Brief profile of Waqar Younis

Brief profile of Waqar Younis by Dr.A.K.Hignell

Player:

Waqar Younis was Glamorgan`s overseas player when they won the County Championship in 1997. During the summer, the Pakistani spearheaded the Welsh attack, claiming 68 wickets at 22 runs apiece, and in the space of a remarkable week in June, Waqar took 7-25, including a hat-trick, against Lancashire at Liverpool for just 51, before returning match figures of 8-34 against Sussex at Swansea. These amazing spells of top-class fast bowling produced two comprehensive victories for Glamorgan, and helped to set them on the way towards the Championship title.

He also played a key role as Glamorgan reached the semi-finals of the 1997 Nat West Trophy. In the match at Southampton against Hampshire, he shared a ninth wicket partnership with Adrian Shaw that saw Glamorgan squeeze home by 2 wickets with just two balls to spare. Then in the quarter-final at Cardiff, Waqar hit an unbeaten 34 against Yorkshire, and together with last man Dean Cosker, they shared an unbroken partnership of 28 to see Glamorgan home by one wicket in nail-biting conditions.

Sadly, he struggled with injury the following season, and he left Glamorgan at the end of 1998 with a total of 113 first-class wickets from his 42 appearances for the county. The Pakistani had previously played for Surrey between 1990 and 1993, taking 232 wickets in three seasons of Championship cricket, including 113 in 1991 at just 14 apiece. He returned to county action in 2003 by appearing as one of Warwickshire`s overseas players.

(December 2003)