggest contracting companies to erect the tallest building in the world has finally reached it's zenith - literally. United Arab Emirates' largest and most successful construction enterprise, Emaar, has dug down 50 meters deep under the land surface to lay down the foundation that will support this massive structure of steel and concrete. The company has not officially announced how tall the skyscraper will be once it is constructed, but it is expected to stand over a staggering 600 meters tall, taller than the longest standing building in the world - Taiwan's "Taipei 101 which stands at a breathtaking 509 meters high.

The building moves up in a spiraling manner and resembles an arrow pointing upwards, halfway from the bottom. The "Burj Arab" or the "Burj Tower" will cost approximately $900 million in it's construction. Sheikh Muhammad al-Maktoum says: "I like a challenge. If I see something impossible, I want to make it possible." An over-ambitious, yet seemingly achievable vision of the Sheikh is surely and steadily materializing.

Click here for more information.

King Fahd - Tribute

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia was pronounced dead on the 2nd of August, 2005. He was aged 83 and had been ruling the Kingdom for nearly 23 years. His eldest son, crown prince Abdullah will replace him as the new king. It is now up to King Abdullah to determine what course of action he must take in order to restore order in a nation that is slowly, but steadily showing signs of internal rebellion. For nearly a decade now, the average Saudi has been discontent with the state of affairs of the nation.

Many Saudis view the ambivalent relationship between King Fahd and the Bush family with suspicion, but most chose to remain silent. However, that has changed drastically over the past year or two. There have been regular incidents of terrorism within the kingdom and there have been widespread rumors that religious clerics around the country are preaching hatred against the ruling family. King Abdullah will have to take swift measures in terms of economic, domestic and foreign policies in order to gain the trust of his own people as well as leaders of other countries.

Change of moods - Humor

Here's a joke to stir things up a bit. The decorum around here has been marred with somberness and argumentations. Let's share a laugh together and make this place a better place. Enjoy!

An Illinois man left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail. Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter in the address, and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

Your Loving Husband,
P.S. Sure is hot down here.

Ignorance is bliss - Talking point.

This lady, callieischatty posted a contentious issue on her topic regarding racial profiling. I happened to trip over her blog and I found the most preposterous and offensive idea I've ever heard. Take a look at this:

I don't think people should be held without charges but to search someone with the name Mohammed who is 25 before they get on a plane or a train may save lives someday and is a small thing in terms of overall civil liberties.


Searching people named Mohammad may save lives? I would tear this lady's words apart if only I had any aspirations of weeding out ignorance from this world. Unfortunately, through experience and the wisdom of others, it is nearly impossible to completely abolish shallow thinking. That is why, I've simply written two tiny little paragraphs bashing her uneducated opinion. It's not the best response, but when I read this lady's comments, I was in total shock and couldn't respond by anything better than:

"Are you freaking serious about frisking men who's names are Mohammad?"

Anyway, here's the rest of my rhetoric:

"I've heard ignorant remarks before, but this is way out of hand. What about people who are not named Mohammad and have fundamentalistic ideologies? You think it's ok to let those people go and search every person by the name of Mohammad? How about people whose names are Ahmed or Mahmood or Mehmet or Mahomet? After all, they're all variations of the same name. The name of a noble and pious person whose mission in life was to spread love, peace and mercy in the hearts of all mankind. Lady, you need exposure. Perhaps you need to leave your town and meet other people and maybe... just maybe it'll help enlighten your ignorant mentality.

How does one's name reflect their ideologies? According to your logic, Muslim countries should search every passenger by the name of George, and Donald, John, Condoleezza and Paul! It sounds ridiculous now doesn't it? I think American high schools need a stronger foundation so that this huge aura of ignorance is eliminated."

Shaima's blog contains a lovely rebuttal to callie's comments and I just hope to add a few of my own opinions about the topic. If the lady responds, I'm going to write a much more thought out answer rather than throwing a fit.

