Waqar Younis has joined Warwickshire on a one-year contract as replacement for Shane Bond who has suffered a suspected stress fracture of the back.
Waqar, who has already enjoyed spells in England with Surrey and Glamorgan, did not get off to the best of starts, opting to miss the Frizzell County Championship match against Kent because of general fitness concerns. He hopes to make his debut in a one-dayer against Essex in seven days’ time.
“This will probably be my last season in county cricket but I’m a professional cricketer, I enjoy it and my appetite is there,” Waqar said. "I’ve been training for the last four or five days and things are looking good so I’ll be quite ready to play in the next game. They’re a good bunch here, but I still hope I can make a difference.
“The team here is very talented and if things go well for us I feel we’ve got a real chance of winning something.”
Waqar became available for another spell in county cricket after being sacked as Pakistan’s captain following the team’s early World Cup exit. He was one of eight players left out of the squad for the subsequent Sharjah tournament.
A last ditch effort to save his career.
If he performs well in the county games, maybe, just maybe he gets picked for Pakistans games against England!!
That's 7 pakistanis on the english circuit this season! Just add Anwar, Sohail and Inzi to the list and voila- you'd pretty much have a lineup of the mid-late 90's.
Anyway, the seaming conditions can only mean Waqar has a little window to perform on the park once more and recover some of his battered pride. Good luck ol' boy.
COME ON VIKI BHAI ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOWLERS ALL THE BEST UR GOING BACK INTO THAT PAKISTANI TEAM INSHALLAH, UR ONLY 31 UR CAREER AIN'T OVER BY ANY CHANCE PLENTY MORE TO COME.
and here is his first game, took a wicket for 61. but let him play couple of games and then he'll show his magic.
Essex Innings
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s
N Hussain run out 0 1 0 0
W I Jefferson c N V Knight b Waqar Younis 0 5 0 0
J S Foster c D P Ostler b D R Brown 22 36 3 0
A Flower c N V Knight b A F Giles 82 121 9 0
R C Irani c N V Knight b D R Brown 11 20 2 0
M L Pettini not out 92 81 11 2
A P Grayson not out 41 36 5 0
Extras 0b 4lb 4w 0nb 8
Total 50.0 overs (for 5 wickets) 256
Bowler O M R W Fall of wickets:
Waqar Younis 10.0 1 61 1 1-0 N Hussain]
G G Wagg 5.0 1 29 0 2-0 W I Jefferson, 4 mins]
M A Sheikh 10.0 1 40 0 3-49 J S Foster, 54 mins]
D R Brown 10.0 1 37 2 4-71 R C Irani, 26 mins]
A F Giles 10.0 0 49 1 5-178 A Flower, 70 mins]
I R Bell 2.0 0 14 0
M A Wagh 3.0 0 22 0
Warwickshire Innings
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s
M A Wagh c N Hussain b J M Dakin 4 23 0 0
N V Knight c A P Grayson b S A Brant 2 10 0 0
G G Wagg c M L Pettini b R C Irani 19 31 3 0
I R Bell c W I Jefferson b J M Dakin 0 2 0 0
J O Troughton b J M Dakin 17 22 3 0
D P Ostler c W I Jefferson b G R Napier 18 28 2 0
D R Brown b S A Brant 108 99 9 4
A F Giles not out 71 83 7 0
M A Sheikh not out 0 0 0 0
Extras 0b 5lb 7w 6nb 18
Total 49.1 overs (for 7 wickets) 257
Bowler O M R W Fall of wickets:
S A Brant 10.0 1 45 2 1-6 N V Knight, 11 mins]
J M Dakin 8.1 1 30 3 2-20 M A Wagh, 20 mins]
R C Irani 10.0 1 51 1 3-23 I R Bell, 5 mins]
G R Napier 7.0 0 41 1 4-49 G G Wagg, 17 mins]
A P Grayson 9.0 0 47 0 5-52 J O Troughton, 10 mins]
A J Clarke 5.0 0 38 0 6-83 D P Ostler, 22 mins]
7-253 D R Brown, 99 mins]
..