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General General Cricket Thread

ghazi

Bedingham fuses old-school mettle with new-age urgency​

It was an innings that oozed class, and showed that even if South Africa hadn't fielded a makeshift squad, Bedingham would have been right in there

Firdose Moonda
15-Feb-2024

Perhaps the only one in South Africa's squad in New Zealand, but most definitely one.
And he showed it with his first Test century in his fourth match; the only hundred of the Hamilton Test so far and a knock that oozed class, confidence and a combination of old-fashioned temperament and new-age urgency. It was an innings that confirmed that even if South Africa were not forced to send a makeshift squad on this trip, Bedingham would have been in the touring party.

With a decade-long professional career and a first-class average that sits a shave under 50, you may even wonder why you haven't seen Bedingham sooner. The answer is because he wasn't always sure he wanted to play for South Africa.


Bedingham left the domestic system four years ago to take up a deal with Durham - playing as a local on an ancestral visa and flirted with the possibility of qualifying for England.
He has since changed his mind, and though he will continue to try and get a British passport for post-career opportunities, he has committed his international playing future to South Africa's Test team. He even chose not to put his name in the SA20 draft - and because he is not nationally contracted, he had no obligation to - so that he could work on securing a Test spot. Now, he can consider that done.

In a line-up where the top order - all debutants last week - has been exposed against high-quality swing, seam and pace in New Zealand, Bedingham has had to come in tricky positions in each of his four innings. In the first Test, South Africa were 30 for 3 and 68 for 3 and he made 32 and 87. In the second Test, they were 63 for 3 and 39 for 3. The most precarious of those situations was the latest, where they had a lead of only 70, more than half the Test still to play, and South Africa desperate to set New Zealand a decent target.

He was greeted with a delivery from Will O'Rourke that reared off the surface and that he just managed to fend off with his gloves. In O'Rourke's next over, Bedingham responded with a crack through the covers off a short, wide ball. And so began the cat and mouse game between the two most impressive players on the day, who only had praise for each other at its conclusion.

For Bedingham, the challenge was adjusting to O'Rourke's high release point and the movement he was getting. "He definitely presented a different challenge," he said afterwards. "I don't think I have faced [Morne] Morkel before but it felt like that. He bowled with great energy the whole day and got the ball to move back. He looks very, very good."

"I don't want to look back at not throwing my name in the draft. I just hope this innings can win us a game and draw the series. I am not looking at the SA20"
David Bedingham
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For O'Rourke, it was about keeping his lines tight and trying to bowl fuller because of Bedingham's strong ability to score runs square of the wicket. "He batted really well on a slower-ish deck. He punches through the off side really well. If you give him any width, he seems to latch on to that," O'Rourke said. "We tried to attack with some short stuff for a little bit and he played that pretty well too, so we just went back to keeping it simple."

For now, Bedingham has won the battle. His proactive approach meant that unlike someone like Zubayr Hamza, who faced 63 balls for his 17 runs, Bedingham was always looking to score. "The way that I play is a positive brand," he said. "When they had attacking fields there is always the opportunity to score. I kind of tried to score and I am thankful and lucky enough that it worked."

He targeted Rachin Ravindra, taking 31 runs off the 32 balls he faced from him, and Neil Wagner, who bowled 25 balls to him and conceded as many runs. His overall strike rate was 78.01, and he had a foil in Keegan Petersen, who played a patient role at the other end but may still be wondering if 43 is enough to buy him any more time in the Test side. Petersen was dropped twice in two seasons and has struggled to kick on since his Player-of-the-Series performance against India two summers ago.

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[🇵🇰] No Khan do: With the favorite in jail and violence rising, Pakistan’s elections look like a problem not the solution

O
National polls held last week resulted in no party securing a clear majority. However, forming a government is not the key challenge.
By Gleb Makarevich, Deputy Head of Centre for the Indian Ocean Region Studies, IMEMO RAS

As early as August 2023 (in fact, even before that), it became apparent that the leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government were not planning to give up power easily and give it to supporters of Imran Khan, arguably the most popular politician in the country. Khan was ousted as prime minister after losing a vote of no confidence in April 2022 that, he then alleged, had been plotted by a US-led foreign conspiracy that also involved Pakistan’s powerful military.
It was the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) that was particularly reluctant to share power with Imran Khan’s party and was waiting for PML-N’s leader, Nawaz Sharif, to return from London and launch his campaign to become prime minister for the fourth time. Imran Khan’s sharp-tongued supporters labeled all initiatives coming from the PML-N as the ‘London Plan’, believing, justifiably, that these were developed in coordination with the military elite. Read more here.
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[🇵🇰] Federal cabinet may comprise 25 members in 1st phase

ghazi

Federal cabinet may comprise 25 members in 1st phase​

MQM-P likely to be given five ministries in Shehbaz’s cabinet

Our Correspondent
February 14, 2024

Following the recently-concluded general elections, discussions on the composition of the new federal cabinet are underway, with the possibility of a 25-member cabinet in its initial phase.

The PML-N leadership, comprising Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, engaged in a crucial meeting to review the party's interactions with various allies and considered the names of potential cabinet members, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif briefed his elder brother on the party's alliances and deliberated on potential candidates for the federal cabinet. In the first phase, the cabinet is expected to have 25 members, with MQM-P likely to secure three to five ministries.

Leaders from MQM-P, including Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Farooq Sattar, Mustafa Kamal, Aminul Haque, and Khawaja Izharul Hasan, are being considered for key positions within the federal cabinet, according to PML-N sources.

PML-N has shortlisted 15 senior leaders for ministerial roles, including Ishaq Dar, Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Riazul Haq Juj, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Qamarul Islam Raja, and Rana Tanveer Hussain.

Awn Chaudry from the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) is expected to be appointed as the special assistant to the prime minister.

In earlier reports, the PML-N outlined an initial power-sharing formula for the upcoming federal government. The formula suggests that if the coalition agrees to appoint a PML-N candidate as the prime minister, the positions of president and speaker would go to the PPP.

On Tuesday, Shehbaz emerged as a leading contender for the premiership, garnering support from former coalition partners, including PPP, MQM-P, PML-Q, BAP, and IPP. Nawaz Sharif strategically nominated his younger brother for the premiership and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, for the role of Punjab chief minister.

A joint news conference held in Islamabad featured prominent political figures, including Shehbaz, Asif Ali Zardari from PPP, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui from MQM-P, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain from PML-Q, Sadiq Sanjrani (representing BAP), and Aleem Khan from IPP. They expressed unequivocal support for Shehbaz and pledged to address the country's challenges collaboratively in a coalition government.

While the details of the power-sharing formula remain undisclosed, the conference hinted at Zardari's potential candidacy for the presidency in the near future.
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Americas' Apple fans are starting to return their Vision Pros

