Wisden obituary
Maqsood Ahmed, who died on January 4, 1999, aged 73, was one of the handful of cricketers to score 99 in a Test without ever reaching a century. The near-miss happened in the Lahore Test between Pakistan and India in 1954-55 when Maqsood was stumped. It was an appropriate conclusion, since he was the most carefree and aggressive batsman Pakistan had in their early years of Test cricket. He played in their first 16 Tests, and hoisted the banner of Pakistani batting from the very start. Maqsood had begun his career, before Pakistan's foundation, with 144 on his first-class debut, for Southern Punjab against Northern India at Lahore in 1944-45. He pressed the case for the new nation's elevation to Test status by scoring 137 not out against MCC on their 1951-52 tour. And on the opening day of first-class cricket by a Pakistani team in England, in 1954, he hit a thrilling 111 in two and a quarter hours at Worcester. In Tests, his approach was successful only spasmodically, but he enlivened the closing stages of Pakistan's hefty defeat at Trent Bridge with a rousing 69, getting out trying to hit a second successive six off Bob Appleyard. The press called him Merry Max. His success at Worcester helped him get work as a club professional in the area. He became chairman of Pakistan's selectors, in 1981-82, and a successful commentator and journalist: he was the first sports editor of The News, Rawalpindi.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack