Mohammad Wasim

Mohammad Wasim shot to fame as a 19-year-old with 109 on debut against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in December 1997 - he had made a first-innings duck. He plays with such a straight bat that at times it seems that he doesn't have any strokes in his armory but when he settles down and gets going, there is no stopping him. After his maiden hundred he was given an extended run in the side, but there followed a string of low scores punctuated by 192 against Zimbabwe at Harare. He made good half-centuries at Hobart and Bridgetown, but was not consistent enough for the selectors and after back-to-back failures against Sri Lanka in 2000 he was dropped. His one-day career was similar, with some good performances, but not enough to maintain his spot in the side, especially given his tendency to start slowly. Within three years of being hailed as a great new talent, Wasim was discarded in favour of Pakistan's next bunch of promising youngsters. In 2002-03 he left Pakistan and signed for Otago in New Zealand, playing his domestic cricket there.
Martin Williamson (July 2004)