O
Comfort, headache, and eye strain are among the top reasons people say they’re returning their Vision Pro headsets.
It’s no coincidence that there’s been an uptick on social media of Vision Pro owners saying they’re returning their $3,500 headsets in the past few days. Apple allows you to return any product within 14 days of purchase — and for the first wave of Vision Pro buyers, we’re right about that point.
Comfort is among the most cited reasons for returns. People have said the headset gives them headaches and triggers motion sickness. The weight of the device and the fact that most of it is front-loaded has been another complaint. The Verge’s product manager, Parker Ortolani, thought using the device led to a burst blood vessel in his eye. At least one other person noted they had a similar experience with redness. (To be fair, VR headset users have anecdotally reported dry eyes and redness for years.)
“Despite being as magical to use as I’d hoped, it was simply way too uncomfortable to wear even for short periods due to the weight and the strap designs. I wanted to use it but dreaded putting it on,” says Ortolani, who also posted about returning the device.
“It’s just too expensive and unwieldy even to try to get used to the constant headaches and eye strain I was experiencing. I’ll be back for the next one.”
This isn’t surprising. Every human body is unique, a problem when scaling wearable production for the mass market. Comfort is inevitably sacrificed — and it affects people disproportionately. With smartwatches, it often boils down to the size and weight of the case compared to your wrist. With bright rings, it’s the size of your finger. Many people are unfortunately between sizes or have issues with finger swelling. For smart glasses and headsets, having a low nose bridge can mean the device slips off your face or fails to block out light adequately.
But the hardware isn’t the only issue. Another common complaint is the Vision Pro doesn’t offer enough productivity relative to the price. One user noted on Threads that looking at Figma screens made them feel dizzy but that the device also didn’t apply to their work. Another engineer wrote on the social media platform X that the “coding experience failed to convince [him]” and focusing issues caused headaches.
“If I’m not using this for productivity, and if I don’t love it for entertainment, and if there aren’t enough games to play on it - I just can’t justify keeping it,” one Reddit user wrote.
For Carter Gibson, a senior manager working on community management and moderation at Google, it’s the finer details. Things like futzing around with Windows and file management are productivity deal-breakers. “It’s difficult to multitask between ‘windows,’” Gibson told me in an exchange on Threads. “Several file types simply aren’t supported on the Vision Pro. I also can’t see how creating a slide in the VP would be less energy than doing so with w/a mouse and keyboard — even if it does feel like you’re in Minority Report.”
It’s hard to say how this vocal subset of early adopters will impact Vision Pro in the future. Many folks who said they’d be returning the device also noted they’d be eager to try a second-gen Vision Pro. Others emphasized that the tech wasn’t the issue at hand so much as the lack of a killer app or comfort. It’s also hard to say how widespread of a phenomenon this is. While these users are speaking out on social media, we have no idea of the actual return rate or Apple’s internal expectations for the Vision Pro.
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[🇺🇸] The US military is embedded in the gaming world. Its target: teen recruits

O
Amid a recruitment struggle, branches are using massive hits like Fortnite as marketing tools. Some veterans see the practice as unethical – especially given the age of the gaming audience.
Since 2018, the US military has been ramping up its use of gaming to recruit more people at a critical time when the US armed forces face the worst recruitment struggle since becoming an all-volunteer force after the Vietnam War. Targeting gamers makes sense from the military’s perspective, as it gives them access to the young, tech-savvy population they want to join. But some veterans told me that marketing the military with video games – essentially making a game out of war – is unethical.
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[🇵🇰] How bad is country’s debt crisis and can the IMF save it?

ghazi

How bad is country’s debt crisis and can the IMF save it?​

A $3b IMF programme runs out next month, securing a new one is considered top priority for incoming administration

Reuters
February 14, 2024

the international monetary fund imf logo is seen outside the headquarters building in washington us september 4 2018 photo reuters


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US, September 4, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS


LONDON: Negotiations on a new government in Pakistan have allayed immediate fears of instability in the nuclear-armed nation following inconclusive elections last week, but the risk of a full-scale economic crisis remains.

A $3 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) runs out next month and securing a new and much bigger one is widely seen as the priority for the new administration.

Who could the IMF negotiate with?

The largest party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), secured support on Tuesday from the second biggest, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and is trying to persuade it to form a majority coalition. The caretaker government in place since August is implementing the IMF loan programme which helped to avert a sovereign debt default when it was approved in July.

Recent legislation allows it to make decisions on economic matters in the South Asian country as well as overseeing the election. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the prospects for a new IMF deal.

How bad is the economic situation?

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves stand at roughly $8 billion which barely covers two months of essential imports although it is an improvement from the $3.1 billion they were down to just over a year ago.

A $1 billion bond payment in two months' time will cut them further although the country is getting a $700 mln injection of already-approved IMF money too.

"It is imperative (to get into another IMF programme), given that Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are abysmally low compared to its large impending external debt repayment needs. Former deputy central bank governor Murtaza Syed said. "There is no alternative".

How much debt is there?

Pakistan's debt-to-GDP ratio is already above 70% and the IMF and credit ratings agencies estimate that the interest payments on its debt will soak up 50% and 60% of the government's revenues this year. That is the worst ratio of any sizable economy in the world.

Analyst firm Tellimer says the country's problem is primarily domestic debt, which comprises around 60% of its debt stock and 85% of its interest burden.

Pakistan's external debt stock - denominated largely in dollars - is also heavily skewed towards bilateral and multilateral creditors, which comprise roughly 85% of the total.

