June 08, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1428

LONDON, June 7: Pakistan’s off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq sought the help of his Member of Parliament to end frustrating wait to make his English County Sussex bow.

Saqlain is not able to make first-class debut after signing a two-year contract in March until his British citizenship is accepted, a passport issued and he becomes qualified as an EU player.

The passport forms were submitted in April and passed the citizenship test but his application is waiting to be processed by the Home Office.

Saqlain met with Sadiq Khan, Labour MP for Tooting, who promised to take up his case.

“No one knows how long it will take but there is quite a long backlog so I will have to be patient,” said Saqlain. “I did citizenship test on computer. It was quite difficult but I passed. I didn’t have to learn national anthem, just answer questions about the function of the Parliament and things like that.”

If the passport came tomorrow, Saqlain is confident he could play the next day which is testament to hard work he has put in to get himself match fit in the last three months.

Saqlain played last of his 49 Tests and 161 ODIs for Pakistan in 2003-04 and a huge part he had in Surrey’s dominance of domestic cricket in late 90s seems nothing more than a pleasant memory for him now.—Agencies