Shoaib Akhtar overshadows South African series win

It’s one of those big looming shadows that’s accompanied by a low octave minor chord. You know what that shadow and that chord means – it means trouble.

Apart from two Twenty20 internationals against Namibia, this was Shoaib Akhtar’s first international outing since January when he played a single Test match against South Africa. Before that, he’d played four one-day internationals in England back in the summer of 2006 and before that, his previous international was a Test against India in January 2006 – that’s getting on for two years ago. Shoaib Akhtar’s international appearances are not common.

Well you know what? He’s still better and more exciting than just about any other bowler in the world. Even if he is a complete pillock.

That might well prove to be his cricketing epitaph, actually: ‘Better and more exciting than just about any other bowler in the world, even if he was a complete pillock.’

He took 4-43 but South Africa took the series 3-2 after Pakistan’s lower order rather generously did the choking thing, saving South Africa the effort for once.

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