The last time England hosted a cricket world cup, 20 years ago, Pakistan were favourites, not least because they had on their side Shoaib Akhtar, who had recently become the first man to bowl at 100mph. My editor at the time came up with the sadistic idea of sending a writer to describe what it was like to face someone capable of such terrifying speed. “Don’t worry,” he said, “you’ll be covered in padding.”When I realised he was being serious I pointed out that, leaving aside my uselessness as a batsman — even my village side puts me in at 11 — Pakistan were in the middle of a world cup. There was no way they would agree to this. Of course they will, the editor…

Source: The Times May 31, 2019 23:04 UTC