Published 27 Jun, 2010 12:00am
On a quiet afternoon not too long ago, a colleague at work asked me who I thought was the greatest Pakistani cricketer ever. This is the kind of question you always assume you would have a ready answer for, but it catches you off guard. Three names popped into my head right away — Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, and Wasim Akram — but it became a struggle to try and choose between them. My questioner waited patiently. Meanwhile, a voice inside my head asked what about Hanif Mohammad or, for that matter, Inzamamul Haq?
It became a discussion, and a few other people joined in too. Opinions were offered — initially politely, then forcefully. Before long, arguments had erupted. It became clear that ranking the greatest Pakistani cricketers had brought out hidden passions and strong beliefs on which people found it difficult to compromise.
Such disputes require unemotional arbitration, for which I suggested we turn to Christopher-Martin Jenkins, who has painstakingly compiled a ranking of cricket greats in The Top 100 Cricketers of All Time (Corinthian Books, 2009). CMJ, as he is affectionately known in cricket circles, has ample qualifications to settle this dispute. He is, foremost, not a Pakistani, and does not carry the internal biases and baggage that inevitably colour the preferences of Pakistani supporters. He also happens to be an encyclopaedic authority on cricket, having been a cricket commentator for BBC for nearly four decades, and having worked as a cricket journalist with leading publications, including magazines (The Cricketer), annuals (Wisden almanac), and newspapers (the UK's Daily Telegraph and The Times).
Six Pakistanis have made CMJ's list of cricket's all-time top 100. Abdul Qadir starts us out on the list at no. 88, and he is preceded by Zaheer Abbas (86), Javed Miandad (57), Waqar Younis (36), and Wasim Akram (34). The highest-ranked is Imran Khan, who sits at no. 14. Using CMJ's judgment, this is the answer to the question of who is the greatest Pakistani cricketer ever.
Imran's achievements stand out and cast a long shadow. As an all-rounder, he excelled in all departments of the game. As a fast bowler, he was second to none and developed reverse swing into a high art. As a batsman, he was courageous and reliable, and often became a gallant saviour. As a captain, he led by example and left a legacy of inaugural series wins in England and India, not to mention the World Cup title in 1992. Even if you were to dream up a cricket hero from scratch, you couldn't ask for much more.
Some enthusiasts will take issue with Imran's no. 14 ranking in the CMJ order. On the plus side, he has been ranked ahead of many famous all-rounders, including his contemporaries Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, and Richard Hadlee, as well as celebrated historical figures such as Keith Miller and Learie Constantine. On the other hand, he has been placed behind fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Malcolm Marshall who, although possessing a superior bowling average, don't compare to Imran, either in other facets of the game nor in terms of the magnitude of what they did for their country.
CMJ presents his defence for such arbitrariness in the book's introduction, stating up front that ranking cricketers of different types and varied backgrounds belonging to different eras is bound to be a subjective task. He accepts that he will “inevitably offend some” but he offers his judgment without apology, take it or leave it.
Naturally, any hierarchy of this nature triggers a range of reactions, some positive and some negative. It is a matter of pride to see that Pakistan has produced no less than six great names that an outside cricket authority has decided to include in an all-time ranking. Among other Test countries, there are four Sri Lankans, six South Africans, eight Indians, and 16 West Indians. New Zealand and Zimbabwe each have a solitary contribution, while there is no name from Bangladesh.
The bulk of the list — 68 players in all — is from either Australia or England. This is to some extent understandable considering that these are the game's two founding countries and have played more cricket than anyone else. CMJ, moreover, is an Englishman who is bound to be better acquainted and journalistic objectivity notwithstanding, have a softer corner for English players and their love-hate competitors in Australia.
Nevertheless, it is hard to see how you can justify keeping out names like Hanif Mohammad and Inzamamul Haq. A random sampling of the list reveals English and Australian names like Martin Donnelly, Warwick Armstrong, Arthur Shrewsbury, and Jack Gregory — relatively obscure names which even the most avid and longstanding cricket fans are unlikely to have heard of. Were any of them greater cricketers than either Hanif or Inzamam? I don't think so.
This is not to say that CMJ's book is not a source of pleasure. Each cricketer has been vividly sketched in a pithy profile that precisely conveys the player's essence. Qadir, for example, is described as “a slow bowler with a fast man's approach,” Zaheer as someone who drove the ball with “a flowing grace,” and Miandad as “a genius of a batsman who played the ball exceptionally late and worked it about the field with flexible wrists, like a squash player manipulating the rubber ball around a court.” Choice accolades have been coined for the others, too. Waqar is “a surging force of nature,” Akram is “always dangerous with a new ball and often irresistible with an old one,” and Imran is “one of the most gifted athletes ever to play the game” and “an Adonis with an air of effortless superiority.” Each profile is accented by an absorbing photograph.
Beyond the Pakistani names, the book presents many other cricketers you've probably heard of but never quite known in any detail. Even if you're idly browsing, nuggets will keep popping up here and there. I learned, for instance, that India's Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, who is generally considered an unclassifiable spinner, was actually mainly a topspin and googly bowler (if you already knew that, kudos). I also discovered that the flipper, a wrist spin variation, was invented by the Australian Clarie Grimmet, and the person who has been on the winning side of a Test match most often is Shane Warne (92 occasions). These are merely appetisers. If you're looking for some delightful cricket reading this summer, you need not look farther than CMJ and his top 100.
