Sarfraz Nawaz speaks out on Pakistan's future fasties

Pakistan's "A" team is preparing hard for the tour of Kenya starting July 11. Twenty-six promising cricketers short listed from a horde of talented boys are attending a training camp in progress at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. The three weeks camp ending on July 8 was designed to provide the probables, practical training in all departments of the game with special emphasis on fast bowling and physical fitness.

While the great spinner of his times Abdul Qadir is coaching the spinners, the prospective pace bowlers are being trained by the former speedster Sarfraz Nawaz. He is concentrating on turning a group of youngsters into stars of the future by coaching them on all aspects of fast bowling through lectures as well as practical training, especially the technique involved in moving the ball both ways.

A veteran of 55 tests and 177 wickets, Sarfraz Nawaz was an outstanding fast bowler of his times. The vocal exponent of the theory of "line and length", he possessed an unvarying accuracy while bowling. He rates among the few Pakistani players who took 100 test wickets and scored 1000 runs. It was in March 1997 that he stunned the cricket world by bowling a memorable spell to take 9 wickets in a test against Australia at Melbourne.

After his retirement from cricket, Sarfraz has been given coaching assignments off and on, especially whenever there appeared the need to prepare fast bowlers. Talking exclusively to CricInfo at the camp site, he expressed tremendous praise for, left arm Zahid Saeed of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Kashif Raza, of Lahore Division Cricket Association (LDCA) and Saeed Janjua of Customs. According to him, the three boys "are absolutely ready to take on the mantle of Pakistan's attack, whenever needed".