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Pakistan Cricket news/views

Fusion

Global Moderator
Nice article in Dawn newspaper about the weaknesses of the selection process in Pakistan. To think that many of the greats of Pakistan cricket were discovered merely by chance, and not through an established system of evaluating players is astounding. Good read.

Natural selection

Posted by Imran Yusuf in Cricket, Featured Articles, Sport on 06 24th, 2009 | one response


The next Twenty20 World Cup takes place in May 2010 and I’m already looking forward to seeing which new left-arm quick we discover for the tournament.

In 2007, Sohail Tanvir emerged, admittedly on the wrong foot, out of nowhere (well, Rawalpindi, but near enough) to sling us to the final. A year later, he was named Best Bowler in the IPL. His rise from obscurity to stardom was as towering as the man himself - six feet, three inches. He hadn’t taken a single wicket in ten T20 domestic matches prior to the World Cup, but he looked fully at home in international cricket. What he couldn’t do once in 10 domestic games he did three times in four overs against Australia.

Similarly, 2009 saw the emergence of Mohammed Aamir. Seventeen years old, confident and composed, he bowled the first and last overs of the innings in a World Cup final without batting a long-lashed Punjabi eye. And he has smooth shiny hair to rival Shahid Afridi to boot!

So really, where have these guys come from? Is Pakistan’s much-maligned domestic system finally acting as a nursery for talent? Tanvir seems to have worked his way up through the system: he represented the Pakistan Academy on their tour of Bangladesh and put in superb performances against Australia A in a home ODI series. Similarly, Aamir went through Pakistan’s youth system, participating in U19 tours and tournaments and taking 55 first class wickets last season. It seems he was selected on the basis of a strong domestic season.

The answer is both yes and no.

Countless players have excelled on Pakistan Academy tours or won us U19 World Cups or taken every wicket going in a domestic season. But few make it to play for Pakistan and fewer still stick around and force us to remember their names.

Tanvir’s selection was actually a bit of a hunch: the powers-that-be liked the look of him, feeling he’d unsettle top class international batsmen with his action and swing, even though he hadn’t taken a wicket in 10 domestic games. Aamir’s story has a whiff of destiny about it: Wasim Akram saw him at a ‘pace camp’ in May 2007 and knew straight away he was the special one amongst special ones. Akram was actually quite gracious and modest on commentary when talking about Aamir. He would’ve been justified in shouting and screaming something like, ‘I made him! He’s my creation! He belongs to me!’

Akram, like the rest of us, is very excited by Aamir, and the admiration is mutual, with the youngster worshipping the former captain. If he gains weight in the right places and works on his fitness, he could go all the way. Pre-tournament talk that he was a thinking bowler, one who could work out a batsman, proved justified. Indeed, his first over in the final set the tone for our whole performance. It was calculated and planned, while still having a fresh, spontaneous potency. A 17-year-old bowling the first over of a World Cup final and taking a wicket maiden, the wicket being that of the player of the tournament: no wonder I called my brother the morning after the final to enquire if the whole thing had been a dream.

Where do we get these guys from? And how?

Our selection system has always been somewhat anarchic. As Imran Khan has pointed out, this is to be expected. It’s no different to politics and govenment: if you have strong institutions, the importance of personalities diminishes. With weak institutions, personality and leadership become very important. As captain, Khan was also essentially the chief-selector, something which, under his benevolent dictatorship, worked well in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Khan’s involvement shows that our system is realtively weak. Domestic cricket is not and has never been the best criterion to judge a player in Pakistan. Players such as Inzamamul Haq, Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis were first selected not on the basis of the first class matches they’d played, but on that of a net session with the team and captain.

Javed Miandad came across Akram in 1984, practicing at a Lahore net with a youth team. Akram was 18. A few months later, Miandad insisted he come along and join the national team. The rest is cricketing history, glory, legend and Pepsi adverts.

Tauseef Ahmed similarly went from bit-of-fun-in-the-park cricket to international cricket, seemingly in one leap. Pakistan were having a training camp, and Miandad got a call from a friend urging him to try out a new off-spinner. Miandad agreed but he thought little of it until Tauseef bowled to him and immediately started beating his bat. That did it: Tauseef was selected straight away and took seven wickets on debut against Australia. Who knows - if he hadn’t beaten Miandad’s edge in the nets that day, he might never have played international cricket.

