Pakistan's pace tempered by ill-discipline (7 June 1999)

7 June 1999

Pakistan's pace tempered by ill-discipline

Mark Nicholas

In his television interview after Saturday's marvellously emotive match at Trent Bridge, an utterly gracious Wasim Akram said that the better team on the day had won. Well, I don't know about that Wasim, I really don't. I'd have said that the most sane team won and acknowledged shotaway fans who must lurch to hell and back every time this lot are on the park.

Pakistan have a terrific team but boy, don't they put the nervous system through the shredder.

The exhilarating and at the same time exhausting 3.5 hours which they spent in the field on Saturday afternoon demonstrated all that is so compelling about the way Pakistan play the game. Passages of exaggerated brilliance were interspersed first with misplaced arrogance and then a succession of howlers which cost them the match. Even Wasim, such an inspiration, lost concentration and by the end had probably lost most of his marbles. He was in the sick bay on Friday, weak with flu. By Saturday night he must have wished he had stayed there.

Midway through South Africa's run chase, at the moment Jonty Rhodes was fifth out, lbw for the second consecutive match, there was only one winner. A quite thrilling display of fast bowling had ripped open the batting and given the other five contenders for the crown a chilling reminder of Pakistan's potency.

Say what you like about the attraction of cricket in general, but nothing quite boils the blood like a truly fast bowler in full flight. Conclusively Shoaib Akhtar is one of these and the way he screamed in at the South Africans, hurling mind and body at them as if each exertion might have been his last, was the stuff of comic-book heroes, the stuff which children aspire to and imitate.

It is no coincidence that since Imran Khan stepped into Pakistan's fast-bowling void with his own brand of swinging speed, others - most noticeably Wasim and Waqar Younis - have followed. The pitches at home may not encourage the art but the heroes do. As Shoaib cranked it up to something near full tilt, so the speed gun moved from 89 to 95mph and the predominantly Pakistani crowd whipped themselves into a near-demented frenzy.

This was what the World Cup had waited for, something out of the ordinary, something to get the people on their feet.

Fast bowling is hard. It takes strength because of the physical demand and courage, for there is much pain.

Most of all it takes skill to pitch the ball accurately from such a random, frantic base. First the long sprint, then the complicated body action and then the extension in the follow-through. Fast bowling is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Less than a month ago Mushtaq Mohammad became Pakistan's temporary coach. During his first practice in charge, he watched Shoaib and suggested that he ran too far and that anyway his approach was too fast, that he should accelerate gradually and reach top pace nearer the crease.

Shoaib's reply was a cracker. It went something like this: "Coach, I'm 21 years old. In two years' time I'll be injured and will have to cut my run and perhaps rethink my action. For now, I'll charge in and bowl as fast as I can, if that's alright with you . . ."

Right, said Mushtaq, fair enough.

This is the way Imran encouraged the young Wasim to bowl and it is the philosophy with which Pakistan play their cricket.

It is admirable and intoxicating and should not be stifled. But to win World Cups it needs discipline, too, and Pakistan lost their shape on Saturday afternoon because their bowlers, after the initial splendour, relaxed and consequently lost their discipline.

South Africa's opponents must remember that ripping them open is one thing, getting a hold of their heart is quite another. While Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock sewed up the wound by cleverly milking the previously unfathomable Saqlain Mushtaq, Pakistan cruised.

Wasim was confused by the process, which gathered momentum while Saqlain was left bowling for too long. The pattern of the match changed and Pakistan's moment had gone. South Africa took their chance to regroup and the base was then laid for Lance Klusener's astonishing assault.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph