Testimonials: Mission Caribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

“Looks like yesterday when I had purchased a copy of ‘Mission Caribbean’ a couple of days before the start of the World Cup in March 2007. I had barely finished reading a few chapters when Pakistan’s cricket team was knocked out of the tournament in the most unexpected fashion. The shocking defeat against Ireland still hurts. Many months later I opened the book again and found out that it would have remained my companion throughout the event if not for the heartbreak. It’s very informative book which I like to consult even today.” 

Mohsin Afzal

Must-Read book: Mission Caribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

Mission Caribbean was authored by Syed Khalid Mahmood on the eve of the Cricket World Cup 2007 when all flights and ships were moving in the direction of the islands of the Caribbean which was playing host to the global event for the first time. 

The 124-page Mission Caribbean has been considered as a wonderful gift from Jumbo Publishing for the cricket lovers as it contains wealth of information between covers. Having ISBN:978-969-8893-02-6, it is priced Rs 200 only in Pakistan.

Bibliographical details: Mission Caribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

Author: Syed Khalid Mahmood

Title: Mission Caribbean

Publisher: Jumbo Publishing

Place: Karachi, Pakistan

Year: 2007

Pages: 124

ISBN: 978-969-8893-02-6 

Mission Caribbean available at special World Book Day discount

Pakistan News & Features Services

Jumbo Publishing, as part of the World Book and Copyright Day 2014 celebrations, has offered its books at highly discounted prices and the offer will remain valid until May 23, 2014. The offer, however, is valid in Pakistan only. 

Mission Caribbean, authored by Syed Khalid Mahmood, containing highly useful resource material for the students of the game as it presents brief profiles and photographs of all the 240 participating cricketers from 16 countries, is now available for Rs 100, which is exactly half of its cover price. 

Mission Caribbean, published on the eve of the Cricket World Cup 2007, also chronicles the performance of all the participating teams in the past editions of the tournaments.

Jumbo Publishing’s World Cup Sixer

Pakistan News & Features Services

The 11th edition of the Cricket World Cup will be staged in Australia and New Zealand in February-March 2015 and the marketing campaigns for the showpiece event, less than a year away now, have started gaining momentum. 

Although quite a few other global cricket tournaments are being staged regularly, besides the regional and bilateral contest, the World Cup remains the ultimate title and the enthusiasts of the game, alongwith the administrators, offer it special treatment. 

Jumbo Publishing, acclaimed as the leaders in the field of sports publishing, have already brought out half a dozen books on Cricket World Cup. 

Spotlight on World Cup 2003, Top of the Charts, Mission Caribbean, Fiasco, Asian Glory and Mohali Mystery are Jumbo Publishing’s six Cricket World Cup books which have won the hearts of the bookworms. 

A few copies of all these six titles are still in stock and the cricket fans can get hold of them if they haven’t done it yet. The Jumbo World Cup books are considered essential for the bookshelf of every cricket enthusiast.

In focus: Mission Carribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

As the countdown to the Cricket World Cup 2015 has begun, with less than 365 days to go for the ultimate battle to commence, it’s about time for the enthusiasts of the game to refresh their memories of past editions of the tournament. 

Mission Caribbean, authored by Syed Khalid Mahmood, is one book which can be read again and again because of the highly useful resource material for the students of the game as it contains brief profiles and photographs of all the 240 cricketers from 16 countries who participated in the Cricket World Cup 2007. 

Mission Caribbean, which chronicles the performance of all the participating teams in the past editions of the tournaments, was published on the eve of the Cricket World Cup 2007, which was described as the biggest-ever sporting event to have been staged in the islands of the Caribbean.

Jumbo Publishing’s books in greater demand as Cricket World Cup Fever grips

Pakistan News & Features Services

The countdown to the Cricket World Cup 2015, to be staged in Australia and New Zealand, has already begun with less than year to go when the top teams will assemble again to prove their mettle against each other. The World Cup will be returning Down Under after a gap of 23 years. 

The only other time when Australia and New Zealand had played host to the mega event earlier was way back in 1992. And the team which had emerged triumphant was Pakistan with Imran Khan having proudly lifted the coveted trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 25, 1992. 

This time another team from the subcontinent, India, will be going there as the defending champions and they will be challenged by 13 other teams during the 11th edition of the tournament to be staged between February 14 and March 29, 2015. 

As in the past the cricket fans all over the globe are getting more enthusiastic for the books connected to the World Cup and the ones having brought out by Jumbo Publishing are once more in greater demand. 

Spotlight on World Cup 2003, Top of the Charts, Mission Caribbean, Fiasco, Asian Glory and Mohali Mystery are Jumbo Publishing’s six Cricket World Cup books that feature prominently in the list of favourites.

Mission Caribbean enlightens Karachi Literature Festival

Pakistan News & Features Services

Jumbo Publishing’s stall, featuring some of the leading sports titles of the recent past, was one of the popular destinations for the cricket fans during the largely-attended Karachi Literature Festival (KLF 2014) held at Karachi’s Beach Luxury Hotel from February 7 to 9. 

Mission Caribbean, authored by Syed Khalid Mahmood, was in considerable because of the highly useful resource material for the students of the game as it contains brief profiles and photographs of all the 240 participating cricketers from 16 countries. 

Mission Caribbean, published on the eve of the Cricket World Cup 2007, also chronicles the performance of all the participating teams in the past editions of the tournaments.

Mission Caribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

Contents: 

Foreword 09
Schedule 15
Mission Caribbean 17
Australia 37
Sri Lanka 41
New Zealand 47
Pakistan 51
South Africa 57
West Indies 62
England 69
India 75
Zimbabwe 79
Kenya 85
Bangladesh 89
Scotland 95
Ireland 99
Canada 105
Bermuda 109
The Netherlands 115
World Cup Records: Top Tens 119
The Author 122

Mission Caribbean

Pakistan News & Features Services

Mission Caribbean, authored by Syed Khalid Mahmood, was brought out on the eve of what was intended to be the biggest sporting extravaganza in the Caribbean. The book has highly useful resource material for the students of the game as there are brief profiles and photographs of all the 240 participating cricketers from 16 countries. It also chronicles the performance of all the participating teams in the past editions of the tournaments. 

Book Details: 

Title: Mission Caribbean 

Subject: Cricket 

Pages: 124 

ISBN: 978-969-8893-02-6 

Price in Pakistan: Rs 200 

Year of Publication: 2007

Rewinding Cricket World Cup 2007 with Mission Caribbean, Fiasco

Pakistan News & Features Services

Jumbo Publishing, having emerged on the scene in 2005, created quite a sensation by bringing out of a couple of worthy books related to the Cricket World Cup 2007 which was staged in the Caribbean for the time. 

Mission Caribbean, written by Syed Khalid Mahmood, was brought out on the eve of the mega event while Ehsan Qureshi authored Fiasco upon his return from the Caribbean where he had witnessed unprecedented chaos, drama and tragedy. Both the books have historical value. 

Mission Caribbean is a more than useful resource material for the students of the game as there are brief profiles and photographs of all the 240 participating cricketers from 16 countries.

Mission Caribbean offers a lot of information regarding the performance of all the participating teams in the past editions of the tournaments. 

Fiasco is an eye-witness account of the tragic death of Pakistan’s coach, Bob Woolmer, following the stunning defeat at the hands of Ireland. 

It tells the story of the author’s implication in the infamous case which was subsequently denied. Fiasco is much more than a travelogue or a simple review of the tournament. 

It reveals a lot of stories which were not reported earlier elsewhere. The scorecards and reports of all the matches make it a complete publication about the event which had proved a disaster on many fronts, much to the dismay of the hosts.

Brief Profile: Iqbal Qasim

Jumbo Editorial Team

Iqbal Qasim was an orthodox left-arm spinner whose forte was control over his line and length. Besides taking the crucial wickets he was mostly very accurate and gave little away to create pressure in the ranks of the opposing teams.

Although he is remembered as the ‘Bangalore Hero’ for having scripted that famous win that helped Pakistan to record their only Test series victory on the Indian soil in 1986-87 he was also the saviour of the team on his Test debut against Australia at Adelaide in 1976-77 where he had hung with the bat on for hours to allow Asif Iqbal to turn it around with flurry of strokes.

He played in 50 Tests, claiming 171 wickets at 28.11. He, however, got limited opportunities in the shorter version of the game, getting to play in only 15 One-day Internationals. He played first-class cricket until 1992-93 while he last played for Pakistan in 1988-89.

He has remained actively involved with the administration of the game after hanging his boots. Besides being the chairman of the national selection committee he has held various other positions over the years. The 57-year-old Iqbal Qasim has been the executive incharge of the sports division of National Bank of Pakistan for a number of years.

