Test Match Special - Day 1: Bowlers give England the upper hand

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

Jonathan Agnew presents from the Ageas Bowl where England's bowlers performed well on a rain-affected first day of the second Test against Pakistan. The tourists were 126-5 - James Anderson with two of those wickets to edge him that bit closer to the 600 mark - before rain and then bad light brought an early end to proceedings. Aggers is joined by Mark Ramprakash and Aatif Nawaz to chew over the day's play while there's reaction from Sam Curran. Elsewhere, Aatif, Azhar Mahmood and Simon Mann discuss Shoaib Akhtar's career on his 45th birthday, whether he deserved his bad boy reputation and his recent role as a game show host. There's also an interview with Dr Samara Afzal, one of the frontline NHS staff to be honoured during the West Indies series, with her name appearing on the shirt of Chris Woakes.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. To embrace the impossible requires a vehicle that pushes what's possible. Defender 110 boasts a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms, a weighting depth of 900 millimeters and a roof load up to 300 kilograms. Learn more at landrover.ca. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. This is the TMS Podcast. from BBC Radio 5 Live.

I'm Jonathan Agnew. Welcome to the Test Match Special podcast, looking back on a rain-affected opening day of the second test between England and Pakistan at the Aegeas Bowl. A truncated day, but England's bowlers making some progress. To come, we'll get the views of Mark Gramprakash

and Atif Nawaz and we'll get reaction from Sam Curran. We'll also wish Sherb Actor, a happy 45th birthday and speak to the Birmingham Doctor about her connection with England's latest hero, Chris Wokes. listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

So first day, the second test, then, between England and Pakistan at the Gius Boles, sees Pakistan restricted to 126 for 5, restricted because of the weather. Really disappointing today, there's been some showers around bad light, only 45.4 overs were possible today. So time will be tacked on, of course, throughout the test match. But it's very frustrating. There's lots of storms around England today, as we know. Jimmy Anderson took the first two wickets to fall.

His old friend, Ashton Mashoud, was LBW for one. That was six for one in the third over. Burns took the catch to dismiss Azar Ali for 20, and the score was 78 for two. But two catches had gone down at slip. In the meantime, Abid Ali dropped on one by Sibley, on 21 by Rory Burns. For Burns made amends and caught him in the end off Curran for 60.

Asa Shafik was caught by Sibley, who had also dropped one of the early ones off broad. for five. That was 117 for four. And having waited over ten years to come out and play test cricket once again. Fawad Alam got a fourth ball duck when he was LBW to Wokes. Interesting one is given not out by the umpah, but in fact England quite rightly reviewed it. It showed to be thumping fair and square into the middle stump. And that was about the point they went off with Barbara Azam still at the crease. He's batting his 25 and out and played some lovely strokes actually. Muhammad, Muhammad Rizwan, the keeper was on four when they all went off.

We've got Mark Ramprakash with him, we've got us if no, us, alongside it as well. Where do we start? It's not with you, Mark. Shall we, England's day? Yeah, England will be well pleased, actually. And in particular, the selectors, whoever made the decision with Sam Curran, I think, at the top. Because Zach Crawley coming in at number three, you'd say, okay, you know, he's a direct replacement for Ben Stokes to go out of the side. But, of course, he's not yet of the pedigree of a Ben Stokes.

And so that would still concern the England selectors, that they were light on batting. So Curran comes in, yes, albeit at number eight, but he has some batting pedigree. And in addition to that, the forecast for this game seems to be this muggy, hot conditions. He's a swing bowler. And England have got their selections right. They left out the 90-mile-an-hour bowler in Archer. Yes. And so they've got the four bowlers in there.

And so, it's funny, though, that Pakistan won the toss. I think it would have been not a straightforward decision for Azir Ali to bat, but I think Joe Root said he was going to bat but as it happened that worked out well for England because there was some early movement in these overcast heavy conditions it swung around and Jimmy Anderson of course needs no second invitation

and I thought it was what was a classic piece of bowling from him to dismiss Massoud in the past he has been out fencing away from his body mainly from around the wicket but of course you know with Jimmy Anderson you know that you can swing it both ways and right arm over the wicket just a little bit of movement back into the left andra and that was good enough.

Yeah. It's interesting. I don't think there have been many captains who, we've got two quick bowlers in your locker in Archer and Wood would choose neither of them. I mean, I think most captains would like to have a bit of firepower, wouldn't they?

