Agha Saadat Ali

Agha Saadat Ali died in his native Lahore on October 25 from carcinomatosis aged 66. He played one Test for Pakistan. Recognised as possessing a talent comparable to Imtiaz Ahmed, Khan Mohammad and Parsi cricketer Rusi Dinshaw, he was sent in the first batch to the Alf Gover school for coaching in what became a forerunner to the many Pakistan Eaglet tours of England. Unfortunately he did not develop as expected. Nevertheless his brilliant fielding against the New Zealand touring team of 1955-56 at Karachi, where he played as twelfth man, led to his inclusion in the following Test at Dhaka where he scored 8 not out and held three catches. Opportunities for first-class cricket were rare in the early days of Pakistan cricket. Appearances against the touring West Indians in 1948 and a Commonwealth team in 1949 did not count as first-class. Between 1950 when he made his first-class debut for Pakistan Universities against Ceylon, until 1961/62 when he captained Lahore `B', Agha Saadat played only 16 matches, scoring 325 runs at an average of 14.13. He also took one wicket and held eight catches. After retirement he became a coach at the national level. His growing status within the game was reflected in his position as Assistant Secretary of the BCCP which he held for some time. Both of his sons played first-class cricket. Agha Saadat also served as President of the Billiard and Snooker Association of Lahore.
K.H. Baloch, The Cricketer