“No ball”. The only sound that echoes from the 2010 Test series between England and Pakistan.
Time has certainly flown in recent years. It feels like yesterday that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were caught playing a role in the spot-fixing scandal in the year 2010 during the Lord’s Test match against England.
While very few felt any sympathy for Butt or Asif when their punishment was announced, majority of the cricketing world felt for the young left-handed swing bowler Amir.
Strange, isn’t it?
Feeling pity for one who played a part in one of the most disgraceful scandals in cricket, but not for the others. There were certainly reasons for it.
I completely understand why many feel he should never have been let back into the cricketing scene. Ultimately, what he did was bordering unforgivable, but you have to look at it from a certain point of view.
Age, talent and most importantly, situation, were all key factors in why many felt Amir deserved a second chance at international level.
There’s no questioning the fact that Amir was dragged into the scandal all those years ago. A kid at the time, he was put in a situation that ultimately could have destroyed his life. Many sit back and ask, why didn’t he just refuse captain Butt’s orders?
Being a young man and fresh on the international scene, it just wasn’t that easy to turn down orders from the captain. The pressure on Amir was immense and it left him in a sticky situation. Everything tends to better in hindsight.
Here we are six years on. England are lining up to play Pakistan which will feature Amir who will play his first Test match at the same venue against the same opposition since that infamous scandal.
Despite everything that has happened in recent times, I can not wait to see this young man back playing Test cricket.
When you look at the talent that took the cricketing world by storm, he was one of the most exciting left-arm swing bowlers that was in the game. The ability to swing the ball late sets him apart from most left-armers in international cricket.
What has been ever so disappointing is not seeing this man develop over the years. Only has himself to blame, but imagine just where he would be if he had spent the last six years playing cricket for Pakistan.
We’d no doubt be looking at one of the finest bowlers in international cricket if he avoided getting himself involved in spot-fixing.
Possessing so much talent, it would be fair to say there are suggestions England are in fear of him. Some interesting comments have been made from those involved in the England setup, especially from the captain, Alastair Cook.
Cook certainly did not hold back when talking about the 24-year-old.
“He was given a punishment and he’s had to live with the consequences of what he’s done. He tarnished cricket,” said Cook.
No doubt trying to rattle Amir on his return, but I can honestly only see those comments inspiring Amir to have a series that many will remember.
When we look at England’s batting order, his talent alongside the conditions could potentially see a troublesome series for those English batsmen. He proved lethal last time around back in 2010 taking 19 wickets for the series, it’s possible he could have an even bigger impact come this time.
Retired English off-spinner, Graeme Swann, also didn’t hold back in his column a few days ago stating Amir should be banned for life.
“Mohammad Amir will walk out on the green and glorious turf at Lord’s on Thursday – and it will make me feel sick,” Swann wrote.
“This is a man who crushed the morality of the game. And yet he is being allowed back to play at the Home of Cricket.”
No doubt people involved with English cricket one way or another are targeting him and doing their best to make sure his return to Test cricket is a distracted one.
What will also be interesting to see come the first Test on Thursday is how much grass is left on the wicket. When Sri Lanka visited earlier in the summer the pitches were no doubt bowler friendly to help the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad expose Sri Lanka’s lack of experience in those foreign conditions.
With Amir in the ranks, it’s difficult to see England having that much faith in their top order to get through Amir’s early spell. He is devastating and no doubt England see him as their biggest threat which therefore could see a more tamed wicket.
During the one and only tour game Amir played in, he was very impressive. Bowling with the pace and that late swing, Amir took 3 for 36 and 1 for 42 against Somerset.
Former England Test opener, Marcus Trescothick, who featured for Somerset in that warm-up game for Pakistan predicted that England’s Test batsmen will struggle to cope with Amir’s late swing.
“On that performance, yes he will cause problems for England. He swung the ball really late – that’s the biggest thing we noticed,” said Trescothick.
“You get a lot of bowlers who swing it quite early,”
“But he was swinging it late – and as it was coming down the pitch, you were almost guessing whether it was an inswinger or whether it was one of the straight ones.”
You do get the feeling he is in for a successful series. He’s made for English conditions and English conditions were made for him.
Whatever your opinion of Amir is, you can not deny there’s a special talent within him and England have every right to be concerned. There won’t be an easy run when this fella is steaming in.
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