Cricket: Great praise for tyro paceman

Who could forget Waqar Younis running in from what seemed like 100m and pulverising the stumps with 150kmh missiles?

Batsman barely had a chance with the ball bending through the air and homing in on the base of the stumps.

Often, the best option was just to get the feet out of the way.

Some even say he put the reverse in to swing.

As far as fast bowlers go, Younis was one of the greats.

And what a test record.

He played 87 matches from 1989 to 2003 and took 373 wickets at an average of 23.56.

His record against New Zealand was even better: 70 wickets at 19.60.

So when he says 17-year-old Mohammad Aamer has the makings of a good fast bowler, one tends to nod and agree.

The 40-year-old is in Dunedin working with the television commentary team covering the test between New Zealand and Pakistan and told the Otago Daily Times Aamer was very talented.

"What we have seen from him is that he wants to do really well at this level," Younis said.

"He looks very composed and he knows quite a lot about his bowling. That is a sign of a good cricketer, a sign of a cricketer who wants to go higher and higher. All he needs to do to achieve that is stay fit and just keep doing what he is doing."

Younis was also impressed with Shane Bond's return to test cricket after a two-year absence.

Bond bowled a hostile second spell, taking three wickets in 10 balls, and finished with a five-wicket bag.

"It was good to see him getting five wickets in the first innings and, once he gets his rhythm and a bit more bowling under his belt, I think he'll be back in the game."

Younis lives in Sydney and been working as a commentator for the past four years.

It saddens him international cricket has not been played in Pakistan since the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March this year.

"It's big entertainment back home. We do miss cricket back home, so hopefully things in north Pakistan will settle and cricket can go back."

Reflecting on his illustrious playing career, Younis said New Zealand's Martin Crowe was one of the toughest batsmen to pry from the crease.

The great left-handers of his era also proved quite resistant.

"It is tough to pick one. But I used to struggle a little bit against the left-handers. The right-handers were a little easier for me. If I had to pick two or three then it would probably be Brian Lara, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

"I got them out a few times but when they got going it was just really hard to bowl at them."

Younis had a fabulous on-field partnership with Wasim Akram.

The pair would rate alongside Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, and Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan as the very best bowling partnerships.

"We did have differences off the field, at times, but on the field we were totally different and used to talk it out. That really helped me. If he took four wickets I wanted to take five. It was a healthy competition."