Wasim Raja
Mark Chapman
Devon Conway
Matt Henry
Tom Latham
Daryl Mitchell
Glenn Phillips
Rachin Ravindra
Mitchell Santner
Ish Sodhi
Will Young
Alphabetically sorted top ten of players who have played the most matches across formats in the last 12 months
Full Name
Wasim Hasan Raja
Born
July 03, 1952, Multan, Punjab
Died
August 23, 2006, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, (aged 54y 51d)
Batting Style
Left hand Bat
Bowling Style
Legbreak Googly
Playing Role
Allrounder
RELATIONS
Other
Referee
TEAMS
Master of style and exuberance
Wasim Raja was a glorious lefthanded
strokemaker, who revelled
in adversity, a useful legspinner,
who also opened the bowling for
Pakistan on occasions, and an
outstanding, lithe cover fieldsman.
He represented Pakistan in more
than 100 international matches,
coached the national side for a
short while and had a spell as an
ICC match referee, being in charge
of the last Ashes series in Australia.
He will always be remembered
for the style and spirit in which
he played the game, yet for such a
mild-mannered and charming man
he had his fair share of clashes
with the Pakistan board. From a
privileged background, he did not
enjoy the hierarchy within the
side, once refusing to hang out a
senior player's socks to dry, but
more importantly he always felt
frustrated that he seemed to be
picked on a match-by-match basis
while a clique of senior players
were omnipresent in the team.
But for this, he might have
captained Pakistan ahead of the
more rumbustious Javed Miandad
or diffident Zaheer Abbas. After
all, as a batsman he was a prodigy
at 18 and led the under-19 side.
Quite often then he did not bother
to wear pads when practising with
his contemporary Imran Khan, who
admitted that Wasim "was in a
different class altogether and was
already batting with a maturity
beyond his years".
He was the eldest of three
boys, all of whom played first-class
cricket. Ramiz followed him into
the Test team and later captained
Pakistan, while Zaeem played for
National Bank. His father Raja
Saleem Akhtar also played firstclass
cricket, captaining Sargodha.
Wasim made his first-class
debut at 15, for Lahore, while still
at school at Government College,
went on to Punjab University,
where he excelled at cricket and
academically, getting a first in
his Masters degree in politics,
and came into the Test side in
1972-73, when called up as a
replacement for the tour of New
Zealand.
He began to establish himself in
1974 in England, where he topped
the tour averages. The "exuberant"
Wasim played two innings at
Lord's that Wisden described as
"masterly", countering Derek
Underwood on a drying wicket
with selective attack.
At home that winter he scored
his maiden Test hundred against
West Indies at Karachi. His innings
was such a fine one that, instead of
the usual handful of well-wishers
that used to run on to the field
to congratulate a batsman on
reaching three figures, there was a
full-scale invasion.
In all he played 11 Tests against
West Indies, against attacks
including Andy Roberts, Malcolm
Marshall, Joel Garner and Colin
Croft, making 919 runs at 57.43,
an average that only Greg Chappell
exceeded during that era.
He also had an excellent record
against India, hitting two 90s on
the 1978-79 tour when many of the
other front-line batsmen crumpled
under the pressure and ending the
series with 450 runs at 56.25. He
made his highest Test score against
them - 125 not out at Jullundur
- and had his best bowling figures,
4 for 50, with his under-utilised
legspin in the same match.
For a number of years he
played Minor Counties cricket for
Durham, where he met his future
wife, Anne, also a useful cricketer.
He studied for his teaching degree
at the University. While there, a
serious car accident nearly ended
his life, never mind his playing
days, but he eventually returned to
the game, helping Durham win the
UAU Championship in 1990 with a
match-winning 50 in the final.
He went on to teach geography
and PE at Caterham School for 15
years.
Wasim, who collapsed and died
while playing cricket for Surrey
over-50s at High Wycombe, is
survived by his wife Anne, and his
two sons, Ali and Ahmed.
Adam Licudi September 2006
This obituary first appeared in the October 2006 edition of The Wisden Cricketer
Wasim Raja Career Stats
Batting & Fielding
Format | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 6s | Ct | St |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 57 | 92 | 14 | 2821 | 125 | 36.16 | - | - | 4 | 18 | 27 | 20 | 0 |
ODIs | 54 | 45 | 10 | 782 | 60 | 22.34 | 1168 | 66.95 | 0 | 2 | - | 24 | 0 |
FC | 250 | 379 | 54 | 11434 | 165 | 35.18 | - | - | 17 | - | - | 156 | 0 |
List A | 89 | 75 | 15 | 1412 | 60 | 23.53 | - | - | 0 | 4 | - | 37 | 0 |
Bowling
Format | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 57 | 69 | 4082 | 1826 | 51 | 4/50 | 6/86 | 35.80 | 2.68 | 80.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
ODIs | 54 | 29 | 1036 | 687 | 21 | 4/25 | 4/25 | 32.71 | 3.97 | 49.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
FC | 250 | - | - | 16211 | 558 | 8/65 | - | 29.05 | - | - | - | 31 | 7 |
List A | 89 | - | 2206 | 1529 | 60 | 6/39 | 6/39 | 25.48 | 4.15 | 36.7 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Umpire & Referee
Format | Mat | Referee |
---|---|---|
Tests | 15 | 15 |
ODIs | 35 | 35 |
List A | 1 | 1 |
Records of Wasim Raja
Explore Statsguru Analysis
Debut/Last Matches of Wasim Raja
Test Matches
ODI Matches
FC Matches
List A Matches
Recent Matches of Wasim Raja
Match | Bat | Bowl | Date | Ground | Format |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Durham vs Middlesex | 18 | 0/22 | 24-Jun-1987 | Darlington | List A |
Durham vs Warwickshire | 18 | 0/71 | 25-Jun-1986 | Birmingham | List A |
Pakistan vs India | 21* | 0/42 | 10-Mar-1985 | Melbourne | ODI # 319 |
Pakistan vs West Indies | -- | 1/32 | 06-Mar-1985 | Melbourne | ODI # 317 |
Pakistan vs New Zealand | 0 | -- | 16-Feb-1985 | Auckland | ODI # 306 |