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Pakistan Cricket Past Present and Future

Salim Parvez - the author

Champions of Pakistan Cricket

Denis Compton with young Mushtaq and Sadiq Mohammed at his resident nets - Karachi 1950.

Kafiluddin Ahmad - The Miracle Man

On the day that the National Stadium, Karachi (NSK) celebrated its 66th birthday as an international cricket venue, it was time to remind ourselves of the brains behind its creation, back in the amateur days of the game in 1955.

Farewell Pervez Akhtar - An Obituary

One of gentle nature, Mian Pervez Akhtar, a first-class cricketer and a well-known administrator of the game, passed away on April 27. The 68-year old right-hand opening or middle order batsman, a product of Minto Park, Lahore, was a victim of coronavirus, a worldwide pandemic.

An evening with the Little Master

In September 2011, the writer alongside Abdul Dyer and Arslan Mirza, paid a visit to legendry Pakistan opening batsman, Hanif Mohammad. The great batsman of the bygone era, on his annual visit to U.K. was staying with his family in Wembley, London.

Tahir Shah - battling against heavy odds

One has to admire the tenacity of 65-year old Tahir Shah, who having taken the brunt of the stress, both physically and mentally, for the last few decades, remains determined to soldier on.

Akhtar Butt - Ruthless perfectionist

The 71-year old Lahore-based Akhtar Butt, the best known cricket mentor in Pakistan’s educational domain, has no plans to hang up his boots, just yet.

Akhtar Butt - The hawk-eyed mentor

The landscape of cricket in Lahore has seen Akhtar Butt, carve a position of prominence, only a select few have achieved at grassroots level in Pakistan or for that matter anywhere in the world.

Javed Ilyas - Pride intact

The ancient city of Multan, as the hub of cricket in southern Punjab, ought to have produced many more international stars than they have, since emerging as Division, in the new administrative set-up in 1958.

Minto, Mian and Mujahid

A personal recollection of Minto Park, now named Greater Allama Iqbal Park, takes one to the late 1960s with wrestlers grappling opponents, who after an oil massage, would enter the Akhara - fray made up of soft soil.

A Pakistan coaching dilemma

Pakistan cricket team management at present, consists of six coaches – Misbah-ul-Haq (head), Shahid Aslam (assistant),Younis Khan (batting), Waqar Younis (bowling), Mushtaq Ahmed (spin bowling), Abdul Majeed (fielding) – that usually accompany the national team, both at home and overseas.

A symbol of dedicated service - An obituary of Said Shah

Mian Said Ahmed Shah, an international umpire and an eminent cricket figure in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province of Pakistan, passed away on February 5, following a prolonged illness. The 80-year old leaves behind, a legacy of a kind, thoughtful Pashtun, in a number of roles in both education and sports.