Shafiq called in to emulate Harmison in training.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has called on a 6ft 6ins paceman to help prepare for the Test series against England. Mohammad Shafiq, 23, is one of six fast bowlers who will train alongside a 25-man squad of probables ahead of the first Test in Multan on 12 November.

He emerged from a nationwide Pop Idol-style search for pacemen.

"Mohammad is an exciting talent and, although he is very raw, with his height he can help our batsmen prepare for Steve Harmison," Woolmer explained.

England arrive on 26 October for three Tests and five one-day internationals.


Among those called up for the training camp in Lahore from 21 October to 2 November is paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who has not played for Pakistan since returning home early from the tour of Australia in January.

The most interesting selection, however, is that of leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, whose last Test appearance was two years ago.

The 35-year-old has been strongly tipped for a recall after an impressive season for Sussex and chief selector Wasim Bari said he had as good a chance as any of the seven spinners named in the training squad.

"We are open to all options and will give everyone a chance to come into the team for a very tough series," Bari said.

Mushtaq has been prolific for Sussex in the past three seasons



Pakistan will finalise their squad for the first Test after next week's final trial game.

Shafiq, who hails from the small town of Mul on the outskirts of Lahore, does not expect to be called upon, but hopes to eventually emulate his hero Wasim Akram, who was discovered through a talent search in 1984.

"I am delighted and even though I may not feature in the matches against England I was encouraged by Woolmer's words," Shafiq siad.

"If I have come this far I can go any distance."

The man in charge of the Pakistan Cricket Board's programme to discover young talent, Nauman Badar, says Shafiq should be given his international bow sooner rather than later.

"He reminds me of former West Indian bowler Joel Garner, who was 6ft 8ins and was very accurate," Badar explained.

"Shafiq can be a very good addition to Pakistan's pace arsenal.

"He would be unknown to England and I think he should be given a chance in the one-day series."

Pakistan squad for training camp: Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Hasan Raza, Abdur Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Naved-ul-Hasan, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Imran Tahir, Mushtaq Ahmed, Asim Kamal, Shahid Afridi, Bazid Khan, Shahid Nazir, Faisal Iqbal, Mansoor Amjad, Imran Farhat, Arshad Khan.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cri...tan/4358004.stm

I think right now Flintoff is a more dangerous bowler than Harmison

it would be intresting to know how fast shafiq can bowl

They have a similar bowler in Abdul Rauf who is I think 6' 4" and is quite brisk..probably around 85 MPH range

I don't know why administration would rather have a younger guy with no FC experience bowl in nets to our batsmen when Rauf could be more effecive

He genrates a lot of bounce and can swing the ball quite well too

shabbir would also be usefull

How tall is Beera ? why cant he emulate Harmison in the nets

Beera I think is 6' 3" or 6' 4"

Why don't they use beeray, he's 6ft 7ins!!!!

yk shabbir doesnt have the pace someone like harmison posseses

Emulating Harmison takes far more than just being tall.

Can Shafiq adopt the correct "sulk at third man" technique when things aren't going well? Can Shafiq recite the whole of "Fog On The Tyne"? Can Shafiq magically grow a half shaven beard in under 12 hours?

I think not.

Shabbir is not slow my any means, he can bowl high 80's....i think

sorry wasoo ur wrong there, he bowls like 82ish

Shabbir is 6'5"

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/pak...ayer/42632.html

Shabbir is quite medium.

Rana and Gul are both faster than him.

If he can't bowl at 90mph then just let him bowl from 19 yards instead of 22. Jeez...people round here are obsessed with pace even in training when it doesn't matter

good move again but he will need the pace of harmison not just his height

i don't think harmison will perform on the tour he will probably get homesick

Actually this news is quite positive as Mohammad Shafiq is not one of the 6 bowlers who won the competition. His highest recorded speed was only 82.8 mph in the group stage.

The reason its a good thing is that although he didnt finish in the top 6 he was still selected because they saw something in his bowling which they felt could be worked on!

It seems this pace competition was about more than pure pace and hopefully other promising bowlers that didnt reach the final 6 will also be taken under the PCB's wing and developed like Shafiq!!

Beera has touched close to 90 MPH several times...when he is bowling with rytham, he usually bowls in the 85-88 MPH range

the question is not about harmison, its about beeray or shafiq. i'm sure beeray is faster than shafiq.

its not like one was selected over the other, is it ? they're both there, and both should help.

lol. Exactly gasherbrum.

People get so hysterical so easily on pakpassion.

but it could hamper beeray's confidence, as he mite see shafiq as a direct threat, beeray shud have been given full responsibility to help his confidence.