So it's an interesting choice from that perspective too. And Crystal would have said that in the future, you know, they wanted to try and integrate Archer and Wood, maybe not together, but certainly at times, they wanted to play those guys, get some games into them, with a sort of eye on. on the future really of test cricket and particularly

England playing away from home where the wickets can be dead or in the batsman's favour and they need a point of difference so they've spoken about that and I felt with this pitch you know it would have some pace and carry in it so it was a little bit of a surprise

to not see one of those guys included and I felt that if if the pitch flattens out and it looks a good pitch but if it flattens out and it loses that moisture and the sun really comes out, well, let's hope that they don't regret

that leaving out that type of pace. Yes, interesting. Artie, let's look at Pakistan's selection, shall we. I felt a bit sorry they left shut about. I liked him at Manchester. A young lad, seen as some character. I know he's learning leg spin and so on. I'm not sure they used him very well, actually, up there,

but he's got something. And the way he batted in the first innings, too, really busy innings. It was quite a mature innings, actually, when someone's only played a handful of test match. I thought he looked really good, but he's made way well for Fowler. had a lamb blessing who came out after 10 years

and got a blob and make it happens to anybody. But, you know, I wonder if they all look at that and just wonder. They were trying to strengthen the batting, aren't they? That was the idea, yeah, because, I mean, Fawad is a frontline batsman and, you know, Shadab is sort of a spinning all-rounder, and he was really brought in for that first test match because they wanted to give themselves the option

to, you know, play two spinners, maybe sort of looking ahead to workload a little bit, although yesterday Bokar Yunus did say that, you know, they're not worried about workload or anything like that. These guys haven't played test cricket for five months, so they should be rearing to go for the back-to-back matches. But yeah, it was a little bit harsh on Shadda, but you understand trying to

bolster the batting. And, you know, someone like Fawad, there's been a lot of campaigning to get him into the side. He's got this incredible first-class record, average in the late 50s, you know, and been topping the batting averages in the Pakistani domestic scene for many, many years, and a huge fan base as well, and the very vocal fan base.

I was all thinking how they're going to take that duck. Yeah, no, I mean, I feel really bad for them. It's kind of anticlimactic after 11 years, I imagine. but he yeah he's he's done quite well over the he was brought back into the squad last year and during that Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan the first time Pakistan hosted test cricket in quite some time you know he was in the squad but he never made the starting 11 because all the other batsmen were performing so Mizba was left with this weird dilemma of like you know this bizarre paradox of choice that you don't really have as a Pakistan selectively often that our batsmen

are too good who do I drop it doesn't often happen but it happened and he was the you know he was the Like, you know, he was the guy who suffered because of it because he, you know, he couldn't find a space in the starting 11. So they will have been under immense pressure to play him, especially considering that second innings in the previous test match where they kind of fell away. They lacked a bit of batting depth. Just a cool head in there.

And despite the fact he's only played a handful, like two or three test matches for Wadda. He still considered, you know, a seasoned, professional and experienced hand in the team. So they will have thought he would have added that. And that duck's going to, that's going to sting a lot for him. Yeah, yeah. He has got an extraordinary stance. I mean, you've crossed Peter Willie with Shiverine Chandapole and it's sort of getting

somewhere there. But it's a, I don't know, it's a coach mark. I mean, in a form of bats, well, let's start with the batting side of it. First of all, I mean, why do people do that? Why do people? Because actually, I mean, he does get into a reasonable place when it really matters.

But, I mean, whoever suggested that to him or I wonder why he thought, yep, I'm going to stand like that. I'm going to sound like I'm playing baseball rather than cricket and I can see how I get on. It's weird, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it's almost as though the bowler was coming from sort of just wide of midwicked. That's how far roundy is, how square on is he is. I mean, I doubt if he batted like that as a youngster.

I'd be surprised because whenever you see other people play, they don't stand like that. No. So how do you come across that style and how come you feel that that works for you? I mean, just purely from a technical point of view, I like simplicity because, it tends to repeat easier day in, day out. So if you're facing midwicked as he was, yes, he makes an initial movement background just before the point of release.

So he has a sort of a trigger and a foot movement that gets him more round into an orthodox side-on position just before release. But my question to him would be, well, what is the size of that movement on a Monday? Does it differ on a Wednesday? And then on a Friday? And so how can you be consistent?

