CRICKET: Luke Alfred
HANSIE CRONJE’S comments after the Mandela Cup victory at the Wanderers last Thursday night were noticeably cautious. Captain sensible he may be, but privately Cronje must fancy his chances against a side which has been playing cricket continuously now for almost 12 months.
Another reason why cautious optimism might be the appropriate catchphrase in the South African dressing room is the absence of the injured Waqar Younis. Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam has made provision for Waqar’s absence by asking the Pakistan board to fly out an immediate replacement. But his worries don’t stop there, though, as he’s concerned about both lack of net practice and — in a wonderful irony given that Pakistan are playing South Africa — the brittleness of his side’s middle order.
When I raise the issue of Basit Ali and Saeed Anwar’s loss of form, Alam replies: ”Well actually this can happen. It always happens you know, some of your players are not in good nick, and some are in very good nick — and some will come good in their own time. I know that in the two finals which we have played our batting has let us down. The first match which we lost we should have walked through — such a good start; and in the other game we collapsed in our middle order.”
The veteran leg-spinner’s worries must however be placed in context. After their series win against the Australians in November, Pakistan remain one of the finest — if not the finest — side in world cricket, their only loss in recent years coming in the West Indies. (They haven’t lost a home series for over 25 years.) Salim Malik was in superb form during the series against the Aussies (scoring 557 runs, average: 92.8) as was Aamir Sohail.
Added to the continuing good form of Malik and Sohail is the swashbuckling power of Iijaz Ahmed, the casual elegance of Inzamam, and the quiet artistry of Akram Raza. They might be low with homesickness and injury worries, but ”cautiously optimistic” is as far as Cronje dare go.
Ascendency in the Test might boil down to nothing more than ability to adapt to the expanded format. I asked Intikhab if he was in any way apprehensive about the rapid transition from one-day to 5-day cricket. ”Well actually, one thing’s for sure, they’re all professionals, this is their job,” he tells me. ”’Specially on international circuit these days, where so much cricket is being played, I mean we’ve got to accept that.”
The hardships of touring being what they are, the Pakistanis receive 2 salaries when away from home. The quirk comes as a result of a national law which stipulates that any Pakistani representing his country gets paid his normal salary (many of the players here in South Africa play for either banks or the Pakistan national airline) as well as a stipend from the state. In future I’m going to petition my sports editor to pay me twice when writing about Pakistani cricketers. Then again, perhaps I’m chancing my arm.