Sarfraz Nawaz Malik (Punjabi, Urdu: سرفراز نواز ملک) (born 1 December 1948, Lahore, Punjab) is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician who discovered reverse swing and was instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England.[1] Between 1969 and 1984 he played 55 Tests and 45 One Day Internationals and took 177 Test wickets at an average of 32.75. In 1978–79 he took 9/86 against Australia at Melbourne – including a spell of 7/1 off 33 balls – to give Pakistan a surprise victory, but in the next Test at Perth Sarfraz controversially dismissed the Australian batsman Andrew Hilditch for handling the ball.
Early career
In his first Test – against England at Karachi
– the twenty year old Sarfraz took no wickets or catches, did not bat
and was dropped for four years. He made his name in 1972–73 by taking
4/53 and 4/56 against Australia at the SCG, accounting for Ian and Greg Chappell, Keith Stackpole and Ian Redpath, but this did not stop the hosts winning by 56 runs.[2] At Headingley in 1974 Sarfraz hit 53 off 74 balls to convert 209/8 into 285 all out, driving the ball fiercely off Geoff Arnold, Chris Old, Mike Hendrick, Tony Greig and Derek Underwood in a low scoring match.[3] Against Clive Lloyd's West Indians in 1974–75 he took 6/89 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore to dismiss them for 214, but the Test and the series were both drawn.
Sarfraz was made vice-captain to Wasim Bari, but disappeared before the Second Test against England in 1977–78. He was found in London where he had gone to see Christmas even though he was a Muslim and returned to Pakistan in time for the Third Test. As World Series Cricket was operating at time it was speculated that he was negotiating with Kerry Packer. At Lords in 1978 he took 5/39 to reduce England to 119/7, dismissing Mike Brearley, Graham Gooch, David Gower, Ian Botham and Bob Taylor, but rain ruined play and the match was drawn.[4] More decisively in 1978–79 Sarfraz's haul of 4/89 and 5/70 against India at Karachi
gave Pakistan victory in the third and final Test by eight wickets. He
took 17 wickets (25.00) in the series, the most by any player and
Pakistan won their first Test series against their rivals despite having
played them since 1952.[5]
Australia 1978–79
Sarfraz's greatest bowling performance took place in the First Test at Melbourne in 1978–79 when Australia were 305/3 with Allan Border (105) and Kim Hughes (84) at the crease needing only 77 runs to win. Sarfraz took 7/1 in 33 balls and dismissed Australia for 310 to give Pakistan a surprise 71 run victory.[3] At the time his 9/86 in an innings was the best Test match analysis in Australia, the best by a Pakistani bowler and the fifth best in Test cricket.[6]
Sarfraz had also made 35 coming in at 99/6 in the first innings and
took 11/125 in the match. He was also involved in the controversial
dismissal of Andrew Hilditch for handling the ball in the Second Test at the WACA in Perth.
The batsman was at the non-striker's end when the ball was returned to
the crease by the wayward throw of a fielder. Hilditch picked up the
ball and politely gave it to Sarfraz, Sarfraz appealed and Hilditch was
given out. It was only the second time in a hundred years of Test
cricket that a batsman had been given out in this fashion and though
strictly correct it was considered to be against the spirit of the game.
Earlier in the match the Australian tailender Rodney Hogg had been run out while 'gardening' and Alan Hurst ran out Sikander Bakht when backing up, two pieces of gamesmanship which caused bad feeling between the teams.[7][8][9] Australia made 236/3 to win the Test and square the series, the other two batsmen being run out and no bowler taking a wicket.
Later career
Sarfraz played for Northamptonshire in two separate spells and in the 1980 Benson and Hedges Cup he took 3/23 off 11 overs to restrict Essex to 203/8 in Northant's six run win. In 1983–84 he took 4/42 and 2/27 in the First Test against England at Karachi and hit the winning runs when Pakistan made 66/7 to win.[10] After several 'retirements' the Third Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore
proved to be his last and in the first innings his 4/49 helped dismiss
England for 241. When Pakistan were reduced to 181/8 Sarfraz made 90,
his highest Test and First Class score, adding 161 for the ninth wicket with his captain Zaheer Abbas (82 not out) to give his team a 102 run lead. Unfortunately, David Gower
made 173 not out and Safraz was hit for 1/112 in the second innings,
but came in at 199/5 and saw out the match with 10 not out. This ensured
that Pakistan kept their 1–0 lead to win their first Test series
against England.[11]
Style
From the boundary Sarfraz looked like a medium paced trundler, but he
was "as strong as a cart-horse" and his powerful upper body and good
action allowed him to bowl at a fast-medium pace. He could seam the ball in either direction and despite the convention he repeatedly bounced other fast bowlers such as Jeff Thomson and Joel Garner.[3]
The flat wickets found in Pakistan were not ideal for a bowler of his
pace, but could sometimes surprise batsmen with his ability to make to
ball seam, swing or bounce awkwardly.[3] More importantly with Sikander Bakht Sarfraz developed reverse swing.
Commentators did not realise this was reverse swing at the time, though
they realised that he had an uncanny ability to move the old ball in
the air. He passed on his knowledge to Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who made this new type of bowling famous in the late 1980s and 1990s.[3][12]
As a batsman he was a good lower-order striker of the ball particularly
when driving and averaged over 40 in a series on three occasions.
Personal life
In the 1980s, Sarfraz married Pakistani Film actress Rani. In 1985, he contested successfully for membership of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and remained a member (MPA) for 3 years.[1]
Battle against match fixing
When Bob Woolmer was found dead in Jamaica,
Sarfaraz Nawaz was quick to suggest that he was murdered, even before
the postmortem, linking it to corruption in cricket. He subsequently
raised concerns about the safety of Pakistani Cricketers in West Indies,
claiming Woolmer and Inzamam
were getting threats from the bookies without naming his sources. He
requested the involvement of Scotland Yard in the investigations,
questioning the credibility of Jamaican police. He also alleged that the
match Pakistan lost against West Indies in the World Cup 2007 was
fixed.
Later Sarfraz insisted that Woolmer's death in a Kingston hotel on 18
March was linked to match fixing and extended his help to track the
gang of bookies. "I know five bookies made their way to the West Indies.
I can help trace them. Perhaps we can even get some clues from the
players", Sarfraz told The Sun, adding "Woolmers death is connected with the match-fixing mafia.".[13]
"I believe the Pakistan World Cup games were fixed. There is a dark
side to cricket. The game got on top of it for a while but it has never
really been stamped out," he said.[13] Scotland Yard,
later, declared that no foul play was involved in Woolmer's death,
rejecting Sarfraz's allegations and vindicating the Pakistani team.
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