Shoaib Akhtar is retiring.....

Very fast bowler.

Didn't realise he was still playing.

If you hadn't told us would anybody have noticed?

So the two biggest chuckers of all time are to retire at the same time.

Shoaib Who? The pace bowler whose only claim to fame were 2 tests in his whole career [vs India at Kolkotta in 1999 and against Aus at Sharjah a few years back].

Or are we talking about the Akhter who was a chucker, druggist, anti-team villian, anarchist, undisciplined spoilt brat, forever unfit, deliberately unfit, team wrecking, colleague bashing, egoist loser showpony?

Oh you mean the latter Chuckter. Righto! My condelences for Pakistan's great 'loss'......

Oh well....genital warts will do that to ya.

Under any case this retirement will last all of 3 months before the showpony is back at a PCB sos when another of their bowler breaks down or is caught in bed with bookies ahead of a tour.

Batman wrote:Shoaib Who? The pace bowler whose only claim to fame were 2 tests in his whole career [vs India at Kolkotta in 1999 and against Aus at Sharjah a few years back].

Or are we talking about the Akhter who was a chucker, druggist, anti-team villian, anarchist, undisciplined spoilt brat, forever unfit, deliberately unfit, team wrecking, colleague bashing, egoist loser showpony?

Oh you mean the latter Chuckter. Righto! My condelences for Pakistan's great 'loss'......

Vikas

You've passed the bitterness test and now you only need to show an ability to attack subis and your residency of Victoria will be approved

embee wrote:

Batman wrote:Shoaib Who? The pace bowler whose only claim to fame were 2 tests in his whole career [vs India at Kolkotta in 1999 and against Aus at Sharjah a few years back].

Or are we talking about the Akhter who was a chucker, druggist, anti-team villian, anarchist, undisciplined spoilt brat, forever unfit, deliberately unfit, team wrecking, colleague bashing, egoist loser showpony?

Oh you mean the latter Chuckter. Righto! My condelences for Pakistan's great 'loss'......

Vikas

You've passed the bitterness test and now you only need to show an ability to attack subis and your residency of Victoria will be approved

I would have thought NSW or does he have to pass Bitterness 201 first?

Vomits are bitter

Dubbers are sgdt's

PlanetPakistan wrote:

Very fast bowler.

Good riddance - that will be one less chucker in the game then.

Retiring? Don't you have to work first?

DLTDHYOTAOTWO

Looking at the shape he's in, I'd say he retired about three years ago.

First time he's been known to be retiring.

I personally will say that it's a shame, I know PP goes on, but wayward, superfast bowlers are an entertainment. TBH though, he looks like he should be put down, he's a sweaty balloon caricature of his former self.

That's the entertainment, surely?

Aye, although it's a bit like seeing a punch-drunk boxer getting a constant shelling from his opponent, good in a sick way but you wish it'd end.

It looks like the Drugnherpes Ref has counted him out for the last time.

TKO.

FIGJAM - F*ck I'm Good, Just Ask Me,.

Well, he was pretty damn good, many a time. One of my favourite fast bowlers, perhaps in my top 3 that I've watched.

And of course. in a Pakistani team that has it's share of hypocrites and even sellouts, he was what he was and never denied it. It's actually an accomplishment in that team when there isn't even a hint of you throwing a game.

Of course, he never played that many games to throw 'em.

But the sight of him running in back in the early days remains one of my favourite memories in cricket and still gets the blood pumping.

Lots of talent, peaked early, and in the end as Danny says above, just a caricature.

A fat waster, coodabeenacontender.

4 for 71 v India, Asian Test Championship, Kolkata, 1999

Two balls that silenced 100,000 spectators. Indian fans weren't too familiar with Shoaib Akhtar but he introduced himself in a manner that left a packed Eden Gardens shell-shocked in a minute. He broke through Rahul Dravid's defences with a fiery inswinging yorker that uprooted leg stump but what followed was unfathomable to the crowd then. India's best batsman strolled to the crease to wild cheers and walked back to the pavilion to stunned silence. Facing Shoaib for the first time, Sachin Tendulkar was at the receiving end of another inswinging yorker, which he failed to keep out and which sent the middle stump cartwheeling towards the wicketkeeper. Shoaib had well and truly arrived. He bagged eight wickets in a match-winning performance.