Bonded debt comprises just 8% of the external debt stock and 3.4% of its total public debt. That is dwarfed by the near 13% of total debt that it owes to China which has lent to Pakistan money over the years for infrastructure projects and for other types of spending.

How is it affecting the population?

A combination of tax and gas tariff hikes and a steep fall in the rupee currency have pushed inflation up to nearly 30% year-on-year. It is expected to come down later in the year but will stay well above the central bank's 5-7% target for some time, economists forecast.

The rupee is expected to fall further too. For context, the implied exchange rate underlying the latest IMF staff report is Rs305 to the dollar for this fiscal year and 331 per dollar in FY 24/25, levels which are roughly 8% and 15% weaker than the current exchange rate.
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[🇵🇰-Navy] Keel laying ceremony of Second Hangor Class Submarine held at Karachi Shipyard

ghazi
Keel laying ceremony of Second Hangor Class Submarine held at Karachi Shipyard

The keel Laying Ceremony of the second HANGOR Class Submarine was held at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW). Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf graced the occasion as Chief Guest.

As per the defense agreement between Pakistan and China for the development of 08 x HANGOR Class Submarines, 04 submarines are under construction at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry in China whereas the remaining 04 are being built at KS&EW under the Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement.

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[🇵🇰] JI turns down PTI’s offer to form coalition govt in KP

ghazi

JI turns down PTI’s offer to form coalition govt in KP​

Dawn.com
February 14, 2024

The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Wednesday turned down the PTI’s offer to form a coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), linking its decision to the PTI limiting its alliance to just provincial level.

The statement from JI’s Central Naib Emir Liaqat Baloch comes a day after the PTI announced to form a coalition in Centre and Punjab with the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) and align with the JI in the KP.

“He (Imran) has approved [of a coalition] with two parties. We will form a coalition with the MWM in the Centre and Punjab and a coalition with the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) in KP for the reserved seats. These are his decisions and we will implement them, we have already begun work on them,” PTI’s Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan had said.

In a social media post today, JI’s Baloch said his party had held a meeting with the PTI after the Feb 8 elections for a consensus on the way forward.

He said the JI had communicated its displeasure at the poll results but welcomed the PTI-backed MNAs who won through the public’s mandate.

Baloch said the JI had also extended its unconditional cooperation with these MNAs in terms of party, constitutional and parliamentary protection.

“The PTI welcomed it but in the last stage conveyed the message that they only wanted a coalition for the government in KP,” the JI leader said.

“JI has decided that coalition with PTI at the national level would be in the national interest, but if the PTI has changed its position, then they can settle their affairs with whoever they want in KP,” Baloch added.

Earlier in the day, JI spokesperson Qaiser Sharif claimed that the PTI had “changed its stance” on their plan regarding cooperation in the upcoming government.

Sharif said that both parties had agreed to “cooperate at national level in the national interest”.

“They can settle their affairs in KP with whoever they wish. JI would be glad,” he added.
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[🇷🇺] Russia wins first-ever drone war

