Prescriptions for the PCB

Get rid of Ijaz Butt, take away some of the chairman's powers and spread them around, hire a CEO answerable to the governing body, and bring in more prominent former cricketers

Asif Ali Zardari

Change must come. First Ijaz Butt must go. That is a valid and necessary objective. Very soon he will have been board chairman for two years, and a more damaging tenure in the PCB's history has not been seen. Had he any sense of duty, he would have resigned last year, after failing to provide security from terror to a visiting side. People go to jail for less in countries that function.

There are many other reasons for him to go, but uppermost now is practicality. The bald truth is that, because of him, world cricket will not work with Pakistan. India cannot be courted for political reasons. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were lost last year, when Butt pushed for the 2011 World Cup to be taken away from the subcontinent because Pakistan could not host matches. Australia will not forget so soon Butt's opposition to John Howard as an ICC president-elect. England were allies but are now likelier to see him in court.

In the grand scheme of things, the remaining boards are irrelevant in voting terms or financial benefits. Pakistan does not play at home. With England gone, they have one less neutral option (and the existing one in the Middle East is not great financially). The ICC task force to help bring cricket back to Pakistan (headed by the latest board chief Butt has picked a fight with) has made more progress than has been publicly revealed. It will not remain unaffected. The PCB is truly isolated and Butt is the sole cause of it.

What are the ways out of this logjam if Butt stays on? As the board head of a Full Member country, he is also an ICC director. That position has its own code of conduct and his unthinking remarks about another full member may well constitute a breach. A resolution can be put forward by other directors calling for his suspension. The way things are, that is likely to gain more votes than any possible resolution tabled by Butt to remove Haroon Lorgat; quite apart from what anyone feels about Lorgat, where precisely will support for Butt's motion come from?

But beyond the removal of Butt, deeper change must come. It cannot be that Butt goes and another like him arrives, of which there is every chance, given how administration has broadly deteriorated over the last decade. Something very basic has to change in the way the board is run.

What is the problem? In plain words it stems from the chairman and how he is appointed. He is thrust upon the game by the country's president, the patron of the board, and is answerable to him and appointable and sackable only by him. This method of appointment has been in place since the early 60s. At that time there was a good reason for it. Cricket made little money and needed state patronage and funding; the president's involvement was one way of ensuring that.

Over the years, it has come to need neither. The PCB is now a mixed beast; it is not wholly a state institution or under the control of the sports ministry, but the very nature of the chairman's appointment makes it state-influenced.

The PCB generates its own revenue and is the only sports body in the country that pays taxes. Yet because of presidential involvement, over the years, the board has essentially replicated a poorly functioning, politicised state behemoth. It represents the political winds of the day and is full of the inherent failings of precisely such a body. Through chance, capable men are often appointed: AH Kardar, Nur Khan, to an extent Shaharyar Khan, and times are good. If not, then a period of crisis it is. Subsequent appointments, below the chairman, are made not on merit but nepotism, and entirely randomly. The organisation becomes bloated, inefficient, potentially corrupt and eventually of great harm to its own purpose. The PCB is not alone in Pakistan to be like that.

	Over the last two years, everything has concentrated solely around Butt. When the ICC were trying to get in touch with him before releasing the statement about the Oval ODI, they didn't try anyone else at the PCB because they didn't know who the second-in-command is, or whether there was one

The most pressing and ideal change, then, is to delink this appointment and to not have the president as patron. Unfortunately, only the government itself has the power to do this, and no state in the world is eager to reduce its own sphere of influence. More realistic might be to hope for something from the current battle being fought over the chairman's powers in Islamabad's corridors of power. The board constitutionas it stands prescribes no limits on the chairman's powers and doesn't even specify them particularly well: the chairman has as much power as he wishes, all of it unchecked. This constitution, incidentally, is not the creation of Butt's administration, but of the two preceding his. Butt, though, wants more power. The sports ministry, among others, wants him to have less.

