The strange case of Mohammad Sharif

[thierry henry]

A bit of trainspotting, yes, but wondering if anyone could provide any info

In late 2001 I went to watch Auckland play Bangladesh at the Eden Park Outer Oval and was intrigued by the 15 year old pacer Mohammad Sharif. I was a mere child of 16 and astounded that this younger kid was an international. Furthermore, he didn't look any older than 15. He was very diminutive, maybe 5'5", and baby faced. He later player a test against NZ (which wasn't his first) but was ineffective and got dropped. I remember him having a whippy, fast action reminiscent of Mohammad Sami- unfortunately he bowled about 30kph slower, because of his small frame and young age, and was even more ineffective.

Searching out Sharif today for the "first test cricketer younger than you" thread, I noticed a couple of baffling things.

Cricinfo lists his DOB as 1983 rather than 1985 (it was definitely listed 1985 before)

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/bangladesh/content/player/55986.html

However, this site retains the 1985 listing

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mohammad-Sharif-(cricketer)

But most bizarrely, he is described in his cricinfo profile as "tall, lanky, and genuinely quick", and listed as being 6'5"!!!!

Can someone explain this to me? I can only assume that (a) his listed age was 2 years off and has been corrected, and therefore (b) he grew literally a foot (if not more, seriously- he was tiny) after the age of 18, and after his international debut.

It's funny, cos the two assumptions contradict each other. I could almost imagine a 16 year old having a massive growth spurt, but I have never heard of anyone growing from about 5'5" to 6'5" after they turned 18. It also tends to suggest he was PRE-PUBESCENT when he played international cricket, which is completely bizarre.

Can anyone shed any light?

 

[Somerset]

My first thought was that theres been a typing error - maybe 6'5" is actually meant to be 5'6"? Seems bizarre otherwise - though being listed as tall and lanky, perhaps not - unless hes been confused with someone else...

 

[Richard]

Bangladeshi DOBs are notoriously unreliable (ditto Pakistani ones) - though that is changing and within a few years we might have a situation where we do actually know the age of cricketers from said nations accurately.

Mohammad Sharif might well have been older than he was listed - as you know (Martin) you and me are of a similar age and had Sharif's DOB been correct (as I've always presumed it's not) he'd have been the first younger than me as well. I always took it with a pinch of salt and I'm not terribly surprised it's now been changed... in some quarters... with other quarters retaining the original... as I say, there were no official records kept in such countries at the time we were born, so there really is no way to do anything other than guess.

As for the height, well, occasionally people do grow a lot in their mid-teens, unusual though it is. But as Somerset says, it could simply be a typo. About the only way would be to track the lad down and look at the new him. I presume he's unlikely to play international cricket again.

 

[SJS]

As for the height, well, occasionally people do grow a lot in their mid-teens, unusual though it is.

Yes they do and in Pakistan they dont just grow suddenly at around 15 or 16 but they also stop ageing and do not have another birthday for between three to five years

Some have even suggested that they actually grow younger but I think that is in the rarest of rare cases and you have to be a handsome, dashing and tall Pathan to be able to achieve that wonderful quality.

 

[thierry henry]

I should have looked at this

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/icl2008/content/image/317336.html

He's still a midget

I think part of his profile must have got mixed up with part of someone else's profile??

 

[Manee]

Perhaps Mahbubul Alam is some kind of giant.

 

[NZTailender]

Now the king told the boogie men, you have to let that raga drop

 

[thierry henry]

Perhaps Mahbubul Alam is some kind of giant.

Well, Mahbubul just made his test debut and he certainly isn't a giant.

But anyway, something new to report on this topic- cricinfo has for some reason just changed Waqar Younis' year of birth to 1969!!

wikipedia still lists him as 1971, as it has been listed for 20 years

Has cricinfo implemented a policy of moving all Pakistan and Bangladesh birth dates back two years???

 

[Richard]

I noticed that a year ago.

Waqar said in 1996 in a British newspaper that his birthdate was wrong, he was actually 2 years older than he was listed as. However, he said the listed date should stay as it was, and demanded to know why it mattered. Given no-one could give him any reason why it should, it therefore stayed.

He's evidently now allowed CricInfo to change it though. Possibly a post-retirement thing.