Hanif Mohammed tells a marvellous story about selection. After Imtiaz Ahmed hung up his gloves, Pakistan were at a loss as to who to have as the next wicketkeeper. Hanif’s brother Wazir was an outstanding talent spotter; he regularly pointed out talented youngsters to KCA President Muzaffar Hussain. One day he was walking on the street and he passed St. Patrick’s School. It had a low boundary wall, so Wazir watched a few deliveries. He saw a keeper pull of a smart stumping and was so impressed he told Hanif and Muzaffar to get in touch with the boy. The boy turned up at training, and they saw he had strong wrists and fingers - he looked the part. When asked to play, he looked
the part even more. He was a natural and he had been found. That boy was Wasim Bari: Pakistan’s greatest wicket-keeper.

One still wonders, however, about the thousands of Wasim Baris who played at schools with high boundary walls, the Inzamams that Imran never discovered, the Tauseefs who never had the chance to beat Miandad’s bat, and the Mohammed Aamirs who didn’t make it to Wasim’s pace camp.

We’re delighted to have Aamir, an astonishingly promising new left-arm fast-bowler, but as a lover of Pakistani cricket, one can’t help but wonder at all those who got away.
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
Nice article in Dawn newspaper about the weaknesses of the selection process in Pakistan. To think that many of the greats of Pakistan cricket were discovered merely by chance, and not through an established system of evaluating players is astounding. Good read.

Natural selection

Posted by Imran Yusuf in Cricket, Featured Articles, Sport on 06 24th, 2009 | one response


The next Twenty20 World Cup takes place in May 2010 and I’m already looking forward to seeing which new left-arm quick we discover for the tournament.

In 2007, Sohail Tanvir emerged, admittedly on the wrong foot, out of nowhere (well, Rawalpindi, but near enough) to sling us to the final. A year later, he was named Best Bowler in the IPL. His rise from obscurity to stardom was as towering as the man himself - six feet, three inches. He hadn’t taken a single wicket in ten T20 domestic matches prior to the World Cup, but he looked fully at home in international cricket. What he couldn’t do once in 10 domestic games he did three times in four overs against Australia.

Similarly, 2009 saw the emergence of Mohammed Aamir. Seventeen years old, confident and composed, he bowled the first and last overs of the innings in a World Cup final without batting a long-lashed Punjabi eye. And he has smooth shiny hair to rival Shahid Afridi to boot!

So really, where have these guys come from? Is Pakistan’s much-maligned domestic system finally acting as a nursery for talent? Tanvir seems to have worked his way up through the system: he represented the Pakistan Academy on their tour of Bangladesh and put in superb performances against Australia A in a home ODI series. Similarly, Aamir went through Pakistan’s youth system, participating in U19 tours and tournaments and taking 55 first class wickets last season. It seems he was selected on the basis of a strong domestic season.

The answer is both yes and no.

Countless players have excelled on Pakistan Academy tours or won us U19 World Cups or taken every wicket going in a domestic season. But few make it to play for Pakistan and fewer still stick around and force us to remember their names.

Tanvir’s selection was actually a bit of a hunch: the powers-that-be liked the look of him, feeling he’d unsettle top class international batsmen with his action and swing, even though he hadn’t taken a wicket in 10 domestic games. Aamir’s story has a whiff of destiny about it: Wasim Akram saw him at a ‘pace camp’ in May 2007 and knew straight away he was the special one amongst special ones. Akram was actually quite gracious and modest on commentary when talking about Aamir. He would’ve been justified in shouting and screaming something like, ‘I made him! He’s my creation! He belongs to me!’

Akram, like the rest of us, is very excited by Aamir, and the admiration is mutual, with the youngster worshipping the former captain. If he gains weight in the right places and works on his fitness, he could go all the way. Pre-tournament talk that he was a thinking bowler, one who could work out a batsman, proved justified. Indeed, his first over in the final set the tone for our whole performance. It was calculated and planned, while still having a fresh, spontaneous potency. A 17-year-old bowling the first over of a World Cup final and taking a wicket maiden, the wicket being that of the player of the tournament: no wonder I called my brother the morning after the final to enquire if the whole thing had been a dream.

Where do we get these guys from? And how?