In this constitution, the chairman is also the chief executive officer. He sits on the governing board (the senate of the PCB) and on the general body (the board's parliament). He appoints up to eight members of the governing board (the strength of which varies from 12 to 15 members). He appoints the captain, he approves selection of squads. The senior-most officers report only to him.

In recent administrations there has been valuable delegation of responsibility. Shafqat Naghmi, Saleem Altaf, Abbas Zaidi, Ramiz Raja, all provided not only necessary alternative centres of power, policy and thinking, they were, in themselves, a check on the chairman. Over the last two years, though, everything has concentrated solely around Butt. High-ranking officials refer every query to him, unwilling to speak at all themselves. When the ICC was trying to get in touch with him last weekend before releasing the statement about the Oval ODI, they didn't try anyone else at the PCB because they didn't know who the second-in-command is, or whether there was one.

Quite simply, power must be taken away from the chairman and spread around. Ideally the chairman should be a symbolic head and a CEO should be the man to run the institution. He need not be a man of cricket but one of proven ability to govern. Alongside the CEO, the character of the governing board - or executive council as it has been and might yet be called again - needs to change; it must at once become more independent and powerful. This body must become the engine of cricket administration.

Currently it has the elected heads of regional associations, an elected representative from departments (that are first-class sides), a couple of ex-Test cricketers, an official of the government, the chairman and an unfilled provision for technocrats. To this should be added more prominent ex-cricketers. There is no dearth of former players (such as Iqbal Qasim or Aamer Sohail, to name but two) with developed ideas of how the game can be better governed. Prominent modern leaders of business and industry must be included, to reflect the game's status as business and its future direction as a profitable one. Fewer members should be appointed directly by the chairman. A chief executive should, in fact, be hired by, and answerable to, the governing board.

UAE Stadium

And though there is a provision for a general body in the constitution, a larger, more representative body of stakeholders to steer cricket in a broader sense - to ensure development and representation in areas like interior Sindh and Balochistan, for example - Butt's administration hasn't even formed one yet.

Elsewhere must be made the more generic changes that any such organisation looking to reform makes. Over the years, to no discernible enhancement of productivity, the PCB workforce has grown to nearly 800. Admittedly in Butt's time they have tried to bring it down, and even if the days when five people ran the board are gone, much flab has to be cut. Happily, among the lower levels of management there are enough who prove that while entire organisations may be rotten, all the people inside them aren't necessarily that way.

These are not vast structural changes. The board does not need, as was suggested at one point in the mid-90s, to go public and float shares. Some call still for an unclear privatisation, but it is unlikely that this can, or should even, be done: the representation of a national side should not be left to what is by nature a private entity.

In any case, the real rot has sunk in at the very top and the process must begin from there. There simply is no other option.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo

 Feeds: Osman Samiuddin

Pakistan cricket team: Does lack of education instigate controversies?

Pakistan Cricket Team at Lords

Waqar Younis, the former strike bowler and current coach of the Pakistan cricket team has stressed that education at a very early age is extremely necessary as it would keep the cricket players away from allegations and controversies.

“Players should be trained and given proper education from the age of 16,” said Younis on his arrival in Lahore following the completion of the tour. “It’s very difficult to coach them at the international level if they are not trained. But if they are brought up with a proper education, it will definitely help them to stay away from controversies.”

But the question really is then, where should they be trained? There are hardly any institutions or academies that educate players. The National Academy, which was opened by General Tauqir Zia in Lahore, had courses which would groom the players, but not really educate them. By the end of the day, it all depends on the sort of background they come from and upbringing they have had.

Most of the cricket players that make it to the Pakistan cricket team come from very impoverished backgrounds, where their families are trying to survive and make ends meet. Therefore, education is not one of their priorities. In addition, most of the players belong to either villages or far-flung slums which do not have schools or proper educational institutions. It is just their passion for the game that gets them to the cricket team.

Once they reach the cricket team, they are suddenly exposed to a lot of money, innumerable social contacts, fame and popularity. The cricket players try to make the most of it, by making as much money as they can, and as quickly as possible and because of that the line between right and wrong becomes very fuzzy. If the players had gone through a rigorous education routine, they would have been able to stay away from the menace of match-fixing, spot-fixing and other such immoralities. They would have stayed in the right company.

