'Vince and Adams should be playing for England'

Abdul Razzaq looks forward to the NatWest One Day International between England and Pakistan at his "home ground" - The Rose Bowl.

Days after helping the Royals to victory in the Friends Provident t20 Final, Abdul Razzaq looks forward to the NatWest One Day International between England and Pakistan at his “home ground” – The Rose Bowl. And he also reveals who he thinks England should pick to give his own Pakistan side a tough ride!

When cricket fans across the South looked at The Rose Bowl’s fixture list for this year back at the beginning of the season, three dates must have stuck out as being the ones to be at; the two NatWest One Day Internationals between England and Australia  then England and Pakistan and Friends Provident t20 Finals Day.

The promise of having the best players in the world performing at the highest level right here on home turf served to whet the appetite in a way that few other occasions can.

Then Hampshire signed one of those players – Adbul Razzaq – a Pakistani all-rounder with a penchant for t20. Razzaq was exactly the sort of player fans hoped could catapult the Royals to t20 glory and expected to give Andrew Strauss’ men a hard time in the season climax – England vs Pakistan on September 22nd.

One half of that prophecy has come true – the new signing took the wickets of Somerset batsmen, Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth shortly before hitting a sublime knock of 33 to set Hampshire on their way to victory in the Friends Provident t20 Final.

Now he looks forward to the Natwest One Day International, hoping to make himself less popular with the home support by looking to beat England in a match that – as the fifth and final match of the series – could prove the decider and a key confidence booster or destroyer for an England side on the brink of an Ashes winter.

Former Hampshire player, now journalist for BBC Radio Solent, Kevan James caught up with Abdul shortly before he left the club to resume International duty and started by asking him whether he was looking forward to it as much as the rest of us...

Razzaq: Yes. I can’t wait for it. I’m straight back into training because it will be a very competitive series against England. How interesting it turns out to be will, of course, depend on the first four ODIs. If England win two and Pakistan win two then it will be very interesting indeed! The Pakistan team have been here almost two months now so they’re mentally geared up now having played some Test matches. Unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of them but it doesn’t matter when it comes to the one-day format. With the white ball and coloured kits the mentality totally changes and we’ll be looking for a performance.

KJ: Is it difficult watching the Test side struggling?
AR: Normally I don’t watch the matches but I do get to see the highlights. It is hard, especially as I would have loved to have been involved in the Test matches in England myself, but with the way it’s happened, it’s actually quite nice to be able to just focus on the one-day fixtures.

KJ: Have the other players called you to ask about the facilities at The Rose Bowl?
AR: Not really. I think we all know that when we come to England the facilities are going to be very good. Even when I played for Hampshire’s second eleven the facilities were excellent. That’s why I think the young players at Hampshire have developed so well. You see guys like Jimmy Adams and James Vince who’ve got huge talent and should be selected for the England team. They’ve benefitted from the great set-up here.

Adams' 600+ t20 runs this season have prompted many to back him for England

KJ: High praise indeed!
AR: Well, yes but both of them deserve the chance. In my experience they will perform in the International set-up.

KJ: Do you expect to see them here in the last One-Day International here at The Rose Bowl?
AR: Well, let’s see. They should definitely get the chance. It depends on the series; if England win the first three then maybe they’ll use the final two to give a chance to the youngsters.

KJ: What are your thoughts on the England one-day side at the moment?
AR: They’re doing well. They’re really playing as a unit. You could see that that might be the case when we played against them in the World Cup, but then you really saw it when they played against Australia. They were excellent – both with the bat and with the ball. In the field they also did really well. So, right now, I think the England team are really on top.

KJ: England have obviously played here already this season but, for you, this is like you’re home ground. Will that give you an advantage?
AR: Yeah, it will benefit me. But if you look at my whole career you’ll see that I’ve had three or four tours of England already, and I’ve also played for a lot of counties, so I think I already knew roughly what to expect. And my team-mates have huge experience of that too, so it will be close.

Razzaq has promised to "go for it" with the bat at The Rose Bowl in September

KJ: How do you see the series going? Is it easy to make a prediction?
AR: I think England are the favourites, but if we put in the hard work, give 100% and everybody remains mentally strong you’ll see a difference and I think we could give England a hard time. Hopefully I’ll be able to bat high up the order and if I can do that I will be going for it! Everybody would like to see an even series going into the last game. Whatever happens, it’s just important that we see a huge crowd come down to see England off to the Ashes in style.

Book your place to see England take on Abdul Razzaq’s Pakistan side in the NatWest One-Day International at The Rose Bowl now. Visit www.rosebowlplc.com/international for more details.

Words: Simon Vincent

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