Former Australia fast bowler Geoff Lawson played one international game at Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium and it happened to be against Pakistan (Nehru Cup, 1989).
The way his team was bundled out for 139 runs by the pace battery, Lawson could not help admiring his opponents’ fast bowling talent. Imran Khan was backed by young tearaways Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
As the former Australia pacer sat at the CCI on Tuesday, once again his thoughts were on the pace bowling talent of Pakistan.
In between these two decades, his cricketing journey has taken him closer to Pakistan cricket having served as their coach from July 2007 to October 2008.
Pakistan cricket is in a state of turmoil and at the centre of it are two of their most skilled pace bowlers, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.
Having worked closely with these two, their former coach is quite disturbed about the recent events where Aamer, Asif and skipper Salman Butt have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing.
Lawson is most concerned about the future of the 18-year-old Aamer, earmarked as the best fast bowling talent to emerge from Pakistan since Akram and Waqar. “If he gets suspended for any length of time, he won’t know what to do with himself. He comes from a poor village at the edge of the SWAT Valley. He comes from nothing…a typical subcontinent talent who hails from one of the poor village backgrounds but plays a great game,” said Lawson, who met the players in England during the controversial Pakistan vs England Test series.
“Aamer is admired everywhere, including India; he’s just a shining star. I am quite sad at what’s happened. If he gets a five-year ban or longer, you don’t know where he will be after five years. How will he exist in five years? What he will do for the next five years? Will he able to play cricket again after five years? It’s a very tough question,” were some of the questions which are bothering Lawson at the moment.
Many experts have come out in support of Aamer, considering his age and talent. Lawson, who played 46 Tests and took 180 wickets, too offered his support to Aamer and said the blame should be more on the captain and the people who misguided him.
“Yes (support him). I think captains have enormous responsibility; it’s written in the spirit of cricket that captains pay greater penalty than the normal players do for what happens in the normal course of play. I have a 19-year-old kid and I know how responsible he is. Aamer is as responsible as any guy of his age.
“I had seen him when he was 16 at an under-19 training camp in Pakistan. He bowled exactly like this. He was skinny and he bowled fast. He is not technically fantastic, he’s technically untidy but he bowls fast and swings the ball. He’s just a natural talent.”
Aamer has caught the imagination of the cricketing world and has been compared to Akram. The question is would he have surpassed the Pakistan legend? “That is a long way to go, but he started very well, the youngest one to get to 50 wickets,” said Lawson.
Lawson blamed Asif’s problems on the company he keeps. “Asif’s a nice guy. He is a family man and when we played or trained in Lahore, he would not stay in the city but drive back to be with his family in Sheikhupura. He’s very hard working and when he was recovering from an injury, he did gym sessions twice a day for six months continuous. I don’t understand why he would like to do this (spot-fixing), if he did? But, he’s naive and would keep wrong company. If he’s involved, he deserves what he gets,” said Lawson.
Lawson is most upset with Butt as he feels an educated man like the left-handed batsman ought to have handled himself better. “He came across as a very intelligent, polite guy and I would be most disappointed if he’s involved. I was a kind of mentor to him (Butt). He was the vice-captain when I took over as Pakistan coach. He still calls me coach. He’s educated, intelligent and he’s the captain. If he is proven guilty, then he should not be spared.”
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