One of the finest books on the history of Pakistan Cricket - a treasure trove of information and education about the country of Pakistan and its cricket. I write these brief notes from the book for my own self but share it here for anyone opting for a quick (albeit poor) summary..
Prologue - Terrorism, chaos, gambling, corruption, Big3, economic hardship and yet triumph - the consistent virtues of Pakistani cricket
Oval 1954 - The test and travails of the somewhat unsure, somewhat fickle leader Hafeez Kardar, Fazal Mahmood charisma, talent and audacity along with several other new to cricket 'rabbits' and how they became TeamPakistan and overcame the odds to beat the world leaders of cricket in their own backyard.
Iqbal (Minto) Park, Lahore - The womb of Pakistan cricketers, its history, its cricketing value and its current abysmal state. Jinnah dead, Liaquat killed, 9 years for a constitution, 7 unelected prime ministers in 10 years. The Pakistani state with all the uncertainties within and around it had a 19% literacy rate "but a far greater percentage had a priceless commodity; jazba, a combination of hope, spirit and passion. Hindsight may yet judge it misplaced, that this Project Pakistan, with its ambiguously articulated roots and clouded ideals, never had any business arousing such endeavor and zeal. But it did." Crescent and Mamdot cricket clubs competitions and how Government College and Islamia College formed the incubator of early cricket in Pakistan.
Karachi and other city schools and clubs - Sindh formed a cricket association (C.B. Rubie wrote the constitution) a decade before India did. Built on the industriousness of Parsis, Karachi hosted various tournaments and competitions to attract the best players and pass them on to the national stage. St Patricks, Church Mission Schools and Sind Madrassah major cricket playing schools. Rawalpindi clubs, Bahawalpur CM Syed Hasan Mehmood built Dring stadium (hosted first Test match in West Pakistan), Sialkot (land of Faiz and Iqbal) had Connelley build Connolley Park (Jinnah Stadium) to host winter competitions for teams across India (Ustaaf Shafi umpire 'haram di boti', Faisalabad (Lyallpur) colleges, Sahiwal (Montgomery) with its MCC, private clubs in Hyderabad and the poorly supported clubs and organization in East Pakistan all nurtured players in the absence of a first class setup.
Karachi and other city schools and clubs - Sindh formed a cricket association (C.B. Rubie wrote the constitution) a decade before India did. Built on the industriousness of Parsis, Karachi hosted various tournaments and competitions to attract the best players and pass them on to the national stage. St Patricks, Church Mission Schools and Sind Madrassah major cricket playing schools. Rawalpindi clubs, Bahawalpur CM Syed Hasan Mehmood built Dring stadium (hosted first Test match in West Pakistan), Sialkot (land of Faiz and Iqbal) had Connelley build Connolley Park (Jinnah Stadium) to host winter competitions for teams across India (Ustaaf Shafi umpire 'haram di boti', Faisalabad (Lyallpur) colleges, Sahiwal (Montgomery) with its MCC, private clubs in Hyderabad and the poorly supported clubs and organization in East Pakistan all nurtured players in the absence of a first class setup.
BCCP -
Sadly i stopped taking notes from hereon. This was back in 2015, maybe someday ill re-read the book and finish my notes here. But what a great book.
