Shoaib can't wait to play, The Guardian

Rain dampens chances of Test return for Shoaib

Martin Pengelly
Tuesday August 15, 2006
The Guardian

Shoaib Akhtar says he is ready to play in Thursday's fourth and final Test against England at the Oval, despite having his comeback match cut short by the weather.
The fast bowler, who suffered a stress fracture to his ankle in January, bowled 11 overs against West Indies A at Shenley on Saturday but no play was possible yesterday, due to rain.

"It's been very frustrating watching the guys and it's not a nice feeling watching from the sidelines," Shoaib said. "I'd love to play on Thursday but it's not up to me. I can't wait to get out there, to be honest. It would have been nice to bowl another 15 overs today but unfortunately we couldn't manage it. I'm pretty fit and I've worked pretty hard for this summer."

Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, may hold Shoaib back until the one-day series which starts on August 30, although the final decision on the bowler's immediate future will be left to the tourists' medical team.
"Nothing has been decided yet, but I'm being very closely monitored and the doctors are taking strict measurements [regarding the ankle] and they will decide if it's worth risking me playing in a Test match," Shoaib said.

"We saw enough of Shoaib on Saturday to hold on to him and we'll make a decision later on in the week as to whether we play him or not," said Woolmer. "We are erring on the cautionary side. He did look very fit on Saturday but he is obviously short of match practice. But overall I thought he looked very good."

In contrast to Pakistan's problems, with key players struggling for fitness and form, England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, was glad to take the chance to send out an unchanged side on Thursday.

"We have tried to achieve continuity but a lot depends on the team playing well and not having many injuries if you are going to achieve that," he said. "It has been important that the players who have come in have taken their opportunities, which indicates they have been comfortable in that environment."

England have had their own serious injury problems this year, but long-term absences for the captain Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones and further problems for Liam Plunkett and Andrew Flintoff have created opportunities which other players have seized. The batsmen Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook have scored Test centuries and Sajid Mahmood and Monty Panesar have emerged as young bowlers with great potential.

England's only unforced change in the Pakistan series has been to replace the wicketkeeper Geraint Jones with Chris Read, who enjoyed an outstanding return to Test cricket in the victory at Headingley last week.

The selectors are likely to name an unchanged side for the Oval, with the Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis, 12th man in five out of six Tests this summer, starting only the third Test against Sri Lanka, again in the 12-man squad.

"The team has played really well in the last two Tests and the challenge now is to maintain those standards and keep playing cricket of that quality in the final Test of the series," said Graveney. "[The coach] Duncan [Fletcher] has done an outstanding job given the disruption of the side and the transition we have had to go through this summer.

"It is not easy to make the step up from domestic cricket to international cricket and it is a tribute to the way the England team is led that players have come in and had success this summer."

I like the fact that he is very hungry!

Inzi is usually the hungry one (ho ho)

Shoaib has two more years of being a fast bowler, then he's past it. He's 31 now, and when he turns 33 he will be able to bowl no quicker then 85mph. So Shoaib, make use of the time you have and play as much cricket as possible before you loose your speed fo good, and turn into Pollock or something.

i wonder which will go first his hair or his speed?

seriously, though i hope he realises he in the twilight as a "sheer pace" bowler