Our selection system has always been somewhat anarchic. As Imran Khan has pointed out, this is to be expected. It’s no different to politics and govenment: if you have strong institutions, the importance of personalities diminishes. With weak institutions, personality and leadership become very important. As captain, Khan was also essentially the chief-selector, something which, under his benevolent dictatorship, worked well in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Khan’s involvement shows that our system is realtively weak. Domestic cricket is not and has never been the best criterion to judge a player in Pakistan. Players such as Inzamamul Haq, Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis were first selected not on the basis of the first class matches they’d played, but on that of a net session with the team and captain.

Javed Miandad came across Akram in 1984, practicing at a Lahore net with a youth team. Akram was 18. A few months later, Miandad insisted he come along and join the national team. The rest is cricketing history, glory, legend and Pepsi adverts.

Tauseef Ahmed similarly went from bit-of-fun-in-the-park cricket to international cricket, seemingly in one leap. Pakistan were having a training camp, and Miandad got a call from a friend urging him to try out a new off-spinner. Miandad agreed but he thought little of it until Tauseef bowled to him and immediately started beating his bat. That did it: Tauseef was selected straight away and took seven wickets on debut against Australia. Who knows - if he hadn’t beaten Miandad’s edge in the nets that day, he might never have played international cricket.

Hanif Mohammed tells a marvellous story about selection. After Imtiaz Ahmed hung up his gloves, Pakistan were at a loss as to who to have as the next wicketkeeper. Hanif’s brother Wazir was an outstanding talent spotter; he regularly pointed out talented youngsters to KCA President Muzaffar Hussain. One day he was walking on the street and he passed St. Patrick’s School. It had a low boundary wall, so Wazir watched a few deliveries. He saw a keeper pull of a smart stumping and was so impressed he told Hanif and Muzaffar to get in touch with the boy. The boy turned up at training, and they saw he had strong wrists and fingers - he looked the part. When asked to play, he looked
the part even more. He was a natural and he had been found. That boy was Wasim Bari: Pakistan’s greatest wicket-keeper.

One still wonders, however, about the thousands of Wasim Baris who played at schools with high boundary walls, the Inzamams that Imran never discovered, the Tauseefs who never had the chance to beat Miandad’s bat, and the Mohammed Aamirs who didn’t make it to Wasim’s pace camp.

We’re delighted to have Aamir, an astonishingly promising new left-arm fast-bowler, but as a lover of Pakistani cricket, one can’t help but wonder at all those who got away
.
Haa...well most of the stories excpet the one with Imtiaz Ahmed i've heard.

But i must say the writer takes a VERY generous view in the last two paragraph's - in suggesting that they where many Akram's, Bari, Waqar, Inzi's etc that where not found.

But rather the talent PAK found in the 80s & 90s was basically luck. Surely it would be better for them to get an academy & start developing - rather than hoping such players just emerge again.
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
England to host Pakistan/Aus Tests

Seems it's now official. Good move in my book. We saw in the Twenty20 WC that Pakistan enjoy good support in England and will get as close to a home field advantage as is possible under the circumstances.
Brilliant news as a neutral. Allot of asian cats in this area obviously, plus i'll get to see the australian's twice in 2 years, top stuff..
 

Craig

World Traveller
I have loads of Dutch, Swedish, German, Danish, and Norwegian people speak better English.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
But i must say the writer takes a VERY generous view in the last two paragraph's - in suggesting that they where many Akram's, Bari, Waqar, Inzi's etc that where not found.

But rather the talent PAK found in the 80s & 90s was basically luck.
I think it is silly to make that kind of statement. Most of their batsmen look crap when you watch them bat, it is fairly obvious that they lack some very basic skills and yet Pakistan team is always a threat, can never be counted out, why ??

I have long maintained that Pakistan has the biggest talent pool of cricketers (or for that matter biggest talent pool in any field that interests them for example Hockey, Cricket, Music etc.). Their passion is unmatched, I have never seen a country more obsessed with fast bowling or winning . And this is not based on hearsay but personal experience gained from playing against them in USA for no. of years in different cities. Every local Pakistani team that I have played against has had the look and feel of Pakistani National Team, very talented, fast bowlers, aggressive and attacking batsmen, very competitive, always a threat, can't speak English but have the local accent better than the locals themselves.