But sometimes even this logic doesn’t hold true. If the allegations on the three cricket players are proved to be true, then even attainment of education cannot be of any help for a cricketer to get corrupt. The biggest example of this is that of the captain Salman Butt, who is relatively well-educated compared to his team mates. He is a graduate of Beaconhouse, Garden Town, Lahore. He comes from a very good background as well, where both his parents are educated and polished. If the allegations were true, then it would leave one in utter bewilderment as to why players coming from such solid background indulge in such activities.

Looking at the history of the match-fixing allegations on Pakistan, one would come across the names of some of the greatest players who have come from very educated backgrounds. For instance, Wasim Akram from Islamia College, Lahore, Waqar Younis who was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur, the Pakistani College in Sharjah and the Government College in Vehari, and most shockingly, Saeed Anwar, who was a NED graduate and was planning to go to the United States for graduate studies before he joined international cricket.

So this reaffirms the notion that education is not the only factor that plays a role in moulding the character of a cricket player. There are quite a few aspects that need to be considered, the upbringing of the player, being the most pivotal. The personal values and ethics that the player has been taught by his parents, the moral grounds of the player, his integrity, making the important distinction between right and wrong, are some of the factors that play a role in the cricketer’s character building.

One can only hope that such values are also thoroughly taught in the schools, colleges and universities, and the players are able to attain this sort of education. The Pakistan Cricket Board should finance the education of the players as it would prove to be an asset later on for the team.

Can Pakistan team produce a consistent cricket captain?

Shahid Afridi and Ricky Ponting

Pakistan cricket changes captains like T-shirts. In the last one and a half year, Pakistan has changed 4 captains. The latest casualty has been Salman Butt.

It all started after the retirement of the former captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq. Shoaib Malik was named the captain of the team after Inzamams retirement. His reign includes an ODI series win against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. A runner-up trophy in ICC World T20 answered some of the unresolved cricketing questions regarding the future of Pakistan team. Later, Pakistan greeted South Africa at home. South Africa has been the best test side in the world, and Pakistan lost a 2 match test series 1-0. The ODI series was exciting and both the teams crafted a good show. It was 2-2 going into the 5^th ODI. Shoaib Akhtar coming back from the ban, ended up with the excellent figures of 4/43, and restricted South Africa to a modest total of 233. Pakistan, in chase of a meagre target started off quite well. The team needed to score 25 runs in 40 balls with 5 wickets in hand. However, the team couldn’t perform up to the mark, making certain shots that were questionable. It was not soon that the players seemed relentless to remove Shoaib Malik from the captaincy.

Following the players demands and lowly performances, he was exited afterwards, when Pakistan lost ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2009. Some of the team members went to the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman in order to file a complaint against Shoaib Malik. They did not want to play in his captaincy. Amir Sohail suggested to the cricket board not to support the rebels in this matter. He was of the view that if the board supported the rebellion, similar patterns would be observed again.
Cricket Board named Younis Khan, the next captain. It seemed as if things were settled, but a hurricane could be sensed. Younis led the side well. A smart captain with a brilliant brain, was tactically well-equipped to lead the side. Younis certainly looked the ultimate solution for the troubled team. He started well in the test series against Sri Lanka, scoring a triple hundred. Younis led the side to their first World T20 title. Pakistan, once again started to look like a giant force, gain back its vigour and gleam.

The victorious Pakistan went to Sri Lanka on a high. But alas! Players again started lobbying against Younis Khan. They again, never wanted to play under their aggressive captain. Many senior cricketers started to cook conspiracy against the Younis Khan. The adversaries played their tolls and Pakistan was hammered by Sri Lanka in the test series 2-0. Pakistan lost both the test matches that could have been won easily. Once again, some of the rough shots played were to be questioned.

