ACS Overseas FIrst-Class Annual 2012

Pakistan in 2011/12 Once again in 2011 and 2011/12, security considerations made it impossible for Pakistan to play any international cricket at home, and as a result ‘home’ series were played in the United Arab Emirates (and will be found in the Rest of the World section). In 2011 Pakistan played two sternly-fought Tests in West Indies, dividing them 1-1, and this was followed by a single Test in Zimbabwe in which Pakistan overcame early resistance to gain an easy win in the end (see ‘Matches in 2011’ for all these games). So far, these results were only what might have been expected, but from this point Pakistan’s fortunes showed a marked improvement. This began at ‘home’ in the UAE with a 1-0 win in a three-Test rubber against Sri Lanka, followed by two predictably easy wins in Bangladesh. The highlight of Pakistan’s Test season, however, came when the side returned to the Emirates to play England, newly crowned as the world’s top-ranked side. The result was a 3-0 whitewash as England’s apparently formidable batting line-up was systematically taken apart, its weakness against attacking spin mercilessly exposed again and again. What was particularly encouraging about the Test side’s performance over the last year was that it played its cricket with a commitment and unity of purpose that has not always been a characteristic of Pakistan sides, and for this the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq must take an immense amount of credit. It was especially noticeable, throughout, that Pakistan’s batsmen were determined not to surrender their wickets easily; and when, as against England, the bowlers were also in great form, the result was a team to be reckoned with. The result of these encouraging performances, especially the series wins against Sri Lanka and England, was that Pakistan climbed to fifth place in the ICC rankings compared with sixth at the end of 2010/11. Indeed, with margins so tight between the top five teams, Pakistan might hope for even better things to come. Despite the lack of international matches, domestic cricket in Pakistan continued almost as normal and the main competition, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, for once was allowed to take place without any alteration in format from the previous season. There were two divisions based on playing merit, but with promotion and relegation adjusted so that the twelve-team top division consisted of equal numbers of regional and departmental sides. The result, however, demonstrated even more clearly than in 2010/11 the superior strength of the departmental teams, which occupied the top five places; the only one to miss out, oddly, was the defending champion side, Habib Bank, which finished a lowly ninth. In the final, Pakistan International Airways stormed to a nine-wicket win after their seamers dismissed Zarai Taraqiati Bank for only 70 in the second innings. Regional teams could take some encouragement from the fact that Peshawar won the Second Division final, recovering from a shaky 43/4 to reach the modest target of 153 set by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines. But regional sides occupied all the bottom five places in the Division, and Multan in particular, relegated from Division One in 2010/11, suffered a humiliating season with eight defeats and a losing draw from their nine matches. The Pentangular Tournament between provincial sides was won by a distance by Punjab, who easily topped the league stage before crushing Sind in the final by a massive 511-run margin. Two fast-medium bowlers headed the first-class aggregates: Tabish Khan of Karachi Whites took 77 wickets at 19.92, closely followed by the exciting prospect Bilawal Bhatti of Sui Northern Gas, aged only 20, who took 76 at 18.73. The most prolific batsmen were Afaq Raheem, who scored 1,420 runs at 54.61 in the midst of a poor season for Islamabad; and Usman Salahuddin of Lahore Ravi with 1,401 at 77.83. 249