I was exchanging emails with my buddy Farooq after his latest piece in Dawn on Kamran Akmal. I must confess that I read only the first two paragraphs and then stopped. Not because I have anything against Farooq or his writing, but because I just don’t care. I don’t care about cricket and I don’t care about Pakistani cricket and I definitely don’t care about Kamran Akmal.

Thanks for everything, Captain Courageous! You're the best! (Photo: AP)

Anyway, I asked Farooq why he hasn’t fallen prey to the tiredness and resignation that I have. This was his response:

You think it might have something to do with the fact that you have more sports to choose from and other emotional outlets u can invest in? For example, you ardently follow basketball and football. I really only have cricket (and tennis to a much lesser extent). I have nothing else to turn to, whereas you do. Maybe that’s why its not easy for me to just give up on the team (not that I’m saying it was “easy” for you) because, subconsciously, I know that its the only release I have.

I think that’s a fair comment, and I want to return to its implication in a bit. But it bears underlining here the extent to which Pakistani cricket has punched us in the face. My slide began, drip by drip, since 2006. I made a list of the crimes of Pakistani cricket against its followers in the last four years, and this is what I came up with:

1. Ball tampering charges and the forfeiture of a test.

2. Steroids found in our two best bowlers.

3. Said bowlers found guilty, and then let off.

4. A dummy captain saying he won’t be a dummy captain.

5. A coach dying (in circumstances that I refuse to dismiss as “natural”, not in light of recent events, sorry).

6. A World Cup loss against Ireland — Ireland!

7. A calendar year in which we played no tests, and ODIs only against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

8. Two chairmen (Nasim Ashraf and Butt) who, I mean, what can I even say about them?

9. Five or six different selection chairmen.

10. Six different test captains (Inzi, Younis, Yousuf, Malik, Butt, Afridi).

11. Our best bowler being caught with heroin at Dubai airport, then claiming his pir gave it to him as medicine, and then subsequently banned from entering UAE (our home away from home).

12. No test series wins.

13. Our best captain resigning after a quasi-revolt by the worst players in the team.

14. A terrorist attack on a visiting team after it was promised “presidential security”.

15. No high-level resignations after said terrorist attack.

16. Spot-fixing scandal with our captain and two best bowlers.

17. Our chairman alleging match-fixing in other teams only because our own team was found guilty of fixing.

18. Kamran Akmal.

19. Imran Farhat.

20. The Zulqurnain Haider saga.

Does that cover it? I mean, that’s a lot of pain, isn’t it?

Anyway, to return to Farooq’s point, I’m sure it’s true that one of the reasons I care less than him right now is because I have other interests. But here’s the thing: I am not alone here. It’s 2010, kids. People have other things to do. Facebook, Playstation, streaming videos online, DVDs, digital TV — our entertainment options have multiplied like nuts in recent times. You can watch movies and television shows and sports events from any part of the world live, or at the latest, the next day with an illegal download or two.

What this means is that none of us are beholden to the same old nonsense. I’ve often likened being a Pakistani cricket fan to being in an abusive relationship. Well, with the plethora of entertainment options, we have a chance of dumping it, and finding someone less abusive.

And you know what? It’s an awesome feeling. It’s empowering. Year after year, decade after decade, the so-called guardians of this sport  in our country — players, selectors, administrators, management — have treated the fans like dirt, and taken us for granted. They’ve never actually considered that we might just vote with our feet, and stop caring.

By the way, this isn’t about winning or losing. I’ve stuck by our team when it’s losing a lot, because that’s part of being a fan. Obviously losing hurts, but it’s sport — sometimes your team is terrible, big deal. What’s gotten me in the recent past is all the extra-curriculars. And I can’t do it anymore.

Obviously, I don’t want to overstate the case. I still check scores on Cricinfo. If the Ashes or India-South Africa is on on the weekend, I might watch for an hour or two (good teams and good pitches being the key here). And, of course, I still do the air-bowl and play my air-back foot cover drive about 13 times a day, much to the annoyance of the W (interesting aside: why is it that all Pakistanis, when playing air cricket by themselves, commentate on the action as Aussie commentators?). I can’t just quit cricket wholesale, but what I can do — and have done — is quit Pakistani cricket for the time being.