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A Pakistani player has reportedly accused an English counterpart of doing dirty things to a cricket ball. To some this comes as a surprise and an outrage. To those who know England-Pakistan cricketing relations, a little niggle like this is but a drop in the ocean. Indeed, compared to previous England-Pakistan contests, the summers England-India contest was a love-in. The series was as rancorous as a dispute in an all-boys boarding school; tiffs over Vaseline were as sticky as it got.For this reason I already anticipate with venomous glee the forthcoming series this winter. England versus Pakistan has often gone the same way as recent clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The sport itself seems incidental. The dry pancake pitches of the Middle East dont promise particularly tasty cricket, but with England and Pakistan theres always enough masala off and around the pitch to spice up the play. Other series are kormas and bhunas and jalfrezis; this one is the vindaloo with the warning attached.Relations were not always strained. Writing in the Times in 1954, Sir Pelham Warner applauded a wonderfully spirited series between the two sides: There has not been one even remotely unpleasant incident. Oh, for those rosy days when there was decorum and decency, and people actually read the Times.A year later, all pretensions of friendship were washed away. The MCC were touring Pakistan and took umbrage, shall we say, to the lbw decisions of local umpire Idrees Baig. In Peshawar a group of MCC players kidnapped Beg, tossed him into a tonga, took him back to their hotel, and poured buckets of water over his head. (Thus we can trace the origins of two modern ills to the MCC: the kidnapping of travellers in the Frontier, and waterboarding.)This was a mere aperitif to later argy bargies. The fisticuffs between Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana are well-documented, as is Aaqib Javeds protestation that a jumper should be handed back on a diamond-studded gold plate, and of course Ian Bothams pro bono work for the Pakistan Tourist Board on behalf of his mother-in-law.Less well known is that an incident similar to Ian Bells non-run-out this summer occurred between the two sides in 1987. Bill Athey ran out Ramiz Raja in a move that had less spirit of the game than a spot-fixer on Nandrolone, appealing for a catch grasped two feet underground. Did captain Mike Gatting recall the batsman? Please. This is England-Pakistan, not an afternoon tea party hosted by the BCCIs public relations chiefs wife.Like on the morning after a vindaloo, the pong of bitterness seems to stick around in the air. People from both countries remember, and make a point of doing so. In one Test in England, Graham Gooch was run out half a mile out of his crease, but somehow the home umpire gave him in. The reaction in Pakistan? Freeze-frame photos of the run-out were plastered on the sides of buses.Pakistans ill-fated tour in 2010 also lingers. An England fan I know says he can never forgive Pakistan for dragging the game into the gutter and ruining his cricket season. It should come as some consolation that many Pakistanis feel the same way about their own sides actions that year.Personally I have always remembered a passage from Mike Marqusees War Minus the Shooting. In Pakistan, during the 1996 World Cup, England wanted to practise on a square but were not permitted because it was the surface for the forthcoming match. An England player allegedly pulled out a 1000-rupee note and asked a senior official to reconsider. An utterly despicable and abominable act: everyone knows that in Punjab such a service would cost at least Rs 1500, plus VAT.On reflection, though, perhaps its better to ignore these antagonisms. Let bygones be bygones; forgive and forget; ignorance is peace. Drinking the world-class Murree Beer with a friend recently, I asked if he knew the origins of the Rawalpindi brewery. No, came the answer, so I told him the companys first owner was the father of General Dyer, he of the 1919 Amritsar massacre. My friend swore off Murree for life, his world forever drier, forever duller. I still dont understand his position. History is history, I say, and beer is beer, and cricket really should be just cricket.Which is all very well until that Jonathan Trott starts on my main man Wahab Riaz again, to which I say: Bring it on. Cheap Air Force 1 Ireland Wholesale Air Force 1 Ireland . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. http://www.airforce1ireland.com/ . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Air Force 1 Ireland . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Air Force 1 Ireland Sale . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014.MIAMI -- With Ricky Nolasco on the trade market, the San Diego Padres liked what they saw. Their hitters did, anyway. Will Venable drove in three runs and Logan Forsythe hit a two-run homer Friday night to help San Diego beat Nolasco and the Miami Marlins, 9-2. Nolasco (4-8) allowed six runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings to match or surpass his worst effort of the season in all three categories. San Diego is among the teams believed to be interested in the right-hander, who is the Marlins leader in career victories. "Im sure there were a lot of scouts in the stands watching," Padres manager Bud Black said. Nolasco said recent trade talk didnt affect his performance. "You read about it and see it on the Internet," Nolasco said. "But my job is to focus on what I have to do every fifth day. Just because I didnt get it done today doesnt mean Im not focusing or trying everything I can." Nolasco is on the market because he is by far the highest-paid player for cost-conscious Miami, and he becomes a free agent after the season. He predicted teams interested in him wont be dissuaded by his latest outing. "Whether I pitched good or bad tonight, I dont think thats going to dictate what kind of pitcher I am or what theyre going to get," he said. Black said the Padres had a good plan against Nolasco, who threw 110 pitches. "We drove his pitch count up early, so he was stressed and working hard," Black said. "That takes its toll on a pitcher for sure. The mistakes that he did make, we did some damage." Venable and Forsythe each had three of the Padres 15 hits. Edinson Volquez (6-6) gave up two runs in six innings for the Padres, who have outscored Miami 20-3 this season while winning all four games. The Marlins loss snapped a three-game winning streak that matched their longest this year. It was the first time in the past 11 games that theyve allowed more than three runs. Miami managed at least one hit in each of the first eight innings but went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. "We werent crisp," manager Mike Reedmond said.dddddddddddd "We didnt give them our best." Volquez struck out eight, including six looking, and lowered his ERA to 5.50. He also singled and scored. "I felt great," Volquez said. "Everything was working tonight." The Padres made it 1-all in the second when Chase Headley singled, stole second and scored on Venables two-out single. They took the lead for good in the third when Volquez singled and Forsythe hit his third homer. With San Diego ahead 3-2, Miami had a runner at second base when Venable charged from right field and made a diving catch of Nolascos soft fly to end the fourth inning. "I didnt think he was going to catch it," Nolasco said. "I was more worried about getting thrown out at first." The Padres ended Nolascos night with four consecutive hits to start the sixth. Yasmani Grandal and Venable hit RBI singles, and another run scored on an error by shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. "I couldnt put those guys away in the sixth, and a decent ballgame turns into a terrible one," Nolasco said. When asked if he thought he had pitched his final game for Miami, Nolasco said: "Im the wrong person to ask that question. Im not thinking like that." NOTES: Padres 2B Jedd Gyorko, who aggravated his strained right groin while on a rehabilitation assignment Wednesday with Double-A San Antonio, rejoined the Padres to undergo treatment and is expected to miss at least a few more games. He said he felt much better than when he was first hurt June 9. ... San Diego SS Everth Cabrera (strained hamstring) took part in pregame drills and might come off the disabled list Tuesday, the first day hes eligible to return. Hes expected to go on a brief rehabilitation assignment before being activated. ... The barrel of Logan Morrisons shattered bat flew into the 13th row when he grounded out in the eighth, but no one was hurt. ... The Padres signed OF Jordan Paroubeck, the 69th overall selection in this months draft, and have signed 18 of their first 19 picks. ... Headley is 8 for 18 (.444) against Nolasco. ' ' '