Pakistani Women - Talking Point

One of the forums that I visit frequently had a thread where people were discussing about whether Pakistani women could ever participate in an episode of 'Fear Factor'. Most of the guys talked about how Pakistani women are scared and incompetent and how they would never be able to stand up to the challenge. As someone who admires the hard working Pakistani women, I had to stand up against these false accusations. I'm putting it up here so that other people can get a chance to read it too.

"Man... some of the people here are turning this post in to an anti-female thread. That's not cool. Pakistani girls are not dumb and they're not flirts. On the contrary, Pakistani girls are not only intelligent but most importantly, conservative and feminine, unlike girls from other nations. Our girls are beautiful mashallah, smart, have the craving for education (although some Pakistani men are opposed to the idea of allowing women to progress, afraid that they may overtake men) and highly progressive. I am opposed to the idea of displaying half-naked women on television, but as far as educating them and allowing them out in to the real world is concerned, I believe they should have an equal opportunity. Pakistani girls have been brought up by backward thinking men who never allow their girls to fully develop their talents. Fear factor is a stupid show. Have you guys ever watched it carefully and realized what in the world they're showing to the rest of the world?

They're showing people swallowing the most degenerate insects, worms, animal genitals and God knows what else. Women are forced in to wearing skimpy shorts and tank tops so that their bodies are wholesomely displayed for those perverted and desperate guys who watch the show for the ladies and not the stunts. A Pakistani woman would never disgrace herself by displaying her body in front of millions of people or gulp down a repulsive 'smoothie' composed of insects and maggots. Pakistani women have integrity, grace and loving hearts. Even if their husbands or fathers were indifferent to what they did in their personal lives, they would never lower themselves down to the level of the females that participate in Fear Factor. I personally believe this show simply aids in decreasing one's intellectual capacity and is nothing more than just another jazzy show that helps reduce the somberness in the lives of an average, working class American who wants to kill time from when he steps in to his apartment till when he goes to bed. Sorry, but I had to speak my heart out."

Coach Carter - Movie Review

When I first saw this movie on the shelves of 'Blockbuster', (a video rental store, for those who are unfamiliar with the place) I thought I'd be wasting my money on yet another movie depicting the role of one progressive man who changes the lives of his team. Last Saturday my room mate went to return the movies we rented previously (Constantine and Head of State) and rent new a new one and picked up Coach Carter. I have to say that even thought the movie turned out to be exactly as I had imagined, it was possibly one of the most awe-inspiring movies I've seen in recent times. Samuel Jackson (Kim Carter) plays the role of a retail store owner who once graduated from Richmond high. He has returned to the school to take up the challenge of trimming and coaching an extremely undisciplined, yet talented - Richmond high basketball team. As expected, he faces verbal abuse as soon as he steps in, but he manages to get them under control in no time. The entire movie shows how coach Carter turns a handful of unruly, academically unsound teenagers in to educated, and athletic young men. I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone.

Memorable movie quote:

Coach Ken Carter: What is your deepest fear?

Timo Cruz (Basketball player on the Richmond High team): Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

OMG WTF LOL - Webtalk

Ever wondered what in the world kids today are talking about when they use words like: "TTYL" and "LMAO" and "IMO"? Well if you're trying to figure out what that little 13 year old brat said to you in the chat room, then look no further. Here's an entire Uber-dictionary of words 'dat' people use while chatting over 'da' internet.

Like OMG!

It burns! It burns! - Talking Point

Guess what Mr. Raza accomplished today? I was smoking some mango flavored hookah on a hot, 'Sunny California' afternoon, watching an episode of the ever-riveting Simpsons while sipping on some tea: a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I was half-way in to Euphoria when my friend walked in and I offered him the hookah. A BIG mistake. While I was handing him the pipe, I inadvertently tipped the hookah and it landed right on me. That wasn't the bad part. The little pieces of coal on top of the hookah shattered (It's a special kind of coal that breaks up easily) fell straight on to my left foot, my right hand wrist, my left hand index finger and thumb. 'Ouch' would be an understatement.

I'm all bandaged up now but thankfully the agonizing stinging has gone. What a day this has turned out to be. It started off with me on my way to achieving 'Nirvana' on the 'Light vehicle' as the Bhuddists call it and ended up with me taking a wrong turn and ending up in the burning flames of hell. Like all men I didn't stop and ask for directions and ended up in a pit somewhere. Figure that.