Senior team players, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik and some others took oath on Quran that they will be united against Younis Khan. Finally, they had their wish granted. The victorious, world T20 captain resigned from the job, refusing to tour down under.
Mohammad Yousuf, the senior pro was given this tedious job in New Zealand. Pakistan again lost from the position of strength. Chasing down a modest total of 251 runs, Pakistan was able to score 5/195, but then again they lost 5 wickets for 24 runs.

New Zealand tour then followed a disastrous Australian tour, where Pakistan lost every single game they played. Sydney test still is considered the biggest nightmare in the history of Pakistan cricket. Pakistan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Kamran Akmal dropped five sitters and missed the simplest run-out.

An inquiry committee looked into the matter, and Captain Mohammad Yousuf was handed an indefinite ban. However, the players who pleaded guilty are still playing. Shahid Afridi was handed over the captaincy duties in all formats, despite of concerns about his test comeback. He stared nicely and took his team to World T20 semi- finals, however, Pakistan failed to qualify for the Asia cup finals.

Recently, Pakistan was to take on Australia in England. They posted a whitewash in T20 matches against Australia. It was a good start. Shahid Afridi then announced his retirement from test cricket after a thumping loss to Australia at Lord’s.

Salman Butt, the vice captain on that tour was handed over the captaincy. A 15-year-old jinx was ended at Leeds with Pakistan finally beating Australia. Afterwards, a victory at the Oval against England after two dismal performances was pleasing.

Spot-fixing allegations chased Pakistan’s three top cricketers at the centre of Lord’s. Salman Butt, the captain alongside his fellow members Asif and Amir were suspended from further cricket.

Now Shahid Afridi is hinting a Test comeback in a series against South Africa. It is to be kept in mind by the Pakistan cricket officials that the frequent switching of captains is having adverse affects on the team’s unity and its performance. It is yet to be seen who takes over the crown of Pakistan cricket team.

The greatest victory in Pakistani history

Today Pakistani defeated the might of England.

It was a stab to the heart of the evil empire that conspires to keep the people of Pakistan down.

This was more than a cricket match, this was a struggle between the light and dark sides of humanity, and as we all know, there can be only one winner.

Pakistan won this battle.

They proud men in green had to defeat vicious rumours, global conspiracies, violent opposition players and Michael Yardy.

Other players, less Pakistani, would never have been able to withstand this sort of full frontal attack, but these boys did.

Or, it could be all lies.

Perhaps the English players took money to lose these matches.

This win could be part of the global conspiracy, just another slap in the face.

England could have made money while they laughed at the Pakistanis celebrating, they’re probably still giggling while they check their swiss accounts for the transfers.

They probably did it in conjunction with India, the ICC and the CIA. I bet the Catholic Church was involved too. Maybe Lindsay Lohan.

All part of a global united conspiracy to make Pakistan look stupid.

Ofcourse, Pakistan is winning, and we know what when Pakistan wins, something is up.

Also, if Pakistan lose, something is up.

Assumably if their is a tie or a draw, something is up.

I thought I saw Pakistan win a game of cricket.

But what I really saw was a confidence scam carried out by so many people that even when Pakistan win, they really lose.

The good news is, that when Pakistan lose, they really win.

When the tie or draw, the win, lose and have no result.

If it rains, farmers win.

When there is bad light, everyone loses.

YOU SEE, DO YOU SEE, NOTHING IS WHAT IT IS, EVERYTHING IS SOMETHING ELSE EVEN WHEN IT IS THE SAME OR DIFFERENT.

Maybe Pakistan did win this game of cricket, maybe the global conspiracy let them win this one, maybe they just played better cricket and won the game.

Or, perhaps this world only exists in Ijaz Butts’ mind.

You, I and Nathan Hauritz do not exist, we are merely part of the most detailed nightmare Ijaz has ever had.

It has to be a nightmare, because otherwise there would be more unicorns and leg spinners.

Why the third Pakistan-England ODI was not fixed

The passion in Gul’s awkward celebrations could not be an act.

I believed the original charges against our spot-fixing trio, but the fresh accusations about the third ODI are, in the words of Shahid Khan Afridi, “Absolute rubbish”.

