Pakistan legend Sarfraz Nawaz insists reverse swing is an art

Shahid Hashmi 11:33 31/03/2018
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  • Pakistan’s masters of reverse swing a cricket ball have unanimously defended it as an ‘art’ which can be achieved without the tampering that ended in bans for Australia captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

    In Pakistan, an internet meme swept social media appearing to show legendary pacemen Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis smiling over the incident – with a caption that accused the Australians of being ‘amateurs’ in their efforts to create reverse swing.

    Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz – widely regarded as the first bowler to discover and exploit reverse swing – refused to accept the implication that the skill requires ball-tampering.

    ‘This is ridiculous to say reverse swing is cheating,” Sarfraz said. “You can achieve reverse swing without tampering with the ball.

    “There is a conventional swing which is done with the new ball and then there is reverse swing which is achieved with an old ball and it has been proved that reverse swing is a scientific phenomenon.”

    Sarfraz took 177 wickets in 55 Tests, including an amazing nine for 86 against Australia at Melbourne in 1979 that included a spell of seven wickets for a mere one run in 33 balls.

    “When I passed the art to Imran Khan he developed it and then taught Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and in those times everyone called it cheating but when the Englishmen started to reverse swing it became an art,” said Sarfraz.

    “It was and will remain an art, but resorting to tampering is cheating and that was what Australians did to beat South Africa and were deservedly punished.

    “Conventional swing is simple – if the seam is angled toward the slip fielders it will swing away from the right-handed batsman, and if the seam is angled towards the leg side it will swing into the batsman,” explained Sarfraz. “Reverse swing is the opposite.”

    Sarfraz passed the art to Imran, who achieved more success than his master but also confessed to ball-tampering by using a bottle top to roughen one side of the ball.

    Asked in a 1994 television interview whether he would have got 362 Test wickets had he not tampered with the ball, Imran replied: “It’s a misconception that whoever scratches the ball can get wickets.

    “The whole Sussex team knew I could reverse swing and I would swing at one end while other bowlers could not swing it,” said Imran, who played for the English county.

    Imran passed the torch to Wasim and Waqar – regarded as one of international cricket’s most destructive new-ball pairings.

    The two ripped through England’s batsmen on Pakistan’s 1992 tour, but were also alleged by British media to have tampered with the ball. Wasim excelled for English county Lancashire for a decade while Waqar starred for Glamorgan and Surrey.

    “Those allegations were hurtful,” recalled Waqar. “Of course, reverse swing can be achieved without cheating. Nowadays most of the bowlers do that and get wickets and help their teams win.”

    USE DUKE BALLS

    While Wasim was never caught tampering, Waqar was slapped with a one-match suspension and fined 50 percent of his match fee in a tri-series in Sri Lanka in 2000.

    Waqar suggested only one brand of cricket ball should be used in international cricket, saying it would lead to a fairer contest.

    “Why do we use different brand of balls in different countries?” Waqar asked. “In my opinion the Duke ball (England) is the best and the SG (India) comes close to it. They are the best balls for swing so in order to have uniformity and better swing these balls should be used everywhere.

    “This will help bowlers and this will also produce better batsmen. We should solve the problem and not indulge in the blame game.”

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