'No one is better than me with the new ball,' says this Pakistani pacer

Pakistan's tainted pacer Mohammad Asif has claimed to be the best exponent of the new ball in Test cricket.

Insisting that none of the current pace bowlers in the national side know the art of using the new ball, Asif said his strength had always been causing maximum damage with the shiny red cherry.

"If you waste the new ball then you are asking for trouble. In Test cricket in particular, no matter what the opposition or conditions, you have to make the new ball count. No one knows the art of exploiting the new ball better than me," Asif told reporters.

Asif, who has served a five-year ban for spot-fixing, picked up 4 for 29, including three with the new ball, on the first day of the day and night Quaid-Azam Trophy final at the National stadium on Saturday. Asif, who turns 34 this month, said he is ever ready to do national duty. He said no issue should be made about his age or fitness.

"All this talk about fitness and age I don't believe in that particularly when you have a 40 plus player in the national Test side and some in the late thirties. People say spinners mature with age and I believe it is the same with pace bowlers, they also become better and more lethal with age and experience," he said. "You can't even play in domestic cricket if you are not fit."

Pakistan's Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq is 42, while senior batsman Younis Khan is close to 38.