I bought into the original accusations because of the little things: the size of the no-ball; the picture in which Butt was watching Aamir after delivery; the way he was stuttering during the press conference; the way he failed to plead innocent, and most of all Aamir’s slumped shoulders the next day.

This time around, the little things point the other way. I watched the entire match, and I saw the tension on Afridi’s face. I saw it replaced by relief and joy when the match was won. I saw Razzaq’s nerves-of-steel terminator look morph into boyish delight after taking the last wicket. I saw the passion in Gul’s awkward celebrations and the sincerity in his eyes as he looked up at the sky. I heard Shoaib’s laboured grunts and groans in the last over.

All this was not an act. It was a genuine effort, and a genuine win. Anyone who has seen the awkward cellular or ‘Jabardaaast’ Shampoo ads, knows that our players are no where CLOSE to being such good actors.

Now let’s look at more empirical factors. First of all, Haroon Logartshould really make public what the ‘prior information’ was that turned out to be so true and has him so convinced. What point is there in concealing any longer?

In any case, the first rumoured accusation is the slow scoring rate in the early half of Pakistan’s innings. Our openers did not stick around for long enough to control the innings, and the freak way in which Kamran got out, well if he did that on purpose, the man’s a magician.

The majority of scoring was done by Asad and Fawad. Now Asad’s being in this game is a surprise, his debut was a result of the spot-fixing crackdown and resulting suspensions. This negates any theories that the betting mafia had the players in for the deal long before the tour and were proving difficult to get rid off.

As for more recent fixes, well, confidence in Asad’s ability to score-at any rate whatsoever- is something he himself would be short on. I doubt any bookie would place large amounts of money on his skill.

This brings us to the last possible prediction: That the run rate will be around three when Fawad is at the crease. Well you don’t need Nostradamus to predict that. I could write it in a report and it would prove true every match.

Lastly, ECB has been given confirmation that England players and management are in the clear. I normally hate the Pakistani knee-jerk defence of “They are out to get us”, but this is just ridiculous. How can the English players be cleared before the investigation is complete?

England had the match for majority of the time, and rates would have been well in their favor before the collapse. The way their batting order folded caught the attention of even our beloved Ijaz Butt. If that doesn’t raise an eyebrow nothing will.

Investigating a match for fixing, in which the losing side is exempt of suspicion is simply ridiculous.

Gullers wraps Pakistan in brilliance

Pakistan won yesterday and it's quite brilliant you know. On the other hand it isn't too brilliant because I had decided not to post if they lost. 

Yesterday was all about Gullers and his amazing sixer. Oh, it was amazing. So amazing it killed all the amazingness in the Poms and made you remember how amazing Gul can actually be. He seriously can, even though he played like a horrible dabbler for a while. But now it's all over, all of you should forgive him, and watch replays of his fifer against NZ past year to wallow even more in his amazingness. Do it or he might turn to match-fixing if not appreciated. 

"I'm so AMAZINGLY amazing."

Before you drown in Guls's amazingness and get it in your head to blame me for murdering you, let me remind you that there was a cluster of other amusing events too. One of them was of course our very own potty screwball Captain Shahid's dismissal.
It was one of those bedevilling dismissals where you think nothing has happened only to see the batsman heading to the pavilion after a while, and only after a bunch of replays you get the situation. 

On a first impression it seems like another insane brainfreeze on Afridi's part. Maybe he was thinking, "Tralala, see how gracefully I jog to the other end; Cheetah shoes must be watching. Oops, there comes the ball, I'm nearly in but let's not rush things or it will disturb the whole effect of the jog." And then he was out.
But if you decipher the situation you will see how Captain Shahid with his super bionic left eye saw the ball approaching with incredible speed and with proficient athletic skill swung to the right to avoid getting his leg bone crushed. That's 10 out of 10 for skilfully planning ahead.

Other than this, Fawad Alam made a nice contribution and old-codger Razzaq displayed his late cameo abilities again. 241 still looked like a crappy score but thankfully the Pommie batsmen were even more crap and so the Stanis won.
And now all of us will have to watch the next game too because it won't be a deadrubber. You're only allowed to miss deadrubbers and a few T20 games of cricket.

