Pakistan Cricket Chronicles 1948–2024
By Afzal Ahmed
Self-published
ISBN: 978-6279476104
456pp.

Even though cricket is much more than a sport in Pakistan, its documented history has often been scattered, incomplete and hidden in private collections. Afzal Ahmed’s Pakistan Cricket Chronicles 1948–2024 changes all that.

Drawing on decades of passionate collecting, the author has produced a monumental work that brings together the printed and visual artefacts of Pakistan’s cricketing journey into a meticulously organised, richly illustrated volume. The result is not merely a collector’s catalogue but a carefully crafted archive that preserves the tangible story of the nation’s most beloved game.

The book’s presentation is its biggest draw — one could easily mistake it for an international coffee-table publication, such is the quality of its production. However, such great quality comes at a hefty price — Rs 10,000 — which may seem expensive for many cricket enthusiasts. Yet, given the time and effort the author has invested, the book is a priceless addition to any cricket lover’s bookshelf. In fact, those familiar with Ahmed may not even dwell on the price.

Ahmed is known in cricket circles as a distinguished collector of books and memorabilia related to Pakistan cricket. Here, he showcases his entire collection, which covers Pakistan’s cricketing journey from July 1948 to June 2024. The volume unites and showcases rare souvenirs, tour programmes, photographs, score sheets, annuals and first-edition publications and is richly illustrated.

A coffee table book on Pakistan’s beloved sport brings together the printed and visual artefacts of the country’s cricketing journey

Structured season by season, each chapter showcases summaries and published works from its corresponding year, creating both a visual archive and an intellectual map of Pakistan cricket. Be it post-Independence publications, official brochures, or iconic documents such as Hanif Mohammad’s triple-century score sheet, they can all be found within these pages.

Before diving into this book, I believed that the ‘little master’ Hanif Mohammad and India’s Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi had never played a Test against each other. This book reveals that instead the two actually played together for the Rest of the World team in 1965. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that, although Indian Test cricketers Farokh Engineer and Syed Abid Ali never played Tests against Pakistan, they did visit the country to participate in a relief match for the Rest of the World XI in 1970–71.

If you enjoy such anecdotes, this book is nothing short of a treasure trove. You may know that Majid Khan scored a century before lunch in a Test match — but did you know that it occurred during the first series televised live on PTV? Did you know that Sir Don Bradman wrote to Hanif Mohammad acknowledging his autobiography just 15 months before his death? And that, long before the United States entered international cricket, the Pakistan team toured the country after returning from the West Indies in 1957–58?

If you were unaware that manager Omar Kureshi asked Majid Khan to open the innings, or that Aftab Baloch once occupied a hotel room numbered 428 — matching his first-class best score — or that England toured Pakistan after South Africa refused to play a side featuring Basil D’Oliveira, then you are in for a treat.

The author deserves to be commended for keeping history alive. Although illustrations dominate the text, the two complement each other effectively. From references to a ‘flick book’, featuring Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mehmood in action, to the former’s appearance in Carr’s Sports Card Series in the 1960s, the book holds many surprises. Facts such as the National Stadium in Karachi was completed in just four months, or that an eight-a-side cricket tournament was launched in Karachi in 1967–68, are bound to intrigue readers.

The author also dispels the misconception that Pakistani cricketers do not write autobiographies or that there is a dearth of cricket writers in the country. Covers of autobiographies and biographies of Pakistani cricketers — albeit few — appear alongside numerous magazine covers, annuals, series souvenirs and celebratory booklets.

There are, however, issues that should be addressed in a second edition. First and foremost, the author would benefit from engaging a professional proofreader to ensure consistency in the spelling of players’ names — Wasim appears as Waseem in places, Yousuf as Yousef, and so on. An experienced editor might also have flagged the error crediting England, rather than Michael Hussey’s Australia, with eliminating Pakistan in the 2010 T20 World Cup.

At times, it appears that greater emphasis has been placed on the first 40 years of Pakistan cricket than the subsequent decades. Several significant tours and achievements from the 1990s onwards are missing, including the tri-series in Singapore after the 1996 World Cup, where Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya scored the fastest 50 in ODI cricket at the time. Shahid Afridi’s record-breaking century in a four-nation tournament in Kenya later that year is also missing, as is Pakistan’s only victory in the finals of the World Series Cricket in the same season. Also omitted are Saleem Elahi’s debut ODI century against Sri Lanka, the early editions of the ICC Champions Trophy and the Friendship Cup in Canada between Pakistan and India.

While the book references the controversy involving touring English players and local umpire Idris Baig in the 1950s, as well as first-class cricketer Pervez Akhtar’s imprisonment, it omits mention of the Justice Qayyum report and the spot-fixing controversies involving Nasir Jamshed and Salman Butt, which resulted in Pakistan losing two of the finest bowlers of the 2000s — Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

Thankfully, the book also pays tribute to influential cricket writers who have shaped Pakistan’s literary culture. However, the name of legendary editor and columnist Sultan F. Husain is misspelt. I note this because, when I began my journey in the late 1990s as a sub-editor for The Cricketer, Mr Husain gently reminded me that, whether in life or death, his surname carried only one ‘s’. Similarly, while Bal Thackeray’s connection to Indo-Pak cricket is a welcome anecdote, rendering Shiv Sena as ‘Shiv Senna’ undermines the otherwise meticulous presentation.

Ultimately, Pakistan Cricket Chronicles stands as both a scholarly achievement and a deeply personal tribute to Pakistan cricket. For collectors, historians and devoted fans alike, Afzal Ahmed’s work is an indispensable reference and a reminder that the story of Pakistan cricket, with all its brilliance and turbulence, deserves preservation with the same passion with which it has been played.

The reviewer is a broadcast journalist who also writes on sports, film, television and popular culture.

X: @omair78

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, March 8th, 2026