ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2014

Pakistan in 2013/14 The Pakistan side played nine Tests, spread across four rubbers, during the period under review and, if nothing else, upheld its reputation for inconsistency. A short series in Zimbabwe was shared 1-1 (see ‘Matches in 2013’), one of the worst results in the history of Pakistan cricket. There were no extenuating circumstances such as the unavailability of leading players: the result was a fair reflection of the play and if not for a timely double hundred in the first Test by Younis Khan when Pakistan batted again 78 runs behind, the result could easily have been 2-0 to Zimbabwe. Yet only a month after this near-humiliation against one of Test cricket’s recognised minnows, a very similar-looking Pakistan side was administering a severe beating to reigning world champions South Africa in the first Test of a ‘home’ series in the United Arab Emirates – although, admittedly, South Africa hit back hard in the second Test to share the rubber 1-1. The run of drawn series continued with a 1-1 result in three Tests against Sri Lanka, also in the UAE, but when Pakistan returned the visit (see ‘Matches in 2014’) the sequence was broken as Sri Lanka claimed a short series 2-0. These are not great results: indeed, by the end of the 2014 season Pakistan had failed to win a series in six attempts since their 3-0 trouncing of England in the Emirates in 2011/12. There could be no complaints, therefore, about their slipping to sixth place in the ICC rankings (although some grim satisfaction, one suspects, in being now only a statistical whisker behind steadily-declining India). It might be argued the side’s inability to play at home somewhat extenuates these indifferent results. However, Pakistan are now increasingly well settled in the Emirates (after earlier ‘home’ Tests in Sri Lanka (2002/03) and England (2010)), and the team shows an understanding of the conditions and an ability to exploit them that are characteristic of a home side. The composition of the side was unusually stable, by Pakistan standards, and the run-scoring was led throughout by Younis Khan and the captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, both of whom could fairly be described as veterans. Indeed, Misbah, who turned 40 in May 2014, has enjoyed something of a golden twilight to his career after being recalled to take over the Test captaincy in 2010/11 at the age of 36. The outstanding bowler remained the off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who must also surely be in the latter stages of his career – as much through the effects of anno domini (he was 36 in October 2013) as because of persistent rumblings about the legality of his action. With tours to Pakistan still precluded by security concerns, the home season consisted entirely of domestic matches. On the face of it, the format remained unchanged from 2012/13: the departmental sides contested the President’s Trophy, while the regional sides played for the longer-established Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. However, an apparently small adjustment to the tournament programmes had a significant impact on the season. In 2012/13, the Presidents’ Trophy had been played first, which meant that some of the leading departmental players could subsequently appear for regional teams in the Quaid-e-Azam. In 2013/14, however, the two tournaments were staged simultaneously. Players were therefore obliged to opt to appear in one tournament or the other, not both. Since leading players understandably preferred to appear for the better-resourced departmental sides, the effect of this was to reduce the standard of the Quaid-e-Azam so that despite the prestige that ought to attach to it as the senior competition, it effectively became the second division of Pakistan cricket. 279