.Would you care to tell us a bit about yourself?
A. My name is Muddaser Hussain, Age 21. Born and bred in Bradford Yorkshire. I am studying Software Development Applications (final year) at Bradford University.
My family is originally from Deena and Sialkot in Punjab.
2. Im going to get straight to the point: Butt. What was it about him that suggested to you that we might have a future star at our hands. Was it his technique, his strokemaking, his temperament or a permutation of all
three?
A. To be honest, it was just a gut feeling that I had when I first saw him in action. He had something which our other openrs didn't have His temperament was his main strength, the fact that he would never buckler under pressure ( as the Jubilee match proved ). Another reason, being the fact that he plays every shot on merit and his high concentration level. Anyway I heard a lot about him from mangayters.
3. I am told by those that have been around for some time that you were not amongst his supporters when he failed to set the world alight against Bangladesh earlier on. Is that true? If so, what made you give up on him?
Ahahahahahahaha.
Are you ********* kidding me.
4. What is it that you enjoy in cricket: batting or bowling?
Batting and bowling leggies. Not interested in bowling fast cause of my physique . Not worth trying.
5. whats your benchmark for a good batsman or a bowler. Do you think we have any bowler that passes it successfully?
When it comes to batting, the first thing I look at is temperament and concentration level. Almost all our batsmen are keen on playing long innings and seem to think that the job is done after reaching a milestone. Salman Butt passes it successfully.
In bowling we have no one. Mohammed Sami doesn't have the mental strength. Rana doesn't have the talent to succeed and Gul and Shabbir are injury prone.
6. What do you think is the main problem that Pakistan is failing to succeed on a more consistent basis? What are our weak areas at the moment.
We are weak in every department.
Batting - Other than Salman and Inzamam, we don't have anyone with good temperament who is willing to bat long periods. All our young batsmen have
the talent but no patience.
Bowling - We only have 1 world class bowler who hardly plays due to injury.
7. Are you a stats man or do you go for something more than mere numbers?
Don't look at stats that often unless they are international stats. We all know how good our domestic league is. Average bowlers like Fazl and Rao have better domestic records than Shoaib Akhtar.
I rate Mansoor Amjad who has an average record.
8. I believe you live in England and so my q then is how do you fancy England's chances against Australia in the upcoming ashes? do you think they have a better chance this time around or are they merely overhyped?
1.. If there's one team which is going to beat Australia in Australia then it is England. Harmison is the perfect bowler for Australian conditions. Express pace, tall and hits the deck hard. This guy is going to cause a lot of problems for Australia. Secondly, Flintoff who is easily the best all-rounder in the world. He will not only cause problems with the bat but
also in my opinion, he is England's second best bowler. They have some very good batsmen coming up; all have good techniques and temperament.
Not to forget Vaughan who loves Australia conditions.
Expect a competitive series.
9. How do you see us performing against Aus ? would it be a thrashing that will go down in books as one for the kids or would it be a case of veni vidi vici?
Expect a 3-0 whitewash. It would be a big achievement if we manage to draw a game. I expect us to compete in the VB series and we have a very good chance of winning it.
Watch out for Shahid Afridi.
10. Finally, some people have suggested that all the praise that you have recieved in recent weeks regarding Butt has gone to your head. Do you think thats a fair accusation? Surely you know better than that or dont you?
Eh? Your making it out as though I am Salman Butt's agent.
p.s I know who gave this question.
11. his views on woolmer, where he sees the team 2 years down the road, on inzi's captaincy how long does he see him continuing, any other team he feels will make it big in the next couple of years, his views on our domestic set up, the young bowlers/batsman he rates highly and why exactly.
If you ask me, Other than fitness I don't believe Woolmer has done anything which Miandad couldn't have done. Fair enough, we have beaten India 4 times but it was more to do with an individual performance in each game. We haven't won any of the games due to team performance.
Anyway, this is Pakistan cricket we are talking about. Gods know what to expect 2 years down the road. Miandad could become coach for the 4th time and Bhanja could be captain. Only god knows? Our domestic league is rubbish, simple as that. Dont expect any of our under 19 players to improve by playing in it. They will only learn by playing in the big league. That's why I am a firm supporter of bringing in the likes of
Mansoor Amjad, Zulqarnain and Fawad Alam. I don't expect them to play but at least keep them in the team for the experience. They will learn so much more just by training and being around Bob Woolmer and the seniors.
12. What are your areas of interest and would you care to expound on any one of them?
Watching and playing Cricket, Football (though I haven't played of late cause I need to quit smoking), Playing Videogames (Rpgs and FPSs) and studying. That's all I have time to nowadays. Also anything to do with computer tech which is the main reason why I chose to do Software Engineering. Something I would enjoy doing rather than doing something which my parents want me to do (Doctor, Lawyer etc). I would love to learn how to make Videogames or even design them.
