Posted by No-one does retirement quite like a Pakistan cricketer. Mohammad Yousuf’s was a textbook departure, entirely equivocal such that his absence can perhaps only now be considered permanent, some five years later. Or at least it could have been considered permanent if he hadn’t played a number of international matches after that announcement.
That isn’t actually all that impressive by Pakistan standards though. Abdul Razzaq was turning out for the national side some six years after he retired. The latest to deliver a masterful exit is Shoaib Malik who said “the time was right” to stand down from Test cricket, a good fortnight after concluding the time was right for a return after five years out of the side.
That’s still pretty piss-poor as short-lived returns go, however. Shahid Afridi made a four-day cameo comeback before he jacked in the longest format. He was captain at the time too.
Hopefully Shoaib Malik’s got something a little more innovative up his sleeve. We fully expect him to have reversed his decision by the time we click ‘publish’. That’ll set the scene perfectly for him to be named Misbah’s replacement as captain, at which point he can retire again with even more impact.
This is an opportunity for him to drift into a dignified retirement e.g. http://www.matthewhayden.com/
RIP Tom Graveney. Wonder if anyone on this site was old enough to see him bat. (Everything I’ve ever heard of him – which is a fair amount – suggests he’d have appealed to an aesthete, but I don’t think I’ve even seen one shot of his in archive footage.)
Those were the days.
https://youtu.be/dhLXHQSmNa0?t=3
12,000 to watch the Duke of Norfolk’s XI play the Windies.
Who needs T20 to put bums on seats, eh?
Seems expensive. What currency is that?
Malik will almost certainly be captain for the tour of England next year.
http://shoaibmalik.com/my-test-spot/
“Sure I can play test for quite a few more years, and my performance during this series made me more confident with my abilities as a utility player”
he’s only quit test cricket. still wants to play the 2019 world cup.
All the recent talk of buffets… what about that goose. England’s goose. Is it cooked yet?
At some point in the near future we’re going to need to make history (which can only be done in the present).
I’d say that goose has been left in the oven with the heat turned up to maximum, then forgotten about until it caught fire, Mike.
Only 284 to get, ten fit batsmen with which to do it.
History beckons.
Being as they keep records of every match, regardless of the outcome, teams are always making history. Don’t know why they go on about it so much.
England may well make history with a 100-run defeat.
Maybe he’ll be signing off with a five-fer.