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As expected, Pakistan made a clean sweep in Bangladesh though it is not a matter for congratulations. Pakistan failed to bowl Bangladesh out in the first two One-day Internationals and did so in the third in the last over. Given the fire-power of the Pakistan attack, the Bangladesh batsmen showed more determination than they had in the earlier two Test matches though in the absence of Wasim Akram and also Danish Kaneria, the sting was not there.

There was also an element of complacency which should not have been there. But Inzamamul Haq apart, who did not have a good tour mainly because he seemed pre-occupied with the health of his father, the old guard delivered in one or another and Abdur Razzaq was outstanding, as usual. After Chris Cairns, he must surely be the best all- rounder in the game and he seems to be getting better.

Shahid Afridi plays the way he does: when he is good, he is very, very good and when he is bad, he is horrid. But he has the unique ability to make a contribution, one way or the other. If he fails with the bat, he will pick up some wickets and when he fails in both departments, he will effect a run out. I think it is wrong to pigeon-hole him as an one-day player. Afridi is a match-winner and he is also a great team-man. He should be in the Test team. He happens too, to be one of the better fielders.

Though Wasim Akram may be disappointed, the selectors have done the right thing by leaving him out of the squad for the 'home' series against the West Indies. Wasim needs proper rest and not patch-work repairs.

The aim should be to have a supremely fit Wasim for the World Cup next year. The PCB and its panel of doctors can do only so much for him. It is for Wasim to look after himself.

Wasim admits that he learnt much from Imran Khan. But what he didn't learn from him was that responsibility of staying fit remained with the player himself. Injuries are unavoidable more so since there is these days non-stop cricket. A player cannot be nursed back to fitness. He has to do it himself.

At the same time, it is essential that a fully qualified fitness-trainer should be attached with the team, someone who is a specialist in the sort of exercises that are needed for cricket. And before a team is selected, the players should get a clean bill of health from the fitness-trainer. Injuries will occur during matches and these are unavoidable but no unfit player should be selected.

I think that Wasim should not have hung around in Bangladesh once it became clear that he would not be playing the One-day Internationals. He should have been flown home and put in the care of doctors. The message should get through that the PCB attaches a premium on fitness. An unfit player hanging around does no good to a team or to himself. That Pakistan will need Wasim for the World Cup goes without saying, even his detractors will have to admit this.

I am glad that the Pakistan team continued the match after Shoaib Akhtar was hit on the head by a stone thrown by a hooligan-spectator. In any large crowd, there will always be a few bad eggs bent on spoiling the pleasure of an overwhelming number of spectators who go to a cricket match to enjoy themselves. It is quite impossible to provide water- tight security. But if someone were to hurl a stone, surely those seated around him would see him doing so. They could certainly identify him and point him out to the security people.

In other words, the spectators themselves should be involved in preventing hooliganism. Unruly crowd behaviour is not confined to the subcontinent. There was crowd trouble during one of the matches in the triangular tournament in Australia. Apart from the one incident, the crowds in Bangladesh appeared to be in good humour despite the fact that their team was losing.

There are no surprises in the Pakistan team that has been selected for the matches against the West Indies, in the home series that is being played away. I am absolutely delighted to see fast bowler Muhammad Zahid returning to the Pakistan team. He had been rated as among the fastest bowlers in the world when he had first played for Pakistan in the nineties. Then he broke down at Peshawar in 1998, with back trouble. The road back for him has been a difficult and a lonely one for he was very much left to his own resources to get back to fitness.

A multinational bank came forward with some money, a gesture not wholly acknowledged but the bank itself did not want to get any publicity. But, I hope, that Zahid has written them a letter of thanks for it marked his return to Test cricket. I am told that he lost a little in pace but is still pretty sharp. I hope too that the PCB will monitor his fitness and ensure that he remains fit.

The triangular in Australia is wide open with the South Africans who seemed out for the count fighting their way back and remain in contention. The matches are being fiercely contest and there is no easy ride. One indication of this is the unfortunate observation made by Steve Waugh about Steve Elworthy who was hit on the helmet by a vicious bouncer from Glen McGrath. Told that Elworthy had been taken to hospital for a scan, he is reported to have said that they wouldn't probably find any brains there or words to that effect.

It seemed to be a singularly cruel remark and Steve Waugh said that he had been misquoted and, in case, apologised. There is only one thing worse than a poor loser and that is a poor winner. The Australians are the world's best team but that does not gives them a licence to be arrogant and obnoxious. Cricket is a tough game and a batsman can get hurt. That's part of occupational hazards. But one shouldn't be seen to be adding insult to injury.

© Dawn