How can you know where your off stump is all the time? I mean, so far to go with his front foot to get round to the off stump, which is where most deliveries are going to be. And the timing of it too is got to be absolutely spot on. The timing, absolutely. A great point. Yeah, the timing of that big movement across. And so, you know, are you making the game easier for yourself?

Yeah. Yeah, I'd cast out on that. But it's also interesting because, I mean, Lassie's Malinga would mean, who seen anyone bowling like he bowled, would they? I mean, he would have sort of some on the telly running in a bowling of an arm down there. So, I don't know, but it is funny watching. So would you try and change it then? If you, uh, if you, uh, if you, uh, Eunice Kahn, would you be saying, come on, Foward?

I, I don't, I don't really coach in that way. I'm always, would be asking questions of the player. I might have some footage of where he's perhaps, you know, where it hasn't perhaps worked for him, show him and ask him about it. I mean, look, if a player reaches this level, you know, they've got every right to, they've been selected for a reason, so they've got every right, it's their career,

they must go out and play the way they want to play and take ownership of that. But as a coach, I think you're there to help be a sounding board for the player, obviously to encourage and build a rapport and a relationship where hopefully you can have an open discussion. Yes. So if, for example, I remember having a conversation

with Johnny Bester about facing Ishant, you know, with the big in-swingers. And, you know, Johnny was talking about which guard to bat on. And some of the players were saying, we'll get over to the off stump. And others were saying, no, baton leg stump, let it swing in and then play it. So that's the sort of conversation you're having, which is more a tactical thing. I wouldn't really want to get into the technical side because you're hoping you don't have to address that at this level. But I wouldn't say that in England, you know, starting in that position, he's got a lot of work to do to get himself in a better orthodox position

at the point of release and to know where he's off stampers. It's always fun to see something different though, isn't it? I like seeing something. He'd go, whoa, what is this? Absolutely. I remember as a young man, I remember watching the Under 15s Cricket World Cup

and there was a bowler who could bowl with his left arm and right arm. Oh, yes, I remember. And he was a Pakistani bowler as well. So we definitely make the unusual people a bit more mainstream in Pakistan. But yeah, I mean, if you watch it, it's interesting because when we watched that,

that him take his guard for the first ball. Phil Tufnell was on and, you know, he sort of broke out into hysterics. And, you know, as we got off afterwards, he was he always like that? I don't think he started his career like that. So we looked back at his footage of his first test match and he's got a much more conventional stance. So he's definitely made an adjustment over the years. And I mean, I remember seeing some of him in the warm-up games and he did have a weird stance, but I didn't know if it was just trying it out or, you know, or so on.

And you can find footage of the guy, the Aizam Trophy, the domestic tournament in Pakistan and see how he bats there. But as Mark says, you know, if somebody accumulates an average of 57, you know, works their way into, you know, what is a strongish, certainly in context, batting lineup is hard to question the technique. And, you know, Eunice Khan, from all indications, is the kind of coach that is very positive as well, like, likes to encourage batsmen. And it's more about the mentality than he is necessarily about the technique, though if anybody

was going to critique technique, you know, you take a critique from a man who scored 10,000 plus test runs, surely. yeah it is fun to watch to answer your question I quite like it and I kind of hope we get to see more of it in the series talking of batting how do you think Azar Ali's 20 85 balls but did it answer

any questions is he's under pressure isn't he? Yes he's under intense amounts of pressure and scrutiny back home in Pakistan all the talk shows as we talk about they've got a lot of negative things to say about his captaincy and his performance with the bat he would have been hoping for a few more than 20 but sadly

from him he couldn't really get past and you know England bowled really well at him you know they kept him quite contained they kept the ball quite full allowed it to swing in those conditions it was very difficult to bat through it and you know getting 20 it shows technique to an instance but a player of that class somebody's got a triple hundred to his name you expect more particularly given the context and in that leadership role I think people are going to be looking at him with a microscope in this test match and you know wherever the result might be he's he's going to be under fire if he doesn't perform something, do something special on the second innings?

Babar Azam to get out tomorrow, Mark. Well, a lot of cricket supporters would hope not, because we enjoy watching him back. I mean, he's one for the purest. He does make the game look easy. Such a talent. But, yeah, you'd think Pakistan's fortune is right. Ruthless, isn't he?