Bombay battered by heavy rains - News

I apologize for this news update since it's coming a little too late. Moving on to the real story, Bombay's (Mumbhai) busy life was on moratorium after heavy rain obliterated a huge portion of the metropolitan's communications network, apart from the death and destruction. People have been using hand made rafts and boats to travel , however, the situation is gradually improving. People have started to return to their normal lives after all, Bombay is almost a twin sister to New York, in other words, a city that 'hardly' sleeps.

Relatives of the victims mourn
the loss of their loved ones

Image Source: Houston Chronicle

The Bombay stock exchange received a deafening blow after thousands of people were displaced from their homes and a little under feared dead. Reports indicate that there may have been close to 37 inches of rain in one day - passing the previous record of 33 inches that Bombay received in 1910. Further information is available at:

SFgate

Astronomers discover 10th planet - Space

Astronomers in the US claim to have detected the presence of a 10th planetary object within our solar system. It has been named: "2003UB313" at the moment, but a more appropriate name will be assigned to it once more information about this mysterious planet is revealed. It is said to be about 97 times farther than the distance between the sun and the earth. It was first photographed in 2003 but not enough evidence was available at the time to suggest that another object larger than Pluto existed within our own solar system. For more information, please click on the link below:

More Information...

Pakistan Day @ LA - Local Events

Pakistan Zindabad, Pakistan Paindabad!
It's here again, and it's going to be much bigger and louder this time around! Yes, it's the Pakistan Day festival once again at USC on the 6th of August. But it doesn't end there; Junoon will be performing live in front of an expected audience of over 30,000+ for over 2 hours. You thought that was it? Well, you were wrong again. Ali Azmat will then be performing live from his new solo album, 'Social Circus'! You're probably jumping out of your seat right now at the thought of watching Junoon performing live, aren't you? It's not over yet. They say All Good Things Come in Pairs. I disagree. I say All Good Things come in a bunch! The Junoon concert is FREE! Yes, it's absolutely free, just as the rest of the event! Now isn't that something? The location that was chosen for this mega-event is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum across the street from USC. For more information, visit the official website for the event:

Pakistan Day official website

Just for laughs - Humor

Useless Disclaimer: The following passage contains explicit humor and may be offensive to some people. It may also not be suitable for all ages, races and even followers of certain religious ideologies and/or cults.

Two immigrants, new to America, are wandering around on their first day off the boat in New York City, seeing the sights. Pretty soon they realize it's time for lunch and they're hungry from walking around all morning. They see a street vendor selling hotdogs.

The first immigrant says, "I can't believe it! They eat dogs in America."
The second immigrant, although equally shocked, replies, "Well, we're going to be Americans now, so we have to behave like Americans and eat like Americans."

They approach the vendor and bravely order two hotdogs. The vendor hands them their meals in paper sacks. They find a park bench nearby where they sit down to eat their first American meal. The first immigrant looks inside his sack. Closing it quickly, he turns to his friend in shock and asks:

"Uh, which part of the dog did YOU get?"

Ashes 2005 Report - Sports

Well well, it's that time of the year and Australia have taken the long trip all the way to England to compete in one of cricket's most celebrated, yet most intense rivalries of all times. England have put together a formidable team to face the mighty Australians, unlike the past. Before we get to the actual series, let us discuss a little bit about the Natwest series which preceded the commencement of the much awaited Ashes.

The Natwest series pitched three international teams against each other, namely: England, Australia and Bangladesh. Most people were dumbfounded as to why Bangladesh had been selected to play against two of the world's strongest sides however, their skepticism was soon proven wrong when minnows, Bangladesh comprehensively chased a respectable total of 249 by 5 wickets. Mohammad Ashraful, the stylish and extremely talented Bangladeshi youngester smashed 100 off 118 deliveries, sending a shock wave within the Australian dressing room. This was a deafening blow to the Australians adding to their woes from their defeat at the hands of the English county team, Somerset and their prior defeat to England in a Twenty20 match.

