Best County Player from Pakistan . . .

[Maranello]

Slightly off the beaten track, but well, it is the off-season! A lot of overseas players play for various counties, more so now than before, and we all have our views on whether this is good or bad. Some true greats from other countries have lit up the county game over the past few decades, and apart from the obvious source, ie Australia, West Indies and Pakistan have also contributed a lot of players. So the question is:

Who was the Best Pakistani overseas player to play for an English county, in terms of their contribution to that county.

This is a discussion which could be kept on the Pakistan forum - however, I am also very interested in hearing what the English supporters of the respective counties think, and have kept it on the England forum. After all, we are talking about English counties, and who contributed most to them.

The Criteria

The answer, as with all questions about "Best", depend entirely on what criteria one uses. I have defined my criteria to include all aspects of a player's contribution, as follows:

1. Consistency

This means that the player is not just a one-hit wonder who follows up each 150 / 5 wicket haul with 10 poor performances. Rather the Best has to be doing consistently well over a period of time, with no truly abject performances.

2. Longevity

The Best is someone who has been a contributor for a period of time, I think at least over 6 years, not a flash-in-the-pan, ie someone who does well in 1 or 2 years.

3. Match winning potential

Best is someone who contributes to his team winning matches and trophies. Each county is only allowed 2 (used to be 1) overseas players, so the player has to be someone who can win matches with bat and/or ball regularly - and not someone who is a solid contributor but not a match winner.

4. Recognition by supporters

The Club Members see their team more than anyone, so they should know the true worth of each player who plays for them, and how much each player contributes to the team's success. Hence, if they are unanimous in their praise or criticism of someone, more often than not, their opinions are valid.

5. Impact on the players around him

The Best would be contributing to the development of the whole team and the club - the others around him would see him as the natural Leader, regardless of who is the Captain. If he is a bowler, we will see the other bowlers learning from him and developing; similarly, young batsmen would be learning from the best batsman.


The Candidates

Ok, based on the above criteria, how do my main candidates square up? I have only included the six that I know the most about ie Mushtaq Ahmed, Zaheer Abbas, Saqlain Mushtaq, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Other possibles could include Majid Khan (who was made Captain of Glamorgan), and the likes of Javed Miandad, Asif Iqbal, Intikhab Alam, etc but all of them {a} played for their counties before I was born or old enough to follow cricket.... and {b} do not have the statistical records to match the six below. However, do feel free to add in any more that I may have missed.

Saqlain Mushtaq
An excellent contributor at Surrey for a short while, but later seasons there were not very successful. Did develop a very good partnership with Ian Salisbury, and made sensible use of the turn at the Brit Oval. Solid contributor who won a few matches, but if he is the Best... then we really are struggling for choices!

Mushtaq Ahmed
Plays for Sussex. 1 spectacular season in which he was instrumental in helping them win the Championship with a 100 wicket haul. However, impact in season 2 somewhat limited - and one great season does not make him the best!

Waqar Younis
Played first for Surrey, was Wisden Crickterer of the Year, had a spectacular 100 wicket season in his very first year. Then one last hurrah with Glamorgan, helped them win the Championship. However, apart from 3 or 4 seasons, was not that instrumental in the teams he played for - maybe something to do with the star-studded nature of Surrey in the 1990s.
I never had the impression that he was a "core contributor" to Surrey, who were apparently happy to let him go after his seasons. Great wickets but not the Best player ever.

Imran Khan
Played first for Worcester for a brief while, and then latterly with Sussex. Sterling contributor especially with Sussex, where he often seemed to rule the roost.

However, not a team man, as Dermot Reeve can, and does attest! Imran thought of himself as by far the best player in the park (which he was) and would happily let the others do the hard work! Was offered to be Sussex Captain after his final season with them, but he had moved to other things by then...

Zaheer Abbas
Had a glorious career with Gloucestershire, being first selected for them after his 274 at Edgbaston v England in only his second Test! Scored in excess of 1,000 runs in almost every season he played here, including a staggering 2,544 in 1976, and another 2,305 in 1981.

Truly remarkable against medium pace and spin, both of which he faced with aplomb in England. Never comfortable against genuine pace, he really struggled when playing the likes of Garner, Holding or Roberts.

I am almost tempted to go for him as the Best, such was his mastery of the county bowling attacks - but he fails abysmally on Criteria 5. Zed was not into helping others' develop with him - he played cricket to score runs himself, to make records for himself, to dominate attacks and to make it look all so easy. Many of his records stand to this day and he was often described in the Indian press as the Asian Bradman. However, a team contributor he was not.

Wasim Akram
Played for Lancashire for over a decade, and was arguably, their best player for most of his seasons - not bad for a county which also boasted some great England talent, in that time, including the likes of Atherton, Crawley et al.

Over 10 years, he became the embodiment of Old Trafford, the one competitor who could be relied upon to always contribute, to always turn up, to always give a World-class performance with either ball, bat, in the field, or all three.

The Lancashire fans, not natural Paki-philes, became devoted followers of Akram. In recent times, very few Test players, let alone overseas players, receive such admiration and adulation from the supporters of their county.

Hence, for me... Akram it is - the Best Pakistani County Player, ever.

[Milo]

I would agree with you in Akram. Lancashire have been lucky to have had two of the best oversees players (along with Lloyd) in county history.

[Teatime FatCat]

Lancashire have rarely gone wrong with overseas boys (apart from Steve Elworthy!) - they've done well out of Murali, LAw and Hoper in recent years. However, I go for 'Akkers' as well - a great signing!