So competition is now bad is it? He needs to be shown that there are other people knocking on the door behind him so he stays on his toes, keeps working hard and most importantly ensures that his action stays clean.

The last thing we want is a complacent Shabbir which is probably the most mind numbing and depressing site I could imagine.

but pressure may force him back to his old action, lack of concentration. beeray needs to be wrapped in cotton wool until the england series starts. he is one of our biggest assets.

complacency is far more likely to cause him to revert to his old action. If he knows there is someone waiting in the wings behind him he is more likely to concentrate every ball and ensure he keeps it straight.

If he knows his place in the team is guaranteed.....that is when he will get complacent and the lack of concentration comes in.

as for rapping him in cotton wool? My opinion on Shabbir has been made clear. If he is playing for Pakistan I will support him 100% and hope he gets wicket after wicket after wicket. But I feel he has ample opportunity to correct his action and has failed miserably both times. This HAS to be his last chance.

I don't think he is all that great a bowler either. Umar Gul has always impressed me far more and has always looked the better bowler whenever I have seen them together.

Well i think we can safely say Shoaib won't complete the series, and we're not even sure whether he gets picked or not. So beeray and gul are most certainly likely to play together, along with sami.

I think its unfair to say last chance, he's a hard worker, he's not like shoaib, beeray's feet are on the ground and he is a down to earth person. Last chance? NEVER, beeray will play for a long time to come.

WRAPP HIM UP IN COTTON WOOL I SAY, WRAPP HIM UP!!!

well if he gets called one more time he is automatically banned for a year so don't get your hopes too high yk

that's stupid. when u've Beera(Shabbir Ahmad) whoz 6'6 then what's the point of calling another guy?

where did this theory that Shafiq and Beera are competing for a spot even come from? Why would Beera possibly feel any pressure from Shafiq?? Shafiq is not even in the squad of 25...he's been called up just to help the 25 selected in the preperation for the England series...
The chances that Shafiq would make it to the squad of 15, let alone the playing XI, is about the same as M. Sami topping the World Test Bowling ranking by the end of this Eng series :p

The pressure that has come from not being selected as a net bowler is going to drive him back to his old habits? That's an interesting theory you've got there chief.

As for being wrapped in cotton wool till the England series; can I assume you'd play him against England? All of this despite the fact that we've not got the faintest idea how he bowls with his new action, how comfortable he may be with it. Let's not forget that that you think Shafiq being picked to bowl in the nets is going to put so much pressure on him that he goes back to chucking but you're more than happy to throw him in at the deep end against a very good England side?

Anyone seen this Shafiq guy??? Whats he like?

Where the hell is Yasir Hameed??

couldn't find exactly where he is at BUT this pic might throw some light on it

Beera's range is more like 80-85. Seldom has he bowled faster than that and that has in the past caused questions over his action. But he could bowl watta in the nets but then that wouldn't help him in his preperation..

LAHORE, Oct 19: Pakistan’s nationwide hunt for fast bowlers to tame England in their forthcoming home series has unearthed a six foot six inch (1.98 metre) fast bowler, coach Bob Woolmer said on Wednesday.

“Mohammad Shafiq is an exciting talent and although he is very raw with his height he can help our batsmen prepare for tall England fast bowlers like Steve Harmison,” he said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) launched the hunt for pacers in 10 cities across the country and picked up six fast bowlers for the national camp for the upcoming England series.

The 23-year-old Shafiq caught Woolmer’s eye and was instantly summoned for the camp by Pakistan’s English coach.

“I am delighted and even though I may not feature in the matches against England I was encouraged by Woolmer’s words,” said Shafiq, who wants to emulate his idol, former Pakistan left arm pacer Wasim Akram.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/20/spt5.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't think it was posted here before but delete it if it was.

Wow a 6.6 tall bowler. I didn't understand one thing, this guy has NOT won the recent pace competition and wasn't one of top six and he is raw according to Bob then how did Bob pick him????
Maybe he wasn't bowling at express pace but Bob liked his bowling style and he also has height advantage. I am sure Bob wouldn't pick any rubbish bowler who wasn't even one of the top six bowlers(his top speed was 82.8).

Not that i am over excited about this news but just thought i should share it, if it wasn't posted before.

6' 6"?

He's no Tremlett.

Very poor journalism.

seen this posted b4

bump

???

:24: ???

6 6 wow

he has the height advantage and can hit the deck hard ...... will form a gud combination wid Shabbir Ahmed

Height on docile Pakistani pitches is extremely handy. We also need 'thinking' pacemen who actually think out the batsman rather than just sheer pace (Sami).

how tall is shabbir ??