Middle off. Yeah, and he's one who's getting over to off stump. I mean, he's in a much more orthodox position than an arm. But you're right. If he will back himself, if the ball's on the stumps, he's going to back himself to score through the leg's side. And if he does do that, then the bowlers won't go there, and he'll be able to leave the ball in a much easier way.

The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Let's get some England reaction then, shall we? Sam Curran has been speaking to Eleanor Aldroyd. Well, Sam, how do you feel about the way you turned things around today? Yeah, it was good. I think, obviously, when they won the toss and batted, so obviously it was a big responsibility as a bowling group to try and put pressure on them. thought we bowed really well, obviously to finish the day, 120 for five was great for us.

And especially when them being 90 for two was a great comeback. And I thought everyone bowed really well. How did it feel for you being back in that team again? Yeah, it was great. Obviously, waited a bit of time, but there's such a good competition for places at the minute. So it's all about trying to take the opportunity, but not trying to put too much pressure on myself. But at the same time, just enjoy playing for England. It's such a great feeling.

I was out there today, and I just really love being back with the guys and just being involved. and yeah, it was great. Do you know what was in the selectors' minds giving you that recall? To be honest, it was quite a late call. I've always felt like I've been in and around, so any time you get the opportunity, they spoke at the start of the summer about rotating the seamers, and I think that's probably what they were thinking,

give Joff a little bit of a rest. So, yeah, it was just great to be back on the side and hopefully we can get those wickets early in the morning. Absolutely, and the rain interruptions today, it's always frustrating, isn't it? How did you all cope as a group? I think, to be fair, training this week was really warm and coming to this week.

We've looked at the forecast. I think it's going to be like that throughout the week. We're on and off, but it's about catching those key moments when we're out there because, yeah, it's not ideal as a bowler when you three balls into you over and you have to come off. But the main thing is to make sure when we do start after those breaks is make sure we don't just ease into it,

make sure we're on the money first up. So what's the target for tomorrow gets through those other five wickets? Yeah, I think so. it's as soon as we can, I thought we bowed really well at the end of the day. We've got three quick wickets to finish the day. And so, yeah, Bob is probably their big player as well. So we try to get him. But, yeah, I think just try to make advantage of that first hour and hopefully get some big runs.

And a word about Jimmy Anderson. He's now 592 test match wickets and counting. Yeah, it's incredible. That's obviously gives me goosebumps to be out there playing with him. He's obviously England's best bowl in leading wicket takers. So it's pretty amazing to just try and keep learning from him. I think he proved everyone wrong. He's such a world-class bowler, and could even be this game.

He might get 600, who knows, but, yeah, world-class. Did he seem extra motivated by all the people writing him off? I don't think so. I think it's just, I was pretty surprised there was even people talking about that. I think his numbers and wicket sum him up, and he's a great guy to learn off for me as a young bowler and just got to keep picking Jimmy and broad his brains because it's just a great feeling to be out there learning from them.

Brilliant stuff, Sam. Thank you very much indeed. Yes, thank you. This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. If you head to the TMS podcast, you can currently find a special program, the world's fastest bowler, a Shurbaktar special. Ishigua and Atif Nawaz spend a lively half hour with the first man to break the 100 miles per hour barrier.

Here he tells them about who he was close to in the Pakistan team. There's many people I used to go out with, but I was basically a long ranger. I'm a bit of explorer. So what I did is I explored Kazim's, I explored places, Rotners Island to Isle of Sillay, to chopper rides, to, you know, cycling to different mountains. So I used to be a lone ranger. So I enjoyed playing cricket with my team mates, but I never enjoyed hanging out after the match with my teammate.

So, Shab, you mentioned the motorcycle and, you know, going for those lone rides. And, you know, I've read about this, and I've seen interviews about this, You talk about the film Mukadha Gassikandr and the song Mukadha Gatsi Kandar. You know, you really, really like it. What is it about that song you like that gets you kind of jeed up when you're on a motorcycle? It gives you the liberating feeling that you are free again. You know, the hair is flying out, at the same time, the wind blowing your face, and you're speeding up towards something, which is unknown destination.

And that's where the motorcycle takes you. And I never planned my destination. I just enjoy the journey where I take. So it was the cycle before that and then the motorcycle. It gives me the extra wings I wanted to get somewhere. But this is the convinced that I used to have that you take me to the places. I used to go to the one place in the morning, the motorcycle allowed me to go to the other place to practice. And then I became a netballer for the South Africans.

