Waqar calls the tune

There is no greater sight in cricket than a tear away quick screaming in on full throttle effectively imitating an ear, nose and throat specialist.

There are fewer distressing sights than one getting things horribly wrong. During the second Natwest Challenge match between England and Pakistan we saw the latter.

Shoaib Akhtar has the ability to be devastating on his day but the time has come for his bowling to do the talking. According to his former skipper, he spends far too much time leading the “Hollywood” lifestyle, schmoozing with all and sundry and generally ensuring he appears in the various social pages instead of the sporting pages.

Waqar Younis was scathing after the match at the Oval on Friday and amongst other things told him to “stop talking and start bowling.” He added, “It’s ridiculous Shoaib coming out in the papers saying he’s going to do this or do that. He’s been doing it for years now and he never lives up to it and it looks pretty ugly.”

Waqar also got stuck into the quickest bowler in the world with a jibe at an over inflated ego. “It’s no use him talking about other players in decline – he should look at his own performance. He performs to his ability once a year – and then has the nerve to compare himself with Glenn McGrath and players like that!”

Waqar’s coup de grace was, “He was saying last week that if he’d been born Australian, he’d have taken more wickets. It might have been better for Pakistan if he HAD been born in Australia!”

Harsh words from a former teammate and Pakistan great, who is obviously bitter at his sacking as skipper.

But have we finally witnessed the maturing of the Rawalpindi Express……?

As I was sitting on the edge of my chair checking out the riveting third and final game in the challenge series on Sunday, I couldn’t help but wonder if Shoaib had read Waqars’s comments and decided to prove a point.

His measured start to his bowling was exemplary and he for once decided to build a platform without sacrificing too much explosive speed. When you’re 22 yards away and you know your tormentor can step up a gear instantly, a few kilometers down at the outset, doesn’t make a great deal of difference. How different things might have been in his initial overs had luck gone his way.

You could almost read his mind as he was running in. My bet is he was thinking, “I’ll show you Waqar.”

He came back into the attack with England six wickets down and terrorized the Englishmen, bowling one of the most devastating spells you could ever wish to see in a one-day game. Again, how different things might have been.

Shoaib on song is sensational…. if only he and Waqar could sing from the same hymn sheet.