O

Russia wins first-ever drone war​

by
Kirill Strelnikov

The special military operation in Ukraine will inevitably go down in history as the first large-scale, high-tech military conflict that will forever change the military doctrines of all the world's leading powers.
The centuries-old strategy of land grabbing has turned before our eyes into a fierce competition for dominance of the skies over the battlefield – a historic turning point for all leading experts.
The first-ever large-scale use of drones in Ukraine already allows us to draw several important conclusions.
Conclusion one. The battlefield becomes "transparent" — with the existing density of drones per square kilometer, it is impossible to covertly accumulate reserves at a certain point and perform an unexpected maneuver, for example, a mass attack. We saw examples of this during the failed counteroffensive MAT in the summer of 2023, when the Russian Armed Forces, working proactively, smashed and destroyed the concentrating enemy forces.
Conclusion two. The speed of decision-making has increased by an order of magnitude. According to some reports, the chain of "target detection – decision to hit – target engagement" now does not exceed one or two minutes, and this time is decreasing. This means that the decades-old algorithms for the passage of information and the final receipt of a combat order are not only outdated but directly play into the hands of the enemy, which highlights the need for urgent updating and democratization of decision-making algorithms by commanders in the field and the transfer of decision-making authority down to a single soldier.
Conclusion three. Drones have democratized warfare. This means that the operator of a combat drone can be any person - not only a combat service member but also a volunteer and a civilian. This also means that drone operators can no longer be in the trenches but can effectively carry out combat missions tens of kilometers from the front line.
Conclusion four. Drones can neutralize numerical and fire superiority. Simple in design and control, cheap drones are ideal for "bartering," where a drone worth a thousand dollars can hit a target worth several tens of millions of dollars.
Conclusion five. Drones minimize their losses and increase those of others. As already mentioned, the drone operator can often be far away and in relative safety, while his "pet" brings death and destruction. According to some sources, at the moment, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Russian Armed Forces (people and equipment) are already 75 percent on the conscience of drones.
Ukraine began to prepare for a "drone war" with Russia in advance and had an advantage in this area in the initial period of the conflict. But, according to Western sources, since November 2023, the number of Russian drone strikes on enemy troops has exceeded the corresponding figures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Learning quickly from its own mistakes and individual successes of the enemy (and there is nothing shameful for us in this), the Russian army, with the help of the rear, builds up its heavenly army every day. According to the head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, a serial (and mass) line of all types of drones- from ultra-small to heavy attack drones- is now being formed at an accelerated pace. A few days ago, the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, At the World Defense Show, said that Russia plans to allocate one hundred billion rubles for the development and production of UAVs in the next three years, which means new "hundreds of thousands" of FPV drones and "tens of thousands" of heavy drones in our troops.
In the second half of 2024, serial production of S-70 Okhotnik heavy attack drones will begin in the Novosibirsk region. This year, "Rostec" plans to include miniature drones produced by the Kalashnikov concern in the fighters' equipment. Improvements are being made to the characteristics and the circulation of the legendary Lancets, which have most of the military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on their account, and it is increasing. In Tatarstan, a plant has been constructed where six thousand Geran-2 drones will be produced, which is already causing panic both in Kyiv and the West. According to Yuriy Ihnat, a representative of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our drone is phenomenally tenacious, even if it has been hit dozens of times: "Even if it is like a sieve, it still flies further to the target, and that's it."
The moment of the final transfer of the initiative on drones to the Russian Armed Forces was outlined in January of this year, when, according to the reports of the Ukrainian command, in just a few weeks, the number of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit by Russian drones increased by 30 percent.
Immediately after that, the venerable Western publication Foreign Affairs published a panicked article titled "Ukraine is losing the drone war: how Kyiv can reduce the technological gap with Russia." The article's author is the former head of Google, Eric Schmidt, who now heads the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP). This think tank provides the government with United States consulting services on artificial intelligence and new technologies.
Schmidt writes: "Russia has not only bypassed Ukraine in the production of drones, producing about a hundred thousand units per month, but also has drones that have no analogs in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian startups and businesses are working around the clock to produce drones that can counter Russian electronic warfare. Nevertheless, even though the West provides Ukraine maximum opportunities in this area, the collective West is years behind Russia."
Schmidt's words are confirmed by Newsweek, PBS, and ABC, which claim that the Russian Armed Forces shoot down and suppress about ten thousand Ukrainian drones per month.
Although Russia has apparently overcome the diseases of drone growth and firmly seized the initiative, it is too early — and generally unacceptable — to relax.
Clinging to unmanned straws, the Kyiv regime has announced the "Drone Army" program, under which a million-strong unmanned air fleet should soon move against Russia. The UK said it would transfer "the largest batch of drones in history" to Ukraine. Zelensky issued a decree to create a separate branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - the Unmanned Systems Forces. The desire of our enemies to compensate with drones for our overwhelming advantage in artillery and missiles cannot be underestimated. At the beginning of last year, there were only seven local drone manufacturers in Ukraine; today, there are at least eighty.
Vladimir Putin clearly and unequivocally stated that our army (and the rear) needs to respond quickly and adequately to the ongoing changes. And this fully applies to military pilotlessness, where armies of foam drones can stop and destroy the enemy's armored armadas.
Our military, engineers, scientists, and manufacturers understand this well, which means that our victory in the skies will also represent a final and irrevocable victory on Earth.
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