Dubai: Veteran Pakistan journalist Qamar Ahmad moved another step closer to completing a unique cricketing mission when he met Australia captain Michael Clarke here this week.
The 76-year-old British-based writer and commentator — who in January became only the third person after John Woodcock of The Times and Australian cricketer-turned-commentator Richie Benaud to report on 400 Test matches — carries with him a very special bat. On it, he has the autographs of 13 of the 24 cricketers ever to have scored a Test triple-century.
With Clarke, who scored an unbeaten 329 against India in Sydney in 2012, becoming the 13th signatory, Qamar is closing to achieving his ambition of meeting all the surviving triple-centurions.
Speaking to Gulf News, Qamar said: “I got this bat ten years ago at Lord’s, when the International Cricket Council presented bats to all British journalists. Though I had played first class cricket and captained Hyderabad in Pakistan, I do not play the game anymore. So I wanted to do something special with this bat and decided to get the autographs of all living cricketers who have scored triple centuries.
“There have been 28 triple centuries in Test cricket, with Don Bradman, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara scoring two each. So, out of the 24 batsmen, I have got autographs of 13 on this bat. I am on a mission to get the rest of them.”
While signing the bat, Clarke asked Qamar about the autographs he already had and said: “I am really honoured to have made it on to this bat.”
With Don Bradman, Andy Sandham, Wally Hammond and Len Hutton having died, Qamar now needs just seven more names to complete his mission.
“I am hoping to meet Lawrence Rowe, who now lives in Florida, Bob Simpson, Mark Taylor, Chris Gayle and Gary Sobers soon. Next month, during the New Zealand series here, I will get the autograph of Brendon McCullum,” he said.
As you would expect, Qamar knows all the statistics when it comes to Test 300s.
“Australians lead the triple centuries table with five — Bradman, Bob Cowper, Taylor, Clarke and Matthew Hayden — while Sri Lankans have scored three through Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara,” he said.
“Pakistan has three through Hanif Mohammad, who played the longest innings in the history of the game at Bridgetown against West Indies in 1957-58, when he batted for 970 minutes, Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Except for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, all other nations have at least one batsman who has scored a triple century.”
Qamar has even witnessed eight of the triple centuries himself.
“I have reported on six triple centuries — Younis Khan, Sehwag, Inzamam, Taylor, Graham Gooch and Hashim Amla, but before becoming a journalist I watched as a spectator Simpson’s triple century, which was his first ever century in 1964 at Manchester, and John Edrich’s triple at Leeds in 1965,” he said.
Qamar has commentated for BBC (Urdu, Hindi and English, BBC Five Live Extra), ABC (Australia), SABC (Radio and TV South Africa), TVNZ (Television New Zealand, for the 1992 World Cup), ESPN, Ten Sports, Radio Pakistan, All India Radio, Caribbean Broadcasting Corp and Hum FM 106.2 (Pakistan).
