If you hadn’t followed the story closely, you might have been surprised to tune in to the last few balls of this year’s Pakistan Super League on Sunday evening, and see a guy at the crease called Sikandar Raza.
After all, barely 24 hours earlier, a guy called Sikandar Raza had been scoring 60 for Zimbabwe against England at Trent Bridge. How many Sikandar Razas does cricket need?
Spoiler alert: it was one and the same. No sooner had Zimbabwe lost by an innings than he was driven from Nottingham to Birmingham, flown from Birmingham to Dubai, transported from Dubai to Abu Dhabi as part of a six-hour layover, then flown – economy class, no less – from Abu Dhabi to Lahore, which was hosting the PSL final and whose Qalandars franchise Raza represents.
When Quetta Gladiators won the toss and decided to bat, he was still en route from the airport to the Gaddafi Stadium. He arrived in time to throw on some kit and take the wicket of Rilee Rossouw. But when he walked out to bat, things were not looking good: Mohammad Amir had just dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and the Qalandars needed 57 from 20 balls.
No matter. Raza heaved his first for four, and pulled his second for six: so much for jetlag. He faced only two deliveries in the next two overs as Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera did the heavy lifting. Then, with eight needed off three balls, Raza slashed Fahim Ashraf over point for six, and mowed him over midwicket for four. The place went mad.
‘I tried to take the emotions out,’ said Raza, who was born and lived in Pakistan until he was 16 and made his Test debut against them in September 2013. ‘I think all the journey and the Test match helped me because I was so mentally and physically drained. All I was saying to myself was “just watch the ball”. I was blank out there… I guess this is the life of a professional cricketer and I’m truly humbled and blessed to have that life.’
Sikandar Raza is chaired off by his jubilant Lahore Qalandars team-mates after hitting the winning runs in the PSL final
Raza also took the wicket of Rilee Rossouw after his mad dash from Nottingham
Raza had scored 7 and 60 for Zimbabwe as well as taking a wicket in their innings defeat at Trent Bridge
There is no doubt it was one hell of a story, nor any question of Raza’s commitment to the Qalandars – his ‘brothers’. He had already made the journey from the UK to Pakistan, flying in to Rawalpindi in time for their crucial group match against Peshawar Zalmi four days before the start of the Nottingham Test. He faced three balls, bowled one over, then flew back to England. It can be a fine line between devotion and insanity.
As well as saying plenty about Raza’s character, the story could scarcely be improvable as a sign of the times, with a cricketer racking up air miles to keep both country and club happy, the body confused and abused by multiple time zones, then scoring the winning runs, for goodness’ sake.
But it does not take much imagination to see how this kind of itinerary could, in other circumstances, acquire a sinister twist. After all, Raza was able to embark on his mad journey only because Zimbabwe fell in a heap inside three days at Trent Bridge. The success of one of his teams required the failure of the other.
This is not in any way to suggest skullduggery, but to raise a wider concern. Because as long as the schedule – a dizzying pot pourri of international fixtures and T20 franchise group games, eliminators and finals – remains packed to the rafters, this sort of scenario will continue to occur, offering obvious scope for malfeasance.
This year’s PSL, it’s true, was complicated by the 10-day hiatus caused by the military wrangle between Pakistan and India in response to the terrorist atrocity in Kashmir. The final was originally scheduled for May 18 – four days before the Trent Bridge Test.
But that should not detract from genuine concern about a matter that has been raised before. Last year, it was common practice for players whose teams had been knocked out of the SA20 in South Africa to board a plane for either the ILT20 in the UAE or Bangladesh’s BPL.
Again, no one is accusing anyone of anything, but it was clear that early elimination from one competition might guarantee a bigger pay cheque in another.
An unnamed official at one T20 franchise told ESPNcricinfo that this was ‘the sign of a broken sport’. A player agent put it another way: ‘It’s a bizarre thing to have in the back of your mind.’
As long as the schedule remains packed to the rafters, this sort of scenario will continue to occur, offering obvious scope for malfeasance
Despite Raza’s affection for the Qalandars, this is a world in which the freelancer’s first loyalty is generally to himself
The countless T20 tournaments are unlikely to get their heads together and produce a schedule that precludes overlap
And with some franchise competitions paying more heed to anti-corruption requirements than others, you can see where it may end. Despite Raza’s affection for the Qalandars, this is a world in which the freelancer’s first loyalty is generally to himself.
It’s not good enough for cricket simply to be above board: it has to be seen to be above board. Above all, it has to rearrange itself in such a way that arguments like this one become redundant.
The countless T20 tournaments are unlikely to get their heads together and produce a schedule that precludes overlap, because cricket’s ecosystem has bred an attitude of every man for himself. But they could assert their integrity by insisting on some form of cooling-off period.
In other words, a player would have to wait, say, a week between assignments in different series or competitions. It wouldn’t eliminate opportunities for corruption, but it might mitigate them, while not trampling all over employment rights.
Alternatively, a player might be forbidden from moving on to another competition until the one he has been taking part in has finished. The temptation to manufacture an early finish would be removed altogether.
Partly because he is from Zimbabwe, which means no one begrudges him cashing in while he can, Raza’s story feels uplifting and innocent. But cricket shouldn’t be in a position where it even needs to be discussed at all.
Cook’s recipe for disappointment
The likeliest conclusion is that Sam Cook suffered stage fright.
Why else would a bowler with a first-class average below 20 (at least before the Trent Bridge Test) suddenly take one for 119 against a Zimbabwe team that might struggle in Division Two of the County Championship? Why else would a bowler with a career economy rate of little over 2.5 leak 3.8 per over? And why else would a bowler said to be capable of keeping up his speeds fade so drastically to 75mph?
Sam Cook did not set the world alight in his England Test debut against Zimbabwe
It was a world away from Cook’s Essex form, which has been sensational for years
A fast outfield helped answer the first two questions, but England will be more concerned by the third – even if Ben Stokes did his best to explain it by referring to the exhausting intensity of Test cricket.
Will Cook get another chance to prove it was all an aberration? The probable return of Chris Woakes, and the claims of Matthew Potts, suggest he could be in for a wait.
Hayley needs a helping hand
It’s hard to think of an international team more reliant on one player than West Indies women are on Hayley Matthews.
Sunday’s third T20 at Chelmsford was just the latest example of her one-woman band: figures of three for 32 with her off-breaks in an England total of 144 for five, then 71 off 54 balls in a total of 127 for eight in which the next highest score was 15.
It’s hard to think of an international team more reliant on one player than West Indies women are on Hayley Matthews
But it wasn’t even her most singlehanded performance of the series. That came in the first game, at Canterbury, where an unbeaten 100 came in a score of 146 for 7 (next best: 17).
We are witnessing greatness. It’s just a pity about her team-mates.
Who will Lancashire blame next?
New captain, same old story. Blaming Keaton Jennings for Lancashire’s woes, it seems, made no difference at all: with Marcus Harris now in charge, they have drawn with Derbyshire and lost to Leicestershire, and remain the only club in the country without a win.
Perhaps Old Trafford officials picked the wrong scapegoat.