It is a sad reflection of the state of Pakistani cricket in particular, and a microcosm of the corruption in Pakistani society in general, that the greatest left arm pace bowler in the history of cricket-acknowledged as such by his peers and experts alike-has been forced to retire from cricket in such an unceremonious fashion. Once again politics has played its ugly role in the demise of a legendary cricketer--arguably the greatest bowler the game has ever seen. Most international players pick him in their All-Time Cricket XI. Wisden--the bible of cricket--voted him Number 1 in their list of the greatest 100 bowlers in ODI cricket history.

There IS no argument about whether or not he is the greatest left-armer ever (he is by a mile in both forms of the game!) and as to whether he is the greatest of all pace bowlers--it is a debate which would never end; some will pick him, others prefer Marshall (including Akram himself), or Lillee or Ambrose or Roberts or Hadlee or Waqar. Still he is in that most select group of fast bowlers in the history of the game. He is also the most successful there has ever been. His statistics are extraordinary:

TESTS
(including 09/01/2002)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 104 147 19 2898 257* 22.64 3 7 44 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 3771.1 871 9779 414 23.62 7-119 25 5 54.6 2.59

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
(including 04/03/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 356 280 55 3717 86 16.52 88.28 0 6 88 0

O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 3031 238 11812 502 23.52 5-15 17 6 36.2 3.89

That is a total of **916** international wickets!! The mind boggles! And it is not just the sheer number of wickets he has taken that puts him in the group of most elite bowlers. He--along with Waqar Younis--his partner in crime (another legend on the verge of forced retirement thanks to the dimwits who run Pakistani cricket) completely revolutionised fast bowling history with their mastery of reverse-swing. At the time--when at their peak these two were running through sides like a hot knife through butter--it was put down to ball-tampering by the opposition (read England). Now that the rest of the fast bowling world has caught up--10 years later!--it is no longer considered ball tampering. But though at his pomp Waqar was the more devastating (indeed no bowler since the Second World War has been more penetrating than him at his peak) Wasim has always been the more complete bowler. He could do practically anything with the ball--inswing, outswing, reverse swing in both directions, off cutters, vicious bouncers, late cutters, swinging yorkers, perfectly disguised slower balls, over the wicket, round the wicket! Most players in their auto/biographies who played against both of them say they preferred to face Waqar because although he was devastating you basically knew what was coming--with Wasim though you never knew as he could bowl six different deliveries in one over! Amazing.

Statistically too these two are most successful bowling pair in history with the most wickets between them in the least matches. Another amazing fact about Akram is that he took 53% of his wickets bowled or LBW. No one in the game’s annals can match that (except Waqar who has 57% of his victims LBW or bowled). This is because unlike bowlers before him he didn’t rely just on the bouncer or short balls but pitched the ball up-at blistering pace-and let it reverse-swing through the air. Compare these percentages with some of the other legendary bowlers in the game:

"For the purposes of comparison, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh obtained only a third of their wickets without the aid of a fieldsman or keeper, while the figures of Dennis Lillee (33 per cent), Richard Hadlee (40 per cent) and Malcolm Marshall (40 per cent) imply the different devices of an earlier generation. That 29 per cent of Akram’s wickets have been secured lbw is freakish, considering the onus on a left-arm bowler seeking an umpire’s indulgence from over the wicket. " (Gideon Haigh writing in the Wisden Online edition about Akram).

In his youth he was very fast indeed-- though he was overshadowed in that department ( yet again!) by Waqar Younis who was just a phenomenon in his prime--and often relied on the sheer pace and short stuff to get the batsmen out. Anyone remembering his match against Australia in 1984/5 when he took 5-21 will know what I mean. In his opening spell he often bowled extremely short and nasty, and fast, for the better part of his career and some of his duals with opening batsmen have become legendary: Haynes and, his Lancashire teammate, Atherton who simply rates Akram (and Waqar) as ’the best I ever played against’.

He is also the only player to have taken hatricks in both forms of the game! On top of all this he has played for, and captained for a while, Lancashire, for nearly a decade! His longevity has been remarkable and he remained a terrifying prospect for the batsmen right until the end--the ignoble World Cup campaign of earlier this year. Akram though, in parts, rolled back the years and shone, especially in the first match against the Aussies where he gave a short masterclass-as it turned out for the last time.

On top of this he has made over 3000 test match runs too and has a highest score of 257! Botham--hardly the greatest fan of Pakistani cricket--says of him that he is the best cricketer in the world, certainly in the ODI version of the game, bar none. Ever. That’s some praise!

His great mentor and discoverer, the great Imran Khan, said:
"I reckon Wasim and West Indian Michael Holding are two of the best and most natural fast bowlers of the century", whilst talking to the Associated Press on Akram’s retirement according to Wisden, the bible of cricket.

Perhaps the greatest highlight of his career was the final of the 1992 World Cup when he was instrumental in Pakistan’s victory with his great bowling performance. The two deliveries to remove Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in successful balls will for ever remain etched in the memory of all Pakistanis and cricket fans alike. The one swinging in then straightening past Lamb’s bat at fierce pace at the last moment to knock his stumps over and then a big late inswinger to get rid of Lewis. Or how about the ball he bowled to Lara--the world’s best player--a big inswinging toe-crusher which broke his toe and forced him to retire?

All over the world he has produced similar unplayable balls--Richie Benaud once remarked that Akram bowls more unplayable deliveries than anyone else--and his record against the best team of the latter half of his career-Australia-is also superb. That is the mark of a great player--when he performs against the best.



I saw him bowl many great spells in test match cricket--almost all of them with Younis at the other end--on numerous occassions against England in 1992, 1996 and 1999 and I consider it a privelege to have seen him bowl. Despite the injuries and controversies--match-fixing allegations--he was one of a kind and a great cricketer.

So another great career comes to an end. Announcing his retirement Akram told Sky Sports: "I have enjoyed every bit of it.
There are no regrets. There have been ups and downs but I would not have changed it for anything else." (BBC site)


We wont see his like again for many a blue moon, if ever. Wasim Akram Zindabad!