Losing the impossible and winning the improbable!

Australia snatched victory from certain draw and have almost regained the Ashes. Heroic performances by Mike Hussey, Ricky Ponting and that wizard of spin Shane Warne saw Australia snatch an incredible 6-wicket win in the 2nd Test.

Interestingly, in the last series too, it was the second Test that had provided a lot of nailbiting moments… just this time, the tide is flowing the other way!

Here are some interesting reactions from around the world:

Six & Out: And again please

24×7 Cricket: Pommie bashing!

24×7 Cricket: Nice record to have

The Burnt Bail: Hussey guides the Aussies!

Cricinfo: The greatest win, say Ponting and Warne

Cricinfo: Flintoff shocked!

In other developments, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohd. Asif find that they are now ban-less. Meaning, the doping ban on them has been lifted [News]. And how did this happen?

An appeals tribunal appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has exonerated fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif of doping offences and lifted their long-term bans.

So what this tells me is that the entire exercise was a bit of a sham. The ban lasted all of 5 weeks. I smell a rat here and some fabulous planning. The PCB was rather proactive in banning the two players. This manouevering ensured that the ICC did not do any banning of their own.

And once the issue seemed to have cooled off, the PCB goes and lifts the ban. Especially on a day when England lost the “unlosable Test”, who would notice? We’ll know soon! More importantly, though, why was the ban lifted?

“The tribunal, after looking at every aspect of the case and hearing the arguments of the players, has decided to lift the bans and cancel the earlier decision of the drugs inquiry tribunal,” Hasib Ahsan, an appeals tribunal member, said on Tuesday.

What about the proof based on which the ban was imposed? Or is that unnecessary?