Edit: And now I hear the ICC will investigate the match because of fixing rumours. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

A scandalous confession

A scandalous confession

Shoaib Akhtar is so fast he shakes the confidence of light that it is the fastest thing in the universe© Getty Images

Saturday, September 4th
The events of recent days have brought back some unpleasant memories; memories of an episode in my past of which I am not particularly proud. Since I feel, though, that we are all friends here and since I am fairly sure that none of you work for a tabloid newspaper, I thought it might be cathartic if I unburdened myself.

It happened many years ago, when running around on a hot afternoon still seemed like a good idea. I was playing backyard cricket and with the game at a critical point, I assayed a glorious lofted shot, sending the ball straight over my brother’s head and straight through the glass of our parents' bedroom window.

As you might imagine, there ensued something of an enquiry. My hastily constructed defence rested on the following series of ingenious arguments: 

1. I never done nothing
2. You can’t prove I done it
3. Your proof is fake
4. You’re biased against me
5. The Indian Secret Service made me do it
6. I am very young
7. Okay, I might have done it but I’m not the only person who’s ever broken a window with a cricket ball

Surprisingly, despite the fact that I’d been apprehended with bat in hand and that our next-door neighbour had caught the whole thing on video, I was let off with a gentle talking to and a suspended pocket-money reduction. But I’d learned my lesson and from that day to this, I doubt if I’ve broken that window more than a dozen times.

Sunday, September 5th
It’s Sunday, so it must be cricket scandal day. This whole affair has put the upstanding cricket fan in a tricky position. On the one hand, we want to know what is going on. On the other hand, we don’t want to be seen purchasing a certain publication. Even visiting their website makes you feel rather seedy and warrants a swift deletion of your browsing history. The good news for Pakistan cricketers, though not so good for Premier League footballers, is that the normally sex-obsessed paper’s temporary interest in investigative sports journalism seems to be wearing off.

And the good news for cricket fans everywhere is that the Rawalpindi Express is still chugging along. Good old Shoaib’s misdemeanours seem rather quaint with the benefit of hindsight and there have even been those who suggested that he might have hit Asif rather harder when he had the chance. His run-up has dwindled, he sweats up like a horse having its first canter of the season, but he’s unmistakably a thoroughbred and it was fun to see him blowing Kieswetter away and then blowing him a kiss. Now if he can just get himself fit and not do anything silly…

Tuesday, September 7th
Goodness me, that was dull. A drizzly Tuesday afternoon, a half-empty stadium and the limpest Pakistan batting performance since the last one. Their supporters have had to swallow a lot this week, yet still they journeyed down to Cardiff in the rain to cheer on the men in green. They deserved a spirited performance. Naturally, they didn’t get one.

But my personal lowlight was the interminable, matey post-walkover chat between Ian Ward and Paul Collingwood: England are brilliant; Eoin Morgan’s a genius; you must be very happy, yada yada yada. The problem is that Sky’s ex-pros are perfectly equipped, from personal experience, to deliver in-depth analysis of massive English defeats. When England win, they are forced to grope for superlatives and come across like sycophantic cheerleaders in sensible trousers. 

Mohammad Irfan's tall story can help remedy cricket's summer of shame

Pakistan's 6ft 10in pace prospect could prove a triumph of talent perseverance in an era of cynicism

Mohammad Irfan - Pakistan cricket's latest pace bowling hope towers above team-mates and opponents. Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images

After a summer ruined by Mr Fix-it and the flannelled fools he preyed on, who do we feel more sorry for? For those beyond the boundary whose faith in clay-feet heroes can be unshakeable even in the worst of times? For stalwarts like Anil Kumble who worry that their legacy is tarnished after long careers that often involved surmounting intolerable pain and adversity? Or for young men and women who dreamt of one day gracing cricket's greatest amphitheatres?