Soon after, Australia were once again beaten by a young and powered up English side. This defeat finally woke up the Australians who then went on to win every match thereafter, apart from the final which ended up in a tie against England. The two teams shared the trophy and even though it seemed like the Australians had returned to their habitual ways of expecting nothing less than a victory, the English had put up a strong show; this finally made the Australians realize that the English were in no mood for complacency.

The series may have ended in a tie, but England emerged as the moral victors, having chased a target of 196 and scoring two runs off the last over to secure a draw; just when everyone thought Australia had all but sealed the series at the home of cricket, the Lord's cricket stadium. The Natwest series came to an end and both Australia and England had a considerable amount of time to prepare for the upcoming Ashes 2005.

Test cricket is an entirely different ball game, in comparison to One Day cricket. Test cricket is the most holistic form of game amongst all versions of the sport. It draws out every aspect and talent of a true cricketer while testing their endurance over a period of five whole days. Of course, the game does not necessarily stretch that long at times, as was witnessed in the 1st test of the Ashes 2005 cup. The match ended on the fourth day when England were set a mammoth target of 420 by the ever-resilient Australians, which was always a tad bit too difficult to achieve against the powerful Australian bowling line-up.

Ricky Ponting was fortunate enough to win the toss and consequently elect to bat on a pitch that seemed to degrade later on during the course of the match. The Australians started off steadily with Justin Langer scoring the team's highest score at 40. Matthew Hayden scored a disappointing 12 off 38 balls when he was emphatically bowled by a marvelous outswinger by Hoggard. Ricky Ponting and the rest of his batsmen failed to contribute with the willow, ending their first innings at a measly 190, giving England the perfect opportunity to build a huge total which would be unachievable in days to follow.


Vaughan - Failed to to make
an impression with his
batting or his captaincy

Image courtesy: Telegraph.co.uk
England got off to a dreadful start when they lost Trescothick to a magnificent delivery from Glenn McGrath which turned away from the batsman at the last moment to produce an outside edge in to the safe hands of Shane Warne. This wicket also marked McGrath's staggering 500th test wicket, only the fourth man to accomplish such a monumental feat after team mate Shane Warne, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and former West Indies captain and pace bowler, Courtney Walsh. From that point on the England batting line-up was completely dominated by some ferocious pace bowling from McGrath and Lee, and as always, Warne working up his magic to reduce the English side to a humble 155.


McGrath - Getting better
with age

Image courtesy: BBC
Australia had to capitalize on the second chance that came their way and recuperate from their first innings downfall by amassing a respectable total. The Australians bounced back by scoring 384 before being bowled out by a fired up English bowling attack. There were all round contributions from the Australian batting order with Ponting, Hayden, Clarke and Katich scoring 42, 65, 91 and 67 respectively. The English were set a massive total of 420 with two entire days remaining; the perfect opportunity to turn the game around. As always however, the Australians did not go in to the field to beat the English by time or watch the match culminate in a tie. England started off very wellTrescothick and Strauss playing some flamboyant strokes around the ground, placing themselves in a comfortable position, in terms of morale and scoring rate. The two batsmen were well on course and they didn't seem to falter the least bit initially, but Lee and Warne had other ideas. Lee removed Strauss seizing a brilliant caught and bowled opportunity while Warne got rid of Trescothick who was beginning to look dangerous.


Warne troubled the English
batsmen with his magical spin

Image Courtesy: BBC
Warne and Lee sent the two incoming batsmen back in to the pavilion soon afterwards with Vaughan being left dumbfounded by a lightening fast delivery from Lee. The only resistance from the miserable English batting side in either innings came from Test debutant, Kevin Pietersen. The selection committee's gamble of selecting between Thorpe, a veteran of 100 Tests and Pietersen paid off. Pietersen scored a patient 57 off 148 balls in the first innings and 64 not out in the second innings, a valiant effort from a youngster who was new to the Test arena and when the rest of the team was in simple words, crumbling down at the other end.


