Re: Pakistani Players in Counties Season 2006
Mohammad Asif celebrates with his Leicestershire team-mates, Essex v Leicestershire, Chelmsford, May 4, 2006
“World-class” Asif boosts hopes of first Championship win
The Pakistan paceman extracted life out of the Chelmsford pitch to claim figures of 5-56 as Essex were dismissed for 242 in their reply to Leicestershire’s first innings total of 417 on the second day.
But as Boon stated: “Though it may be hard to imagine, Asif bowled even better in the second innings without any luck.
“I lost count of the number of times he beat the outside edge and had the batsmen in trouble, but that is encouraging for us because there still seems to be some juice in the wicket for him to exploit.
“I am sure that if the bowlers maintain a disciplined approach on the third day, then the wickets will come for us.”
He added: “Asif is a world class performer and he showed that today by bowling exceptionally well. They had left some grass on this pitch and he made the most of that to zip it around off the seam."