**Iqbal Qasim has contributed foreword to Mission Caribbean

Brief Profile: Prof Syed Zulfiqar Ali

Jumbo Editorial Team

Prof Syed Zulfiqar Ali has been associated with education as well as social sector for over two decades now. Presently he is Head of the Department, Commerce, at Defence Authority Degree College, Karachi.

He had passed his matriculation from St Cathedral High School, Lahore, while he pursued later education at Government College of Commerce and Economics. He has been a guest speaker in various sessions of different levels. He used to be a brilliant student from his early days and passed his various examinations with flying colours.

Education and social work have remained his forte and the areas of his prime interest from the outset. He has been working in particular educating the youth in their career guidance.

Having been an integral part of running The Young Champs, which was one of the most proactive youth clubs in Karachi 1980s, he has recently launched Taleem-o-Agahi Welfare Organization, being its Founder President.

**Prof Syed Zulfiqar Ali has reviewed Mission Caribbean

Foreword: Mission Caribbean

By Iqbal Qasim

The ICC World Cup, held after four years, is the most sought after event in cricket. Although we have tournaments like the ICC Champions Trophy in the interim period, the World Cup remains the ultimate title.

Pakistan’s team was certainly at the receiving end in the recently concluded five-match one-day series in South Africa but we believe that our team has the potential to recover in time for the World Cup.

This time the World Cup is going to be quite wide open and I have a feeling that our team has a fair chance of doing well. The South African tour wasn’t the ideal preparation for us but we would need to get that out of the way soon in order to turn it around.

Almost every team has been handicapped by injuries to key players and we are no exception. Like every other affected team we are also confident that we would be able to field the strongest possible team in the Caribbean.

Despite the recent slump in the form of some our key players, we remain positive that they would fire on all cylinders to come up to the expectations of the nation in the event as prestigious as the World Cup.

Pakistan, not being rated as one of the pre-tournament favourites, can play with greater freedom than teams like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, who would be under pressure to deliver.

Australia stand a very good chance of making it three titles in a row despite being humiliated by England and New Zealand recently. Australia will be boosted by the return of their star players.

South Africa have been in terrific form during the past few months having whipped both Pakistan as well as India in the ODI series. In fact now they have become the top team in the ICC rankings, having displaced Australia.

England and New Zealand can also benefit from the fact that their star performers have run back into form on the eve of the World Cup. The West Indies, being the hosts, have to raise their game in order to go the distance.

India and Sri Lanka, despite being plagued by injuries, have a good chance in the tournament. If the pitches in the Caribbean do assist their slow bowlers both these outfits can prove formidable.

Even Bangladesh, with quite a few spinners in their line-up, may look competitive on the dry surfaces of the Caribbean.

Our selection committee has picked up the best possible squad for the World Cup. Let us hope that they come off.

***For further details about Mission Caribbean, please write to jumbopublishing@yahoo.com or call Asad Raza at 0333-2304024

Book Review: Mission Caribbean

By Prof Syed Zulfiqar Ali

I have been a bookworm for a number of years, having read the best of so many subjects. I consider Mission Caribbean: A Guide to World Cup Cricket 2007 as one of my favourite books of all time because of the wealth of information provided between the covers.

Trust me it’s just not another book on cricket. It was published on the eve of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 that was being held in the different islands of the Caribbean and it was a perfect guidebook for the event.

It offered so much knowledge that it had to be revered as a handy book even after the tournament was over. Generally the books published about a certain event before its start tend to become obsolete once the action gets over but Mission Caribbean contained the contents that would retain significance after the World Cup 2007.

The book contains pen-sketches, alongwith photographs, of all the 240 participating cricketers from 16 countries. A lot of research and hard work must have gone behind this because generating the resource material for the lesser known cricketers of Bermuda, Ireland and Scotland has to be classified as a daunting task.

The majority of these 240 cricketers having been profiled briefly in Mission Caribbean are likely to stay in the international arena for quite a few years therefore you can always keep this book for reference purposes while following the cricket matches well beyond the World Cup 2007.

Syed Khalid Mahmood, a known author, has written separate chapters about all the participating teams, assessing their strengths and weaknesses besides analyzing their past performance in the World Cup.

Mission Caribbean, I am confident, will continue serving the role of a reference book for the years to come and the cricket enthusiasts will like to keep it with themselves. It’s a more than useful book for anyone seeking to enhance knowledge about the game.

***For further details about Mission Caribbean, please write to jumbopublishing@yahoo.com or call Asad Raza at 0333-2304024