Dodgy Dukes, departmental domination, and Fawad Alam

The Duke’s debut

The PCB inducted English Duke balls on their premier first-class circuit in a bid to prepare for the two-match Test series in England next year. However, several players – bowlers and batsmen alike – complained about the quality of the ball. According to players, it is ‘extraordinarily hard’ on the bat and in the hands for the fielders, specifically in the slips. Bowlers also complained that the ball was difficult to shine, with the leather looking somewhat coarse.

At the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore the opening round of fixtures, WAPDA dismissed the Lahore Blues out for 198. The ball needed to be changed no less than three times for losing their shape, supporting players accounts that the quality was substandard. Players who have played league cricket in England claimed that the ball used in the QeA over this week were much harder than the ones used on the domestic circuit in the UK.

Departments dominate regions

The PCB recently introduced a draft system for selecting players in regional sides in a bid to make the tournament more competitive. But the opening round saw departmental teams, boasting sizeable international quality, continue to be in command, beating regional teams by significant margins; SSGC beat Islamabad by 360 runs, SNGPL thrashed Peshawar by 154 runs, WAPDA tamed Lahore Blues by 120 runs, HBL thumped FATA by 335 runs, UBL toppled Karachi Whites by 73 runs, and NBP saw off Faisalabad by 6 wickets. The only victories for the regions came for Rawalpindi and Lahore Whites, who turned over KRL and PTV respectively.

Sohail success

Weeks after Mickey Arthur leapt to Sohail Khan‘s defence after a tense defeat against the World XI in Lahore, the bowler repaid his coach’s faith, kicking off his QeA season with an 11-wicket haul, helping his side United Bank to an innings victory against the Karachi Whites. He followed up a six-wicket haul in the first innings – including five of the top six – with a five-for in the second as United Bank eased to a thumping win. It was a thoroughly all-round performance, too; in the one innings he did bat, he added 63 at number 9, bolstering his all-round credentials.

The comeback kid

Raza Hasan, who was banned for two years for testing positive for cocaine in 2015, returned with cracking match figures of 4-112 and 8-76 to help National Bank of Pakistan rip through Faisalabad’s batting line up. He was the young sensation of the 2012 World T20, but hadn’t played first-class cricket since 2014 before being banned from playing all forms of cricket after found to be using cocaine. The 25-year-old played 10 T20 matches and a solitary ODI for Pakistan, and remained in isolation before Lahore Qalanders director Aqib Javed helped him revive his career. His contract with NBP – revoked after his suspension – was reinstated earlier this year, and he will be hoping to make up for lost time.

Fawad Watch

Contentious selections often make the news for all sorts of reasons; Vernon Philander in the 2015 World Cup semi-final to apparently meet a soft racial quota, James Pattinson’s brother Darren’s call-up to the England side for a mixture of patriotism and lack of merit to name a couple. But you would have to wade through the archives to come up with a non-selection as perplexing as Fawad Alam‘s from the Pakistan team. He played the last of his three Tests in November 2009 – the same series Umar Akmal made his debut.

Over the last three seasons, he hasn’t so much been knocking on the selectors’ doors as barging in, helping himself to a cup of tea and putting his feet up on the comfy chair by the fireside. He ticks so many boxes for an international call-up you’d get bored if they were all listed. He’s averaged nearly 60 over the past three domestic seasons, has the experience Pakistan so require in the wake of Misbah and Younis’ retirements, and has come through the same domestic setup the PCB uses for bowlers with alacrity.

In the opening QeA game as captain of SSG, he scored 23 and an unbeaten 43-ball 50 (his strike rate has been one of the reasons selectors have offered for overlooking him). He could be forgiven for feeling, however, that he should have been batting in UAE’s capital rather than Pakistan’s.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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