This is a great read and it was written before yesterday’s match as well. Looks like Dean Jones isn’t the only one to have predicted these boys are the one’s that can knock the Aussies off their perch.
Latif rebuilds for a healthy future
Pakistan were not merely beaten on Friday, they were knocked out in the third round by England’s opening bowlers and by Marcus Trescothick. It will take a psychologically strong side to recover immediately and win the mini-cup final that the third NatWest Challenge match has become.
The sight of Trescothick advancing towards them with his bludgeon will be imprinted on the minds of Pakistan’s bowlers if they are weak. In such a mood Trescothick bats like a souped-up and more talented Matthew Hayden, which made last winter so disappointing when England’s lefthanded opener could not match Australia’s in aggression and self-belief.
For half of Pakistan’s team it will be their first appearance at Lord’s, and we have already seen this summer the daunting effect that can have on a young touring party. Rashid Latif’s reconstructed team are almost as inexperienced as Zimbabwe’s in the top three of their batting order, which was their weakness at the Oval and may prove to be again at Lord’s. The comparison ends there, however, for if Pakistan can leap over the psychological hurdle that is in front of them today, they could well go on to become the country who - not in a year or two but maybe four or five - dethrone Australia.
It would be gratifying to prophesy the same future for England’s reconstructed team if they win this series, but it is not only the duty of impartiality which forbids. In keeping with the grand design of their coach, Duncan Fletcher, England are well on the way to producing a fine XI - possibly a whole squad - of rounded, multi-skilled cricketers performing to a consistently high level in all conditions.** But when it comes to the highest hurdle, like defeating Australia in either form of cricket, the odds have to be on Pakistan.**
Whereas eight Ashes defeats have burnt themselves into the psyche of English cricket as deeply as a child entrapped in nightmares, Pakistan have no such inhibitions. More than any other Test country, they continue to produce bowlers who want to bowl as fast as they can or spin the ball as hard as they can, and, as with the other Asian Test countries, they have the advantage that their elite athletes are attracted to cricket alone for a career. Above all though it is the mind-set of the Pakistan player which inspires the impartial observer to think they are the team who will eventually beat Australia.
In the 1980s Pakistan were the only team to live with the West Indian world champions. Led, or lorded over, by Imran Khan they drew three consecutive Test series 1-1. Even if Trescothick spooks them today, Pakistan have proved they are no respecters of reputations, while England are. Flair and aggression seem to be welcomed more warmly in Lahore than London. In the 1992 World Cup final between England and Pakistan, the better team lost to the more aggressive one.
In the decade after Imran’s retirement, Pakistan’s cricket was damaged by decadence in various forms, most infamously match-fixing or, as it evolved to be, ‘exotic’ or ‘fancy’ betting on occurrences during a game. Since the World Cup in March, however, Pakistan have laid solid foundations for a revival by removing the old lags whose names do not deserve to be remembered by posterity. This fresh moral earnestness will be there for all to see at Lord’s in the ground-fielding, which is now considered to be the most committed that Pakistan have ever had.
From top to bottom Pakistan cleaned up their act - with precious little assistance from the International Cricket Council or the Anti-Corruption Unit - by installing five men in key positions: Rameez Raja as chief executive, Haroon Rashid as team manager, Aamir Sohail as chairman of selectors, Javed Miandad as coach and restoring the 34-year-old Latif to the captaincy which he briefly held in 1997-98.
Between them these five testified in front of Justice Qayyum that match-fixing had taken place, named Pakistan players, cited matches and accused the old lags of either corrupting younger players or getting them dropped from the national side.
Latif went furthest of all, producing tape-recordings and copies of cheques made out to Salim Malik, the former Pakistan captain who was then banned for life. It must rank as one of the bravest acts by any cricketer, given that the mafia syndicate who were behind the players are based in Latif’s home city of Karachi. To date he remains the only active player to have named match-fixers, though after his hasty retirement the late Hansie Cronje implicated the two Cape Coloureds, Henry Williams and Herschelle Gibbs, in his South African team.
When speaking in public or on television, in English or through an interpreter, Latif does not make a favourable impression. This is deceptive. His fibre is better judged by the scar made by the ball which hit him in the face on Tuesday night: he still carried on keeping wicket, without a helmet, because he feels uncomfortable in one. And he is rare, if not unique, among world wicketkeepers in that he only appeals if he believes the batsman is out.
“We have changed the dressing-room attitude since the World Cup,” Latif said in presentable English, away from any cameras. “We used to have six or seven star players, here we are 22 team-mates living together and respecting each other. No junior, no senior, that concept is finished. One team and no ‘I’ in the team. That is my philosophy.” And a completely novel one in a country still bound by traditional hierarchies.
"We are teaching them how to play cricket on and off the field [an implicit reference to the new code that they have to report any approach from bookmakers or be expelled from the team]. I told the boys: ‘Don’t be scared of failure, take the risks but calculated risks, and never give up.’ He noted several of the new players when he was out of the Pakistan side and playing domestic cricket, and recommended them to the new selectors. He also got the match fees of junior players raised from a few hundred dollars to $1,000 (£600) per one-day international and is lobbying for central contracts.
Latif also set up his own academy in Karachi, an idea born of his personal experience. “My father was a sobaidar [corporal] in the Indian army. When my parents came to Karachi we lived in a very poor area, no clean water, no school, no facilities. Four brothers, one sister, we lived in one room.” It was only when his father became an accountant for the Gulf Oil Company that he was able to educate his children, and Latif was studying civil engineering at university when he was selected for the 1992 tour of England. But he did not forget his origins, set up his academy before the eight regional bodies which the Pakistan Board have just opened, and does not charge the pupils, three of whom have graduated to the current party.
Since Latif took over as captain, Pakistan have won a one-day tournament in Sharjah and been runners-up in Sri Lanka and, above all, won back their integrity. Perhaps the best result would be if England triumph today, in the long run the new Pakistan.