Pietersen - A brave Knight amongst
the trembled peasants

Image Courtesty: Sportinglife.com
The English side ended their innings at a pathetic 180, suffering a heavy defeat by 239 runs at not only their home ground, but the home of cricket. All is not lost as England will play four more Tests against an extremely determined Australian side in the forthcoming days. The next Test beings Edgbaston on the 4th of August. For a listing of the Ashes schedule, please follow the link below:

'Australia in England' Schedule and results

Hydrogen Powered Airplane - Technology

The Global Observer
Image Courtesy: BBC

A California based company - AeroVironment has announced the successful flight of the world's first ever hydrogen powered airplane which marks a huge leap in the advancement of the airline industry. This innovation if ever feasible, will facilitate in providing a major boost to the aviation industry. The airplane is named the 'Global Observer', which has a wingspan of over 15m in length and carries fuel cells loaded with liquid hydrogen. The hydrogen in the fuel tanks combine with the oxygen in the air to produce electrical energy which in turns powers the propellers. Full story...

Resurrected dogs - Science

You guessed it. Scientists at Boffins labs have been brewing up something mind-blowing, and it shows in their latest scientific achievement. They have recently brought back clinically dead dogs. The process sounds very simple. First, once the dog has been pronounced clinically - mind you, not completely dead, as in where the central nervous system stops responding. According to Wikipedia, the definition of 'Clinical death' is as follows:

Clinical death is usually defined as the medical state in which it is impossible to revive a person with any technology at medicine's disposal, in essence the complete and irreversible cessation of all body functions. Despite the fact that the body continues to live in cases of brain death, it is also seen as a valid definition of clinical death by almost all medical establishments.

In relation to emergency medical care, clinical death occurs when the patient's heartbeat and breathing have stopped. The reversal of this state is possible through CPR and other treatments.

Secondly, the dog's blood is flushed out of it's body and replaced with a saline solution maintained at a few degress above zero point. This process forces the dog's body temperature to fall to a mere 7 degrees celcius compared to the normal 37 degrees. The major organs and tissues are preserved, even though the animal is clinically dead. Their bodies are then pumped up with their blood once again, and bringing back the heartbeat via electric shocks. It all sounds too simple to be true, but science has advanced so far that anything that we may consider unlikely is likely to be in the news in a couple of years, and sometimes even months.

Scientists believe they can bring back
humans to life within a few years.

Image courtesy: News.com
The entire story is available at News.com:

News.com

Cricket 2005 - Gaming

Well well... the long awaited cricket 2005 has hit the shelves and is up for sale. Although, I would HIGHLY recommend against spending your money on such a futile venture. Not to discredit the hard work and money that EA has put in to it, but the difficulty level of the game is way beyond one's expectations. The game seems to have three levels of difficulty which I discovered only after I had considerably improved my the timing of my cover drives and straight drives. What makes this game so difficult is that there is no real tutorial included in the game that would help you understand the various kinds of strokes a batsman can play. Of course, it does come with a "nets practice" mode, but even there one must learn the nitty gritties of the game by oneself.

Overall, the graphics, the vareity of shots that are available at the batsman's disposal, the different field settings, the option to switch between auto and manual fielding, the availability of even the most unrecognized domestic teams and the option to create/modify players, the option to play first class, domestic, international, and even Twenty20; deserves full credit. Apart from that, the actual gameplay is fairly difficult to pick up, especially for a novice cricket gamer. I suggest downloading the demo and tryinig it out first before actually purchasing the game. The demo is available at:

http://www.3dgamers.com/games/cricket2005/downloads/

The offical website for Cricket 2005 is:

http://www.eaplay.com/australia/games/pc/cricket/cricket2005/

I've posted a a couple of screenshots from the game at the end of this message.

Enjoy!

An orthodox front foot cover drive


An elegant back foot cover drive

Updates! - Site News

Well folks, I apologize for not having updated this place in a while. It's mostly due to one reason, namely: Laziness. It's the most prominent attribute in my personality. Anyway, look out for some updates coming your way because I have a few interesting things that I'd like to share with everyone. So grab your hookah and tea and read on!