Of Aesthetics, Swing, and Fandom - Alan Mullally

I am a Pakistani. I live in Pakistan, a cricket-crazed nation, and I am a die-hard supporter of the England Cricket Team. It is surprising enough for a lot of people at home to see a woman following cricket so ardently, but they are left perplexed when they see me cheering for the England Cricket team.

Cricket has always been a big part of the lives of Pakistanis. It has always been something big in my household as well. I was quite young when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992. I have better memories of Sri Lanka’s terrific run to the World Cup trophy in the 1996 final. Come ICC Cricket World Cup, 1999, and I had started following cricket avidly - Started following cricket for the sake of cricket, not just the Pakistan Cricket team.  

Opening match: England v Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Glued to my TV screen, the atmosphere of that match was just fascinating for me. The beautiful Lord’s cricket ground, overcast conditions, and the ball in the hands of the English bowlers. I watched Alan Mullally bowl for the first time in that match. He bowled beautifully that day and ended up with figures of 4/37. England won that match by 8 wickets. It was a very good win for England. Beating the defending champions in front of the home crowd in the opening match of the World Cup? It certainly couldn’t have been better than that. I made it a point to tune in to England’s remaining matches, partly to watch Mullally bowl. England lost to India in their last group match and Zimbabwe’s win over South Africa resulted in elimination for England. Alan Mullally ended up taking 10 wickets in that World Cup at 17.60. I fleetingly followed the career of Mullally from that point onwards. 

Pakistan has been known for producing world class fast bowlers. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are considered the gurus of reverse swing. Growing up, Wasim and Waqar were the cricketing heroes of every other cricket fan in Pakistan. Wasim took 14 wickets in the 1999 World Cup. The ‘Rawalpindi Express’, Shoaib Akhter, was sensational in that tournament and claimed 16 wickets.

So what was there about Mullally’s bowling that left a Pakistani cricket fan absolutely fascinated? Aesthetics have always caught my eye, even in cricket. Be it the one handed, athletic catches behind the wicket or out in the field, or the fluid strokes through the covers. With Mullally, it was his bowling action that attracted me.  There was something deviously effortless about it and it helped him to move the ball away from the batsmen. Also, I don’t know how correct my surmise is, but he always seemed to be enjoying himself out in the ground. 

One does not have to be perfect to be good. Life is messy, life is imperfect. The best one can do is to remain true to himself, the way Mullally did until his retirement in 2005.