Friday marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. For Mohammad Irfan, who stands 2.1 metres (6ft 10in) in his socks, it could also be the culmination of the most remarkable of sporting odysseys. A little over a year ago, convinced that his chance had gone, the 28-year-old was working in a plastic-pipe factory. Last month, the Kolkata Knight Riders signed a $75,000 (£48,500) deal with him for the fourth season of the Indian Premier League. Now, with the Mohammads, Asif and Amir, scratched from the one-day side, he could become the tallest man to play international cricket.

In times like this, we need our feel-good stories, and Irfan's is as improbable as they come. The quest for daily bread and the distraction offered by club cricket were his priorities when a website run by Pakistan fans interviewed Nadeem Iqbal, who once shared the new ball with Waqar Younis for the Multan region. During the course of that chat, Iqbal raved about the young giant who played for the Gaggu Cricket Club.

When that information was passed on to Aaqib Javed, working with the Pakistan Cricket Academy, he decided to call Irfan over to Lahore and see what he had. Within months, he had made his first-class debut for Khan Research Laboratories and a haul of 43 wickets in 10 games earned him a place on the fringes of the national set-up.

His village, Gaggu Mandi in Punjab's interior, is once again on the cricket map, more than a decade after injury cruelly snuffed out the career of another tearaway fast bowler. Matthew Engel once poignantly referred to Colin Milburn, his boyhood hero, as "the cricketer we could least afford to lose". Englishmen born a couple of decades later probably think of Ben Hollioake the same way. For me, the words "young talent" and "regret" are forever intertwined with two names, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Mohammad Zahid. One could have been as good as Warne if he hadn't lost his way. The other remains the fastest bowler I've laid eyes on, hurling the ball with a ferocity that his back ultimately couldn't withstand.

When you think of Zahid, you think of a World Series game at the Gabba in January 1997. The West Indies won that night, but Carl Hooper, man of the match after a gritty half-century, announced that the quick he'd faced was a "couple of yards quicker than ours". Considering that the Caribbean arsenal still included Ambrose, Bishop and Walsh, it was some compliment.

"The talking point of the night, however, was the storming Australian international debut of stringbean Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Zahid," said the Wisden Almanack. "In a Test-style confrontation, he captured the Gabba crowd's attention by livening up Lara with speed and lift and eventually snared him with a snick behind. Hooper branded the 21-year-old [he was actually 20] Zahid the fastest bowler he had faced on tour."

But after just five Tests and 11 one-day games, the dream was over . While Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait soaked up the acclaim that came with breaching the 100mph barrier, Zahid receded into the recesses of our memory. All he has are the flashbacks and when he says that he was a better bowler than Shoaib because he could swing the ball at that pace, there will be at least a handful of us who nod our heads in sympathy.

Irfan is not fast, but his height makes him a dangerous proposition for any batsman. In a recent tri-series in Sri Lanka also featuring South Africa A, his best performances came against the hosts as he exploited the diffidence that many batsmen from the region have against the short ball.

The youngest of five brothers [he also has two sisters], Irfan also played basketball with the army for a while. But it was his ability to propel a cricket ball from Joel Garner-height that first caught the eye. To get to Gaggu Mandi, you take the Lahore-Multan Highway and then turn left at Sahiwal. If you go on another 20 minutes past the village, you reach Burewala, Waqar's hometown.

"I was playing barefoot for the school team in my small village when Miah Shafqat Zahoor of the Gaggu Cricket Club from Gaggu Mandi saw me bowling," said Irfan in an interview with Pakpassion, the website that facilitated his remarkable journey. "I was already very tall back then and he came to me after the game to offer me a place at his club. He told me that they would train me, give me the proper cricket shoes that I needed and play me in their team. Nadeem Iqbal's academy is linked to the Gaggu Club and that's how I got to know him."

With a father as tall as him and brothers who are 6'5" and 6'3", it's probably fair to say that the tall gene runs in the family. But while the bouncer comes naturally to him, it's the ability to land the ball on a spot that makes him a tricky opponent. A right-hander who bowls with his left arm, he gets that natural shape away from right-handed batsmen and the sessions with Aaqib have seen him develop the delivery that shapes back in as well.

