da dobrowin： If you thought that this might be yet another of those worthy but dull annuals that would lie unread on the shelves gathering dust, you’d better think again
da doce： Anand Vasu on the new Pakistan Cricket Annual02-Dec-2003
‘If this annual is anything to go by, things are on the upswing for Pakistan cricket’
If you thought that this might be yet another of those worthy but dullannuals that would lie unread on the shelves gathering dust, you’dbetter think again. The 644-page PCB Pepsi Cricket Annual 2002-03 isproduced well enough to make you turn the pages. A departure fromprevious similar efforts in Pakistan, the latest annual attempts toblend cold numbers and statistics with articles that are an appreciationof various aspects of Pakistan cricket.For the Pakistan team itself, the year just gone was not one they wouldwant to remember too fondly. Poor performances in several series set theball rolling on a year that would see many changes to the team. Severalcricketers came to the fore, impressing in a game or two before slippingback down through the cracks. But, more than the comings, it was thegoings that hurt. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar, threeveterans who served Pakistan with distinction over the years, left thegame.The annual pays rich tribute to Akram, with articles by Taha Noor andGideon Haigh. There is also a detailed statistical review that spans thelength and breadth of Akram’s career.The annual addresses the fact that Pakistan are going through a troubledtime right at the outset. In his foreword, Pervez Musharraf, thepresident of Pakistan and the patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board,says: “I am glad that many of the problems so clearly brought out arealready being addressed and will now gather momentum. I have no doubtthat it will help the PCB revamp cricket in Pakistan.” Never one to missa chance to make a statement, President Musharraf adds: “Pakistancricket has suffered in the last couple of years as its neighbour choseto use the game as a negative means of diplomacy by cancelling allfixtures. Moreover, the refusal of foreign teams to visit Pakistan dueto security concerns has been no less traumatic for the keen cricketfollowers in Pakistan.”But, while Musharraf’s foreword might draw much attention and lead todiscussion in Pakistan, it is other sections of the annual that widenits relevance internationally. Suhael Ahmed takes readers down memorylane with his piece “The Pioneers”, in which he takes an in-depth lookat Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed,Waqar Hasan and Khan Mohammad. Rashid Latif takes a long, hard look atthe year that was, and honestly speaks of what this Pakistan team needsto do in the years to come. Andrew Miller lends the annual aninternational touch with his assessment “Not all Gloom and Doom.”Certainly, if the annual is anything to go by, things are on the upswingfor Pakistan cricket.To go with all the words, and there are quite a few of them, the annualpacks in over 40 pages of photographs. There are poignant black andwhite photographs dug out from the archives, and as many bright, colourpictures from tournaments as recent as the World Cup, to liven thingsup.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.To purchase the Pepsi PCB Annual click here.