Evidence that we’re all the same under the skin came from Nigeria, where a tanker blast in central Nigeria killed 98 people, as they tried to collect fuel from an overturned oil tanker. Does anyone remember the 2017 accident in Ahmadpur Sharqia? Two hundred people died, after an oil tanker overturned and the people from nearby villages tried to collect the spilled fuel. The incident was by no means the first of its kind in Nigeria, for one disaster killed 170 people in northern Jigawa state in October, while 48 were killed after a tanker collided with a truck full of cattle in Niger state in September.
Nigeria seems to have a problem, for the latest incident, near the federal capital of Abuja, again in Niger state, was the latest in a series. At least after the Ahmadpur Sharqia incident, we haven’t had a repeat. If we could look at our eastern neighbour, there was a huge fire in Ludhiana district last January when a tanker overturned. No one was hurt, though I suspect that was because the overturning occurred on an overhead bridge rather than because the good people of Ludhiana are averse to a freebie. I mean, who could be bothered getting to the top of the bridge?
In the latest incident in Niger, people actually went there with suction machines, which were operated by generators. The overturned tanker, with a capacity of 50,000 litres, had been carrying gasoline. One can imagine that there was a lot of gasoline vapour around. Sparks from a generator would have been enough, even if there hadn’t been some young man there with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Or did someone try to light up?
Then there are mobile phones. You’re not supposed to use them at petrol pumps, because they could ignite the petrol fumes. Now I can’t imagine a crowd of people rushing to an overturned tanker, with suction machines running on generators, not having mobile phones. And then someone using the phone to tell the people back home to bring him a bucket, or a Jerri can, or some other container real quick… (And just in case that doesn’t work, he could light up).
At home, Pakistan managed to win the First Test against the West Indies, with skipper Shan Masood scoring a fifty. The Second Test also saw him playing a captain’s knock of 15, as Pakistan managed to concede a 9-run lead to the West Indies. I find it interesting that even though 20 wickets fell, there were 617 runs scored. Once upon a time, you’d have had one side grind out about 200 for3. Batsmen seem to have lost the art of using their pads, and seem to have learned the need to hit their way out of trouble from limited-over cricket. In those days, if a batsman was really on fire, he would complete his century on the first day.
Of course, the first day of the Second Test also showed the problem with the strategy of preparing spinning wickets. Perhaps they can be too spinning. And there’s little point in preparing a wicket that will wear away on the last day, if the match doesn’t last till then.
Well, I suppose the PCB has been lucky, but the wicket must be a little dodgy, and we’re lucky the match went into the third day. I mean, another 14 wickets went down, with 320 runs scored. The West Indian skipper, a luminary named Kraigg Braithwaite, made a 50, but our man Shan only got 2.
Other cricketers are in trouble, though not on the field. Shakibul Hassan, the Bangladesh ex-captain and allrounder, has not returned from Canada, where he was when the coup against Hasina Wajid happened. He had become an MP for her Awami League, so it wasn’t safe. He will have to stay away, because warrants have been passed against him for passing rubber cheques. It’s surprising how fraudulent old cricketers are supposed to be: Here we’ve got Imran just sentenced in the £190 million case.
Just to show that it’s the old cricketers that are the targets, not the fraud, Imran’s alleged accomplice, Malik Riaz, is living it up in the UAE, while Imran is in durance vile.
