ISLAMABAD, March 4: When talking about Osama bin Laden US President George W. Bush rarely bats an eyelid, but he was bowled over by the complexities of cricket when he played it for the first time on Saturday.

Mr Bush, an avid baseball fan, even had to be shown which way around to hold the willow blade when he met local schoolchildren and members of Pakistan’s team during a visit to the cricket-mad country.

“I don’t quite have the skills yet,” Mr Bush said with a grin when asked if he had enjoyed the session arranged by the US embassy on its lawn in the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave in Islamabad.

The US leader shook hands with Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Sheharyar Khan as well as cricket captain Inzamam-ul Haq and opener Salman Butt before asking Inzamam how to hold the bat.

One of the children called him out to play, but Bush said he wanted to watch for a bit. “I’ll be in there in a minute,” Mr Bush said, before taking a few practice swings.

President Bush then rolled up the sleeves of his light blue shirt, walked to the wicket and smacked the bat on the back of his shoe like a baseball player.

Inzamam bowled three gentle deliveries at him — using soft tennis balls instead of the solid red leather cricket variety.

President Bush managed to hit the first ball, to a cry of “very good for the first time,” from one of the watching boys. He was hit by the next ball and pretended to stare down the Pakistani captain, before hitting the last.

A schoolchild then bowled another two deliveries — slowly — and President Bush survived both.

Then he was given some tips from the children and from Inzamam on how to bowl, before pitching the ball straight at a young batsman and then chucking down a few wides.

Bush gave a baseball to Inzamam and asked the embassy staff to present one ball each, signed by him, to the playing children.

“It was good meeting (the president) and he showed his interest in the game,” Inzamam said afterwards. “He basically wanted to have a comparison between cricket and baseball.”

At a state banquet Bush later joked that he had enjoyed his trip to Pakistan despite being “bowled by a googly” — though whether he knew what it meant was another matter.—AFP