3 for 55 v New Zealand, World Cup semi-final, Manchester, 1999

Shoaib lit up the World Cup semi-final in Manchester in front of a partisan crowd to give his favourite opposition their first taste of what would be a regular diet from him. He hit 90 mph consistently and, though he went for a few, he aimed correctly and just at the right time to prevent New Zealand from posting a challenging score in what turned out to be a one-sided knockout. Shoaib bowled three spells, and dislodged a batsman in each. Nathan Astle was his first victim. Stephen Fleming had just slashed him to third man when Shoaib returned from round the wicket to fire in a 92mph yorker that cleaned up leg stump. And, in his final spell, pace gave way to subtlety as Chris Harris was undone by a superbly disguised slower ball. New Zealand were kept to 241 for 7, and Pakistan chased that down with no difficulty.

6 for 11 v New Zealand, 1st Test, Lahore, 2002
New Zealand were steamrolled with both bat and ball in Lahore and Shoaib joined in the hammering. New Zealand were up against it after Pakistan had piled up 643 in the first innings, and Shoaib's spell shut them completely out of contention. His six victims were all either bowled or lbw as his fiery pace and toe-crushing lengths simply proved too hot to handle. In a spell of fifty deliveries, Shoaib bagged 6 for 11 and skittled out New Zealand for 73, towards a massive defeat.

5 for 21 v Australia, 1st Test, Colombo, 2002
Australia's pre-eminence had rarely been challenged in the late nineties and the early noughties, but one Shoaib spell threatened to cause a major upset against a young Pakistan team. Pakistan were looking to limit the damage after conceding a lead of 188 in the first innings but Shoaib sprung the Colombo Test back to life in a spell that made a nonsense of an unfavourable pitch with searing pace. Called on to bowl for a second spell after Australia had been well-placed at 71 for 1, Shoaib fired in a series of inswinging thunderbolts that crippled a powerful line-up. Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh were sent back in a matter of five deliveries and Adam Gilchrist was knocked off with a missile from round the wicket. Australia lost nine wickets for 53, of which Shoaib nipped out five, to collapse to 127 all out. The Pakistan batsmen, for their part, suffered a collapse of their own to lose by 41 runs.

5 for 25 v Australia, 3rd ODI, Brisbane, 2002
Shoaib starred in another significant win for Pakistan, this time helping them seal an ODI series in Australia. He had the cushion of a competitive score and derailed an Australian line-up that struggled to put up a challenge. Ponting fell to pace, Darren Lehmann was bowled round his legs, Michael Bevan was caught behind while the tail offered little resistance. Shoaib followed up three wickets in three overs with a couple more down the order to finish with 5 for 25 and catch Australia short by 91 runs.

6 for 30 v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Wellington, 2003
Shoaib's love affair with New Zealand's batting continued in Wellington, the hosts caving in to a devastating spell to set up a memorable victory for Pakistan. His pace acquired greater potency with the movement and swing in a windy Wellington and the New Zealand batsmen failed to measure up to that. Shoaib had picked up a five-for in the first innings but his batsmen had let that effort down, conceding a lead of 170. New Zealand looked good to put it beyond the visitors in the second innings before Shoaib struck. He removed a stodgy Mark Richardson and Scott Styris off successive deliveries, and combined with seamer Shabbir Ahmed to clean up the tail. New Zealand lost seven wickets for eight runs in 10.4 overs and Pakistan's batsmen stepped up in the second innings to chase down 274.

Excellent picks, i agree with all of them.

... all 1999-2003.

If only he could have used his undoubted talent to kick on from that promising start, or even maintain it, instead of resting on his laurels and becoming a sulking liability.

lardbucket wrote:... all 1999-2003.

If only he could have used his undoubted talent to kick on from that promising start, or even maintain it, instead of resting on his laurels and becoming a sulking liability.

Most express bowlers go downhill after half a dozen years e.g Waqar Younis was the best bowler in the world from 1990-95 and then was rubbish from 96 to 99.

Brett Lee was great between