LONDON, Sept 1: Former England fast bowler Jonathan Agnew, praising Pakistan seamers Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, said the two pacers were the most exciting young prospects on the world cricketing scene today.

Writing in his column for the BBCSports on Thursday, Agnew said both Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bowled at Cardiff’s first one-dayer in a manner that would have made traditional English pacemen like Geoff Arnold and Mike Hendrick proud.

“It is very rare for Asian countries to produce this type of bowler - whose skills have been honed in county cricket - and to have two at the same time makes Pakistan a real threat wherever they play,” wrote Agnew who played three Test matches for England in 1984-85.

“Asif is a cunning, scheming bowler who ambles in from a rather casual approach and yet — as Kevin Pietersen discovered — can bowl a nasty bouncer. This is a key ingredient for a successful swing bowler because it prevents the batsman from simply lunging onto the front foot to negate the movement.”

“Pietersen played a particularly poor stroke to the ball after he was hit, and was caught behind,” wrote Agnew.

As for the Sheikhupura born Rana Naved, Agnew, a noted commentator and columnist, said he (Rana) was superb at Cardiff though his bowling figures did not do justice to the medium-pacer. “Naved holds the seam high and bowls a slightly fuller length than Asif. He defeated Ian Bell time after time as the ball swung away and only once showed that he had lost his patience when he bowled a bouncer which Bell pulled for four.”

“Bell stuck it out, but his failure to improvise means that he is unlikely to take an attack apart in one-day cricket. England missed someone who was prepared to seize the initiative and, as a result, Pakistan were never under pressure in the field,” concluded Agnew.—Agencies