The game of Cricket has undoubtedly evolved a lot throughout the ages, with new rules and regulations coming into play almost on an annual basis. The game, as most people know it, primarily revolves around the personalities that play the game. We, therefore, tend to know a lot about the players but little emphasis is placed on others who also serve to make Cricket the popular sport it is. In particular, these overlooked characters are those unfamiliar faces we sometimes catch a glimpse of when watching cricket on the TV screen - the cricket scorers.

With the back drop of the current Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka series, PakPassion.net had the distinct honour of meeting with the UAE-based international cricket scorer, Mr.Hakim Abdeali Jariwala. A proud member of the industrious Dawoodi Bohra community and scoring veteran of 31 years, Hakim Bhai described in great detail the technicalities of the job and also talked about his fascinating career.

Hakim’s career as scorer had some interesting beginnings. As he recalls, “the Double-Wicket Tournament was started in the Sharjah Stadium and many international cricketers participated in this event. The Sharjah Stadium was full and became very successful and so, I was appointed as a scorer by Mr.Ali Anwar. Later, the Gavaskar XI vs. Miandad XI cricket matches were held and they too became very successful. After the success of these matches, the dream of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium’s father, Mr.Abdul Rehman Bhukhatir, was to organize ODIs. Finally, his dream came true and ODIs were started in 1982 in which Mr.Ali Anwar appointed me as a scorer and also, I had to control the manual scoreboard which was very challenging. But, I accepted this job.”

During his tenure of 20 years as a scorer, Mr. Hakim has experienced how technology has evolved in the field of scoring. From the manual method to the more computerized and automated methods of today – the veteran scorer has seen it all.

“The manual method of scoring requires about ten people to operate and carefully plan beforehand – it is important because the plates of team player names have to be checked one day before the match and the scoring can be hard at times as it has to be done for the full day, in extremely hot conditions especially in the Middle East. This was a real problem when scoring was done under a lot of pressure and sometimes causing dissatisfaction with scoring for spectators, umpires, as well as players”

Then there was the physical aspect of the manual method as the experienced scorer claimed, “it was very dangerous and risky to climb the long ladder to the top of the scoreboard - it was impossible to go for a drink, food, or the washroom even during a break!”

Much to the relief of Hakim, the computer based scoring methods have greatly improved the life of a scorer, allowing both scorer and umpire to concentrate on the game at hand and reduce errors.

Apart from the scoring aspects, a day in the life of a cricket scorer is not always surrounded by piles of scoring sheets. According to Mr. Hakim “I get to meet players, take autographs and pictures, and make friends.”

Being present in most important matches, the scorers are also great source for stories that unfold on the field, as Mr.Hakim claims: “There were many incidents in the Sharjah Cricket Stadium during ODI matches which are unforgettable. One of them is Miandad’s last ball six which I witnessed and had the pleasure to record - the other, not so pleasurable one was in a match involving Bangladesh. In this match, the name plates for a few players were not ready in time so when the players started batting, I did not have the name plate to display on the scoreboard. All the people started shouting abuse at me and it became really scary for a little while!”

A general trader by profession since 1980, Mr.Hakim has scored tons of matches with great passion. As dedicated to the job as he was about 31 years ago, the often unfamiliar figure behind the scenes declared his enthusiasm for the scoring profession and claimed: “I feel very honoured and excited that I have been given an opportunity to write scores on the 200th ODI match to be held in the UAE. If I get a chance in the future, I will continue to write scoring.”

With Pakistan playing all their international cricket matches in the UAE for the near future, Mr. Hakim Jariwala can easily look forward to many more opportunities in his beloved profession.