A History of Cricket in Pakistan
The nation of Pakistan was born out of the trauma of Partition from India in 1947. Its cricket team evolved in the chaotic aftermath. Initially unrecognised, underfunded and weak, Pakistan's team grew to become a major force in world cricket. Since the early days of the Raj, cricket has been entwined with national identity and Pakistan's successes helped to define its status in the world. Defiant in defence, irresistible in attack, players such as A.H.Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan awed their contemporaries and inspired their successors. The story of Pakistan cricket is filled with triumph and tragedy. In recent years, it has been threatened by the same problems affecting Pakistan itself: fallout from the 'war on terror', sectarian violence, corruption, crises in health and education, and a shortage of effective leaders. For twenty years, Pakistan cricket has been stained by the scandalous behaviour of the players involved in match-fixing. Since 2009, the fear of violence has driven Pakistan's international cricket into exile. No one knows when it will return home. But Peter Oborne's narrative is also full of hope. For all its troubles, cricket gives all Pakistanis a chance to excel and express themselves, a sense of identity and a cause for pride in their country. Packed with first-hand recollections, and digging deep into political, social and cultural history, Wounded Tiger is a major study of sport and nationhood.
In his account of the Pakistani Eaglets in his autobiography, Alf Gover seems to
mix up the Eaglets teams of 1952 and 1953. I am grateful to Afzal Ahmed for
pointing this out, and thus saving me from error. Interview with Sultan Mahmud,
fellow tourist for the Eaglets, Lahore, 2012. ibid. Gover, op. cit. p.159. Fazal
Mahmood more or less confirms this account: 'after teaching me in-swing and out
-swing, he clearly told me that he had no additional technical points to teach me
which was not ...