You are completely wrong on this.
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
I think it is silly to make that kind of statement. Most of their batsmen look crap when you watch them bat, it is fairly obvious that they lack some very basic skills and yet Pakistan team is always a threat, can never be counted out, why ??

I have long maintained that Pakistan has the biggest talent pool of cricketers (or for that matter biggest talent pool in any field that interests them for example Hockey, Cricket, Music etc.). Their passion is unmatched, I have never seen a country more obsessed with fast bowling or winning . And this is not based on hearsay but personal experience gained from playing against them in USA for no. of years in different cities. Every local Pakistani team that I have played against has had the look and feel of Pakistani National Team, very talented, fast bowlers, aggressive and attacking batsmen, very competitive, always a threat, can't speak English but have the local accent better than the locals themselves.

You are completely wrong on this.
Well in this part of ENG where i live, is pretty much Asian territory. So i have agree about the passion aspect 100%, but not the most talented part. West Indians live up here & i'd say the same thing about them. Obviously the current black Englishman like myself, generally doesn't play too keen attention to cricket as was the case in the 80s & 90s & are more about football & basketball, due to decline of the WI as a force.

I have seen Imran Khan say in interviews that he stopped playing domestic cricket in the 80s because of the lack of competitiveness, and he found the likes of Akram, Waqar, Inzi etc. Expecting that to keep happening isn't wise. PAK need a national academy or something, now that people wont be touring their in a LONG TIME, i think ICC should make an effort to help build on.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Well in this part of ENG where i live, is pretty much Asian territory. So i have agree about the passion aspect 100%, but not the most talented part. West Indians live up here & i'd say the same thing about them.
Talent without Passion is nothing and will fade away soon. There is a reason Pakistani players come up with Reverse Swing, Doosra, Teesra, Jalebi etc.
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
Well in this part of ENG where i live, is pretty much Asian territory. So i have agree about the passion aspect 100%, but not the most talented part. West Indians live up here & i'd say the same thing about them. Obviously the current black Englishman like myself, generally doesn't play too keen attention to cricket as was the case in the 80s & 90s & are more about football & basketball, due to decline of the WI as a force.

I have seen Imran Khan say in interviews that he stopped playing domestic cricket in the 80s because of the lack of competitiveness, and he found the likes of Akram, Waqar, Inzi etc. Expecting that to keep happening isn't wise. PAK need a national academy or something, now that people wont be touring their in a LONG TIME, i think ICC should make an effort to help build on.
Cricket is quite organized in Pakistan. National & regional academies have been there for more then 15 years. Most of the current national team have come through these reigonal and national cricket academies. The main issue is nepotism at this level many a times these academies will only promote a cricketer for national camps or trials if he has a strong backing or has paid a huge donation for his selection. Very rarely a player is selected only on merit.

Fairy tale Akram-Waqar stories one tend to here are not totally 100% true these players are existing in the system but due to lack of influential support they are unable to break through all it needs is one influential guy to take a liking to them and these guys get promoted out of the blue. Miandad did it for Wasim and Waim did the same with Aamir.
 
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Craig

World Traveller
Anyway it is great that an arrangement has been made and that Pakistan will play Tests in England. So does this mean a) the PCB will have a say over pitch conditions, to a certain extent (I'm sure the head groundsman at either Test venue will tell the PCB what is and what isn't possible pitch wise); and b) English umpires will be allowed to umpire at home since it isn't a 'home' Test and England are not playing?
 

Fusion

Global Moderator
Anyway it is great that an arrangement has been made and that Pakistan will play Tests in England. So does this mean a) the PCB will have a say over pitch conditions, to a certain extent (I'm sure the head groundsman at either Test venue will tell the PCB what is and what isn't possible pitch wise); and b) English umpires will be allowed to umpire at home since it isn't a 'home' Test and England are not playing?
Both great questions. Especially interested in the answer to "a".
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Fairy tale Akram-Waqar stories one tend to here are not totally 100% true these players are existing in the system but due to lack of influential support they are unable to break through all it needs is one influential guy to take a liking to them and these guys get promoted out of the blue. Miandad did it for Wasim and Waim did the same with Aamir.
Isn't that the point though ? Of all the Test playing nations Pakistan has arguably the worst domestic structure and even that is marred by nepotism.
 

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