Imran Khan: The Cricketer, The Celebrity, The Politician. Christopher Sandford
as The Times called him, ‘succeed on slower wickets [or] when a really top-class batsman — Barry Richards, for example — [got] after him?’ One expert who didn’t hedge his bets was Geoff Boycott, who told me that ‘Sussex was the making of Imran. He’d had the talent but now he also had the brain and the spirit. A great competitor. Like me, he’s a dragon in Chinese astrology.’
In the event, Imran, or ‘Immy’ as, much to his distaste, he continued to be almost universally known, mocked the doubters. He took four for 66 and hit a rapid 59 (a third of his side’s total) against Glamorgan at Eastbourne. There were a further seven wickets in the win over Yorkshire at Hove, and commendably thrifty figures of 16–5–26–0 against a run-chasing Nottingham side, including Clive Rice, at Trent Bridge. Imran’s batting and bowling averages were good enough, but they failed to tell the full story: the way his best attacking shots appeared to be both fast yet totally unhurried, for instance, or how, in that curious way it has when struck by a great timer, the ball always seemed to gather pace on its way to the rope. And until statistics can indicate such factors as pride and the love of a fight they won’t adequately convey the mettle of such bowling performances as the one Imran gave in the county match against Hampshire at Hove. As mentioned, the Hove wicket often inclined to extravagant morning life, but it takes more than a helpful pitch to account for first-innings figures of five for 51 against arguably the county championship’s strongest batting line-up. Among Imran’s victims: Barry Richards.
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