fatman17
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Wasim Akram by Ashley Mallett.
To me, cricketing heaven would be Wasim Akram and Shane Warne bowling in tandem to Victor Trumper and Don Bradman.
When he came in to bowl, Wasim was a mirror image of Keith Miller, the great Australian allrounder, whose build, athleticism and good looks captured the imagination. Wasim excelled at the highest level with the ball - often on wickets that did not provide much in the way of pace and bounce. He could move the ball - new or old - either way. His efforts with the old ball, especially, were fabulous; he learnt better than anyone how to rough one side of the ball up in such a way that he could achieve reverse swing.
Wasim had a style of his own. He'd shuffle to the crease, transfer his weight from back foot to front, and with an incredibly swift arm action left fly with a searing bouncer, a late inswinging yorker, or a ball he held back to lure the batsman into an indiscreet off- or cover drive. The best Pakistani fast bowler since the halcyon days of Imran Khan, Wasim was a match-winner with the ball, but I also recall him once batting with Imran when both of them hit centuries at the Adelaide Oval to thwart an Australian victory.
I've seen some fabulous left-arm pace bowlers in my time, including Alan Davidson and Garry Sobers, but none of them at their top quite gets above Wasim. He invariably wove some magic and brought the deadest of pitches to life. I can still see in that Adelaide Test Steve Waugh shoulder arms to a wonderful inswinging yorker that would have scattered all three uprights, ending up being palpably lbw.
To me, cricketing heaven would be Wasim Akram and Shane Warne bowling in tandem to Victor Trumper and Don Bradman.
When he came in to bowl, Wasim was a mirror image of Keith Miller, the great Australian allrounder, whose build, athleticism and good looks captured the imagination. Wasim excelled at the highest level with the ball - often on wickets that did not provide much in the way of pace and bounce. He could move the ball - new or old - either way. His efforts with the old ball, especially, were fabulous; he learnt better than anyone how to rough one side of the ball up in such a way that he could achieve reverse swing.
Wasim had a style of his own. He'd shuffle to the crease, transfer his weight from back foot to front, and with an incredibly swift arm action left fly with a searing bouncer, a late inswinging yorker, or a ball he held back to lure the batsman into an indiscreet off- or cover drive. The best Pakistani fast bowler since the halcyon days of Imran Khan, Wasim was a match-winner with the ball, but I also recall him once batting with Imran when both of them hit centuries at the Adelaide Oval to thwart an Australian victory.
I've seen some fabulous left-arm pace bowlers in my time, including Alan Davidson and Garry Sobers, but none of them at their top quite gets above Wasim. He invariably wove some magic and brought the deadest of pitches to life. I can still see in that Adelaide Test Steve Waugh shoulder arms to a wonderful inswinging yorker that would have scattered all three uprights, ending up being palpably lbw.