So the South African came up to me. I remember very clearly there's one gentleman called Gary Kristen and Johnny Roads they said would you like to be a good net fast bowler

against us in the net I said yes sir I can do that for you and very soon you'll remember me that I'll be playing up against you guys he said how that is so I said just face me

so I bowled a couple of balls there Gary Kristen and he said oh my lord you should have been in the team rather in the nets I said that Do you think I have the capacity to be a great fast holder? He says, you must be kidding me.

So I am going to vouch for you in the Pakistan dressing in that you should play you. And the Pakistan, what they did is they played me four years later. So I lost my peak there. The one thing that nobody will ever be able to take away is that you were the first and thus far only bowler to break the 100 miles per hour barrier. I know this was a huge deal to you and it was a huge deal for cricket really, breaking that 100 mile per hour barrier. No, really? Honestly, no. It was just a media hype for me to cross the 100 miles. It was just a international cricket gimmick that who is going to cross the 100 miles, just to create the interest. I was not getting paid for this one,

the bowling 100 miles of breaking my bones. So I, what I did, spoken about this to Berkeley back in 2002, I said, why don't you do it? You're fitter than me. You're better looking than me. So why don't you just go out there and do it? So he said, no, I don't think so. I used to ideal. you Schwab. So I think you're the one who's going to do it. So I planned it. What I did, I started training for 100 miles back in 2003. I used to bowl from a 26 yard. I used to run with, I used to run with 170 kilo on my back, take 20 kilo off out of every 100 meter sprint. And then I started bowling with a thrice as heavier with a cricket ball with a 26 yard. And then I came back

to the 22 yards, that I was about, oh, six kilometers quicker. Then they recorded me somewhere about 162, 162, 163. Because when I just close the distance, but the power is the same. The power muscle ratio to the same to the ball, but the distance is lesser now this time. So I was crossing and cutting the wind at the speed of somewhere which I'm telling you right now. So by the time I got into South Africa, I lost my knees, my left knees was gone and my right was totally gone. So what they did is they jabbed me about seven times in my knees, then I just could not feel the ground at the same time. So what I could not feel the ground, that you know, you don't feel the tingle in your knees, in your toes.

When you don't feel the grass, you don't get the grip out of it. So when you don't get the grip out of it, you don't know where you're landing. when you don't know when you're landing so your arms and your body your frame is all over the place so I used to get very frustrated but I had to play so then I planned I said

I did this I said I did it twice and now accept it please so I planned this one against Nick Knight and I told him I said I'm going to hurt you and make sure you stay out of it so he says how are you going to hurt me I said I'm going to bowl a hundred miles an hour

in this over, in this particular bowls. He said, oh, my lord, okay. Why? I said, I just want to finish this. I said, but make sure they pitch it up. I said, I will. So this is the story how it goes. That was a clip from the world's fastest bowler, Ashurb actor special, which is available to download now. We're a bit of a chat about actor on TMS today.

Here is Simon Mann, Atif Nowaz, and first as a Mahmood. I knew him for, I think, 25 years. So I've seen him, you know, growing, playing first class cricket. together and went for trial together, actually for PIA. Luckily, he got picked, I didn't. And that was it, you know, he was a massive fan of Salman Khan as well, so he got a thousand rupees of salary the first month, and Salman Khan got Indian actor.

He got a, wearing a different type of jeans. He went to buy those jeans and spent 900 rupees on that jeans. And that's sort of character, Shuevahtar is. When you first came across him, did you think he was going to be as successful as he turned out to be for Pakistan? One thing he always wanted to do the ball fast, which he

did actually, and he always said that I want to be a faster bowler in the world. And I remember sitting with him in an aeroplane going to Karachi and he said when the plane was taking off and he said one day I will run like that and when

the aeroplane take off and he said I will deliver the ball like that and with that sort of pace Like an aeroplane taking off? Yeah, and you see his dismissal every time you get dismissal. It felt like the aeroplane, you know. Atty, give us a sort of flavour of how popular or otherwise Sherbaatar is in Pakistan.

He's phenomenally popular. He's well known for being quite outspoken. These outspoken characters do quite well in Pakistan, people who are quite forthright with their opinion and just, you know, they have a lot of conviction and everything they're saying. And, you know, he's right up there with the most convinced. Now, he, by his own accounts, doesn't always think through what he's saying.

He doesn't filter what he's got in his mind before he puts it out there. And some of that was apparent in the interview. There were a few clips that didn't make it into the interview, but some of the things he says are genuinely quite outrageous. But he is one of those incredibly dynamic figures of cricket. Like watching him run in and ball was genuine box office. It was one of those things, as a cricket fan, you had to watch.

You know, we've had some great fast bowlers before and since in Pakistan. But in terms of a character and personality, And you can look at his stats and they look fine. He's averaging mid-20s in test cricket and one-day cricket. He didn't play as much cricket as maybe he could have. But his real impact, to really appreciate him, you know how people say you had to be there. You had to see him in his prime bowling.

For me, that 1999 World Cup, you know, it was so iconic with his long hair and running in and is flowing back. He's got the bright green shirt and, you know, stumps matted all over the place. He's an iconic figure in Pakistani cricket alongside icons that have significantly better records on paper. Where does he rank then in terms of popularity among players who played in the last, I don't know, 25 years? He's definitely right up there.

I think in terms of commercials in Pakistan, you tend to see a lot of Shai, the Fridi still. He's still immensely popular. You'll see some of the new ones. I've seen Barber in a few commercials, but the ones that people remember the most of these iconic commercials that Shoebachter did with Bob Woolmer and all the other ex-coaches of Pakistan

and, you know, playing up to his bad boy character that he had, like, you know, missing curfews and running around and he just leaned into his personality so much so he's right up there as somebody who's considered quite genuine. I think some purists of the game would be upset about some of his

behaviors and some patches of his play but if you look at it, if you look at the whole picture, he definitely contributed some a lot of color to the Pakistan cricket history. There was no curfew Atif at that time was it because of Shoeb, they introduced a curfew? No curfew, you know.

Masim Akram was captain and he always said you know, you go on a boys and, you know, just go and enjoy. And that's what he did most of the time, you know, on and off the field. He always, you know, have a massive smile on his face, you know. Whenever he got bigot, he got grumpy, you know, if someone hit him, like I remember Matthew Hayden in Australia, he hit him for a couple of bondry and he said, I want to go and kill you next time. He talked about that in the interview as well. He enjoyed the whole, the old-school nature of.

I'm going to hurt you. Batsman, you're coming in. You're in my territory. I'm going to hurt you. Now, in the modern game, obviously, you know, post-Phil Hughes and things like that, we think of the game in a different context and, you know, about safety and things like that. But he's one of those old-school, bodyline-esque figures that thinks, you know, it's me versus this batsman at all costs. I've got to do whatever I've got to do to take him out. And, you know, off the field, as Azar says, a full-on bad boy. I spoke to Waseemakram last year during the World Cup. There was a whole furor about Sarfraz Ahmed yawning during one of the matches. And, you know, Vasim Akram said to me in Urdu, he said, like, you know, you know, what's a very serif admiy am. Like a badmash woulda, you know, you know,

at 10, 11,000, back, together. Which means, like, Sarnfras is a nice guy, he's a well-behaved guy. If he was like, you know, if he was a thug or a loafer, like me or Shoebaktur, he would have come back at 1 o'clock in the morning and not apologize for it. So it was a different era, as Azar says. There's a lot more discipline out there. And he's very much a nice sort of snapshot of that era of cricket where things were very aggressive, very primal, and, yeah, just one of the great characters of the game.

And was he a bad boy? I mean, he's about his bad boy image. Was he a bad boy, whatever that means? Yeah, he was a bad boy, but not harmful to any other, you know. He used to go out and enjoy his life off the pitch, which is he loved to do that more often than not, but he's settled down now. Was he always ready for his day of cricket after his nights out? Yeah, because he followed the footstep of the grids, you know, like Vaseema Kramarayy and as before.

But they are the one, you know, in the morning, if they have a big night out, they are the first one to go in and do some work. So Shoebahtar wasn't that sort of following those footsteps from the seniors. On the aspect of bowling fast, though, I mean, it does take a tremendous amount out of your body. And, you know, he is someone that just. sort of kept on he tried to bowl as fast as he could do you think he was someone that

if he'd had have paid more attention to I don't know fitness and going to bed a bit earlier that he actually would have been a more effective pace bowler yeah definitely definitely these sort of discipline will help you to stay on the field for a longer period of time

Shwebachter never thought you know he will achieve 400 wickets he always wants to bowl quick and which he did you know that's that's his motto that was his goal, you know, running and bowl quick as much as you can. And the whole time, you know, if he was more discipline and more sort of, you know, looking at the bigger picture to see where he's going to finish his career, he played only, I think, 50-55 test matches for Pakistan in a period of, I think, 12 to 13 years.

So which shows, you know, he struggled with his knee injuries and he always said he was hyper-extension joint and, you know, his body never allow him to. to do and go and play back-to-back test matches for Pakistan for a long period of time. What's he doing now? Well, he's doing a few things. He's got a very successful YouTube channel, and he's not one to tie himself down to any one specific thing, but he's done a lot of stuff recently. He hosted a game show with Wazi Makrum in Pakistan called Geo Kilo Pakistan,

which means live and play Pakistan, and it was very successful. They did some really funky comedy sketches on there as well, the two of them, showing a bit of acting chops and a lot of chemistry. history, but he pops up on news channels every now and again, talking about the cricket and having an opinion. And I've heard some rumours that he wants to get involved. And I did prod him on it a little bit in the interview about getting involved in, you know, the running of cricket in Pakistan, but nothing that he would confirm to me officially, sadly. What are the rules this game show he's presenting? Oh, it's outstanding. So it started during Ramadan, and it was kind of like

the generation game. So if you can imagine a young Bruce Fawcite that can also imagine, imagine Bruce Warside bowling at 100 miles an hour and you've got your game show. It's great fun. They give away a lot of stuff. There's a lot of product placement going on. So they have like things like motorcycles and fridges and actual cash and gold and all sorts of things. And they seem to just kind of tell a few jokes, call people from the crowd and hand them a gift. It's quite extraordinary. But it's oddly entertaining and you can't really look away. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Well, you may have seen recently some videos called Fan Tales.

on the BBC Sport website. These celebrate some of the supporters of the three sides we've been playing this summer. One of those featured is Dr Samara Afzal. She was one of the first Asian women to play for Warwickshire and is now involved in coaching. She was also one of the frontline NHS workers

to be honoured during the West Indies series with her name appearing on the shirt of Chris Wokes. So does she pick Wokes or that's simply luck of the draw? No, it was a complete surprise and it was a great surprise because Chris and I have played for the series. same club. I'm still associated with that club, but of course Chris is now moved on to England. So for that reason, it was really good in the fact that I've actually done my

level one coaching course about 10 years ago with Chris. So it's nice. So you know him, or at least a bit? Well, yes. I know from when we did our coaching course together, and then on and off I've seen him train before he played for England. But then after that, I've not seen him. But he appears to be just as humble and just as a nice guy as he was back 10 years ago. He is, absolutely. And have you got your shirt now and has he autographed it? I actually received it this morning in the post, so I've brought it to work, and I've tried it on.

I've taken pictures of it, and it's, yeah, I'm really excited. I've actually got a cricket bat from the ECB as well, signed from all the England players from last year's match against Pakistan. So I've currently got all those things in the clinic with me. So you're buzzing, you must be. Yes, I'm very excited. with that and the fact the test cricket's finally back on. Yes, I know.

It's a great initiative that raised the bat and everything. Tell us what you do. What are you been doing during all the COVID crisis to have your name submitted for this? So I'm a GP. Both I've got a practice. We manage 7,000 patients. And I'm also a GP at the local hospital,

which is the emergency treatment centre. So we've been assessing all the COVID patients and deciding whether or not. they need to go to intensive care or be admitted. And then we've been dealing with the non-COVID side of things as well. Change of practice for us. So a lot of our usual work has actually been taken up by video calls and phone calls, except for the hospital where we've been assessing patients face-to-face

to see whether or not they need admission. Tell us what it was like actually going through all of that. I mean, it's a huge responsibility, obviously, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, initially when everything started, it was quite scary. and sadly in the first few weeks we actually lost a few colleagues and luckily for us I think I've seen a few hundred COVID results recently and none of them have come back as positive so I think we're getting there

but initially because knew what was happening and we were we couldn't really not examine patients we had to examine patients there was always a risk whether or not are we going to catch COVID and then if so what will happen but things seem a little bit more calmer now But actually to lose colleagues, I mean, that kind of brings a whole thing into perspective, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's something that's not happened like this before. I mean, we lose patients to flu every year, but to affect young people are being affected,

to lose colleagues that are cheap people like myself, it was actually quite distressing. So we're all raising the bat. That's the name of the series that are being played, and that was how you got your Chris Woke's shirt and so on. But I've been watching the video. I mean, you are a seriously decent cricketer. yourself, aren't you? Yeah, I'm a bowler. I've not played at the level I'd have liked to now just because of time.