Shabbir is 6'5"

Wheres the fishing rod?

"Wheres the fishing rod?"

confiscated by uncle bob.

Noddy any inside info on this M. Shafiq guy

You are not him...are you

bob just praises everyone except akter, even people like mo asim and khalil are considered as the next waseem akram according to bob.

just post a question on his site about any new bowler and he will get full praise from him.

now where have i heard that before

Prepare for life after your Idol...he is on a fast track to life after cricket...not that cricker is a priority in his life even now

23 years old already? Not much chance for major improvement.

Are you serious? Or was that sarcastic?

Harmison made his debut at 24. Look how good he is now.

Bond made his debut at 26. Look at him now.

Sami made his debut at 18 and hasnt improved one bit for the past 6 years.

If anything he has become worse.

His luck has gotten worse for sure.

sami was wayyyyyy better at 18 then at 24, not only was he more lethal but more faster too.

i think he was brought into the international scene too soon...they should have let him develop more...his confidence took a hit which is why he's worse than before...in other news, who the hell is mohammad shafiq...

Both of those guys played serious cricket before getting picked to represent their country and had mastered the basics. The strategy here was to find the and develop the next Wasim Akram.

Forget beera. Umar gul and rana are higher up the pecking order..

my thoughts exactly taz

agree..beera is a chucker anyway

I think there's something about height that makes Bob Woolmer see potential in his bowling.

Shabbir Ahmed has been given chances, and perhaps still even given a chance after his suspect actions. If you can get all the talent out of a tall bowler, it would be very hard for batsmen to judge his lines and play him with ease. Good pick I'd say, only if he can manage to create a legitiment bowler out of him.

Harmison was very raw when he made his debut.

He had not skills at all.

The guy couldnt even bowl straight.

Yes but they didn't just pluck him off the streets. It's an irrelevant comparison.

What difference does it make?

A raw bowler is a raw bowler whether he is from the streets or the domestic league.

Harmisson and Jones both werent even part of the their domestic side starting 11s they got picked because Fletcher saw raw talent in them. In 2003 Ashes Harmisson was pretty mediocre but talent was there and Langer said that Harmisson just needs to correct a few things and he will be a world class bowler. Watch Harmisson's debut against India the guy was all over the place. All the bowler needs to do is mature and he will be class if he has raw talent.

Harmison was part of the England A team in 2000 at the age of 20. It took him almost 4 years to actually become decent but the bottom line was that he was in a structured environment during his key development years.

It makes a huge difference! There is not one example of a bowler that came of the streets at the age of 23 and made an impact so we could be heading into unprecedented territory.

Actually it would be unprecedented in the sports of baseball, basketball and ice hockey. I don't follow football enough to know whether it would be unprecedented there also.

I guess one can always dream.

Age is just a number.

Remember Wasim Akram?

Only 1 first class game.

Same with Shoaib when he made his debut at 23. He only played club level cricket.

Well if you think that "age is just a number" then there is really no point in debating this. There is no point in applying the laws of human biology.

The bottom line is that no one can just walk in at age 23 and make an impact in a sport without some sort of structured formative training. Wasim was 19 when he got capped and Shaoib was playing first class cricket at the age of 19 and made his test debue at the age of 22.

Keep trying with more relevant examples.

No problem since youre the expert here.

Shoaib playing FC at 19? the guy made his debut for REDCO at the age of 21. Thats a club side.



The

The what Muddaser?

By the way, Shoaib had been picked for Pakistan A before he was selected for the senior team.

Shoaib took up cricket at 18.

It took him barely a year from being a club cricketer for REDCO to an International cricketer.

Sick and tired of hearing this RAW term. Just cause he hasnt played FC cricket doesnt mean he is good enough yet.

Our Club and domestic leagues are rubbish as it is. What exactly are they gonna learn in them.

If he is good enough, then put him in the deep end. No need to waste their time.

What the hell is this "Structured formative training"?

Please elaborate Naveed.

Cricinfo has his First Class debut in 1994. Check out his profile. Are you saying that this is incorrect?

It means being in a professional cricketing environment during a key development time in ones cricketing career.

Shoaib made his first class debut for PIA at the age of 19. Here is the scoreboard

http://www.pcboard.com.pk/Pakistan/.../40/f40838.html

Agreed but both had very signifant natural talent - both were 90 plus. No one crossed 86 in the trails. Harmison in particular was tall and yet that quick something very rare. But it takes time and even though they had played first class and quite a bit of it it took them a few years and a lot of hard work.

On a different note for someone from this camp to be successful it would take a couple of years, lots of games, before they can think about international cricket. Even if they have a bit of pace the skill comes with time only.