He's no speed merchant, and his choice of role model gives some idea of what his methods are going to be like. "Ambrose really caught my attention because he was a tall fast bowler like me," he says. "I've tried to learn as much as I can from watching videos of him."

When he walks out in his nation's colours for the first time, he will find himself part of a battle to restore the game's credibility. But that aside, every ball he bowls will also be a tribute to perseverance and to the likes of Zahid, who walked down the same road not so long ago.

Why the News of the World's Pakistan story was justified

There are four major questions to ask about the News of the World'ssting operation on the Pakistan cricket team.

Q1. Did the paper have prima facie evidence of wrongdoing?

Q2. Was it proportionate to offer so much money to (relatively) poorly-paid and young sportsmen?

Q3. Was the offer couched in such a way that the cricketers were unaware of the gravity of what they were being asked to do?

Q4. Was there a genuine public interest in exposing (alleged) sporting corruption?

So let's consider them one by one. My answers are tentative, and based on informed guesswork, because we do not have the facts. But they are the questions that deserve answers (and, arguably, a little more information from the paper).

A1. Given the nature of rumours about corruption within Pakistan cricket, it's highly likely that the paper's investigations editor Mazher Mahmood did, as he wrote yesterday, receive a tip-off.

He explained that "the crucial extra piece of information... was the nameMazhar Majeed, a millionaire businessman who acted as an agent for Pakistani players" (who also happens to own Croydon Athletic football club).

This sounds straightforward enough, and Mahmood does detail his meetings with Majeed at two London hotels, including (supposedly) verbatim - dare I say ball-by-ball? - accounts of their conversations.

A2. Majeed may be a millionaire, but the players are not. Now, I'd guess that many people would be tempted by £150,000 to do something which, on the face of it, appears relatively harmless.

Tossing down a couple of no-balls is no big deal, after all, though I readily concede that it could have been the thin end of the wedge.

If we accept Mahmood's account, then Majeed was just indulging in a dry run with the no-ball business. He claimed to have fixed a match in Australia and was clearly prepared to fix a Test match.

Again, if one accepts Majeed's statements at face value, £150k was a small sum for him to make. But the pay-outs promised to low-paid players should be seen in a different light.

Though it's possible to argue that the sums given to them would have been disproportionate, I don't think Mahmood or the News of the World could be certain how much each player would receive. So the paper is exonerated on this charge.

A3. We cannot be be sure of how the offer was couched to the players by Majeed. Did they really do it for the money, for instance, or because it seemed like a bit of harmless horse-play?

Even if they were doing it to make money, they may well not have seen it as a form of cheating because there's a supplementary question to ask here: is the climate of corruption so deep within Pakistan cricket that this was viewed as unexceptional?

A4. I like sport and I like cricket. I support Essex and England. I understand the desire to win and the passion it arouses in both players and spectators.

Sport is meaningless if it is fixed because it is, at its heart, all about competition. Otherwise, there is no point to it.

People who do not like sport may well take a different view. They may see it as nothing more than a branch of the entertainment industry and, as such, fixing what happens is no big deal. So where, they might ask, is the public interest in exposing it?

Though I have also grown increasingly cynical in recent years about corruption in sport (such as the use of performance-enhancing drugs), I cannot agree.

I do believe that there is a genuine public interest in exposing sporting corruption (though I readily concede it's less important than, say, political and financial corruption).

All of this suggests, does it not, that I am relaxed about the News of the World's story? Well, on the basis of what we know and can surmise, I am.

Of course, there is much that we do not know and we also have to accept that Mahmood's written account of his meetings with Majeed is entirely truthful and comprehensive. It is possible that there were crucial omissions and also possible that there were other enticements offered to Majeed and the players.

But I always say that journalistic investigations that involve subterfuge and entrapment - as with intrusions into privacy - need to be viewed on a case-by-case basis.

However critical I am of the News of the World and Mahmood for their over-reliance on stings, they do not get it wrong every time. The Pakistan exposure appears to be justified.