But, yeah, I've represented Warwickshire. I've been very lucky enough to represent Warwickshire. I still play for a warmly cricket club in Sutton, Coalfield. So, yeah, whenever I get time, it's great to get on the cricket pitch and get bowling. How did you get playing cricket? It's always interesting to hear the story, particularly of how young women get involved in the game and the cut off from when it's felt they can't really play women's cricket anymore, or they can't play the men anymore,

they're going to women's cricket and so on. Was that something that you encountered? Yeah, I mean, for me, I watched my father and his friends playing, and they'd get together on the weekend and all play, and I would tag along with them, eventually got to appoint a reached teenager, and they said it's better you find a girls club. So, luckily for me, my dad was actually quite encouraging,

and he found a club for me and at that time it was Wolverhampton which was a prestigious club and you know people like Rachel Hayhoe Flint have come from that club Lucy Jones has played for England so for me it was actually quite a big learning curve going on to play for Wolverhampton and tell me about Warwickshire then the Warwickshire women because you have to sort of refresh me on the structure really and I guess the whole thing's gone slightly mad this summer anyway hasn't it

but how so who are you playing against and how often or how often would you be playing, given it a normal summer? So with Warwickshire, so the last time I played in for Warwickshire was about 2006. So at the time we'd play, at that time we'd probably play about one game every couple of weeks. So when we were travelling to Wales, we travelled to Surrey, Essex. But now things have changed and actually in women's cricket, the county fixtures are quite regular, just like the men. In terms of club cricket this year, it's been interesting.

because we the women's league have actually pulled out so we've actually mixed teams which was really nice and now we're playing combined men's and women together in a men's what was originally a men's league so and actually we're doing really well with one I think all of our games out of four so far so it's been interesting with COVID and I think it just shows that men and women can probably play together moving forward yeah interesting and where you are Samara in Birmingham with obviously a lot of a large Asian community there. Do you think it's enough being done particularly to encourage young Asian girls into playing cricket? I think, I mean, the problem with the Asian culture is that it's difficult for parents

to let their girls go out to play sports. I mean, we did a really good initiative with the National Asian Cricket Council where I, as a GP, taught some of my female patients how to play cricket, and we did an eight-week course, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The problem is when they don't trust who's running the courses.

I mean, with the GP, they're comfortable. But I think we need to do a lot more. And I think we need to educate the community more so. I think there's lots of opportunities. There's talent, but we just need to educate the community more to let them get, let girls get involved in sport. And how could you do that? I mean, realistically, I know it's obviously the thing to do.

But how do you get word out there that young girls' sport and young women's sport is safe? I think they need to be introduced to, the clubs and they need to know what the culture's like. So for me, when I played club cricket, our coach, our manager was very supportive. And it was almost like a social environment as well. So they made sure that you're well when you weren't playing cricket. I'd get routine phone call just to see how you're doing over the winter and things. And I think once parents know that actually it's quite a nice environment, it's quite a safe environment and everybody's really encouraging once they overcome those barriers I think then more people they will let more

people more girls come out and play club cricket that's over Samara look thank you so much but thank you more for all the hard work that you've done and you and all your colleagues when things are really grim and you all worked tirelessly selflessly and everything else on behalf of everybody you've got your chris wokes shirt one piece one piece of advice from me I did this once the brian lara shirt that I had signed when he got his 375 I put it in the washing machine. Don't do it. Don't put it in the washing machine. You've already done that because of COVID. They said we've already washed it and it's come through. So I don't need to do anything other than frame it now. And it's still there? So the actual, the autograph is

still on it? The autograph is still on it, yes. Oh, well, thank goodness. Well, mine was a disaster. Thank you. Thank you, Savara. I'd love to talk to you. Enjoy your cricket. Thank you very much. Dr Samara Afzal, and you can check out her video on the BBC Sport website where you'll also find highlights from the day and much more. We're back on air at 10.15 for the highlights half hour on five live sports extra and 1045 also on Radio 4 Longwave. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.