But for a moment, when England lost two wickets in the first over, and the first loud cries of ‘Pakistan, Zindabad’ were breaking out, it felt like they just might. Honestly, just the faint possibility was all this match, even this series, needed. The prospect of a contest was enough to make it one of those happy match mornings when nobody at the ground could be exactly sure what was in store, or see which way the day’s play was headed.
And it was all because of Razaullah – a 21-year-old in his first year as a professional cricketer. He was supposed to be playing for Cleethorpes in the Yorkshire Southern Premier League this summer. He could have spent today taking on Whiston Parish at Chichester Road, £4 a pint and Grimsby v Bristol Rovers on the TV.
But, more’s the pity for Cleethorpes fans, he had to pull out of that because he was called up to a Pakistan Cricket Board fast-bowling camp, where he caught the attention of Mike Hesson, who has just become Pakistan’s 12th Test coach in the past five years. Whatever else this whitewash has cost Pakistan, and they have lost seven players, two coaches, and a selector in the past seven days, they have found another fast bowler, a real free-swinging, six-dinging, wicket-taking, heart-breaking hero of a cricketer. Which makes him the latest in a long line.
In 2010, Pakistan turned up with Mohammad Amir, only 18, all wicked left-arm-swing and a long, floppy fringe. He ripped through Australia in a neutral Test at Lord’s then did it again at Headingley, where he was man of the match in a three-wicket victory. Then he skittled England in a four-wicket win at the Oval.
By the end of the summer he had been caught in a spot-fixing sting by the News of the World, dropped from the squad, arrested and sentenced to three months in prison. Ten years later, Pakistan were back with a vicious attack led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, 20, and Naseem Shah, who was just 17. Both ought to be on this tour.
They aren’t because they have been broken by the PCB during the years in between. Neither bowls anything like the speeds they used to when they came through. Naseem has spent the last few weeks playing in the Caribbean Premier League.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
