Wasim Raja
Encyclopedia
Wasim Hasan Raja (July 3, 1952 – August 23, 2006), was a Pakistani
cricketer
who played in 57 Tests
and 54 ODIs for the Pakistani national cricket team from 1973 to 1985. His younger brother, Rameez Raja
, also represented Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, becoming captain of the national side. Another brother, Zaeem Raja, also played first-class cricket
, as did his father, Raja Saleem Akhtar.
in the Punjab
. His father was a high-ranking civil servant. Raja obtained a master's degree in political science from Government College, Lahore. He was captain of the Pakistan Under-19 side.
He settled in London
after marrying an Englishwoman, Ann. He studied for a certificate in education from Durham University
, and had a spell teaching geography, mathematics and physical education at Caterham School
in Surrey. He was also a coach for the Pakistan Under-19 team, and International Cricket Council
match referee
in 15 Tests and 34 ODIs from 2002 to 2004.
He died of a heart attack
in Marlow
, Buckinghamshire
, England
in August 2006 while playing cricket for the Surrey over-50s side. He is survived by his wife and his sons, Ali and Ahmad.
with his right hand that was good enough to take 51 wickets in Tests, with his scalps including Clive Lloyd
, Roy Fredericks
, Glenn Turner
and Viv Richards
. In all, he played in 250 first-class matches, scoring 11,434 runs at an average of 35.18, including 17 centuries, and taking 558 wickets at an average of 29.05.
His finest hour in Test cricket was the tour to the West Indies in 1976-77, when he topped the Pakistani batting average
s with 517 runs at 57.4 and came second in the bowling average
s with 7 wickets at 18.7, behind Majid Khan
. He also scored 14 sixes in the Test series, setting a record that has been equalled 4 times but still remains the only instance away from home.http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2006/feb/02sixes.htm He top-scored in both innings of the drawn 1st Test in Barbados
, to push West Indies to within one wicket of their first loss at Kensington Oval
since 1935. In their second innings, Pakistan were reduced to 158-9 by Andy Roberts and Colin Croft
, a lead of only 144 just over half-way through the fourth day, but a last-wicket stand of 133 with Wasim Bari
set the West Indies a target of 306. At the close of the fifth day, West Indies were 55 runs adrift, on 251-9. West Indies won their next 12 matches at Bridgetown, until they were finally beaten by England in the 4th Test in 1994. He was a cricket teacher at Haslemere Preparatory School from 2004 to 2006 and what an excellent, amazing teacher he was.There is a memorial plaque there in his honour. He is also fondly remembered in the north east of England, playing for Durham CCC, before the county was awarded 1st class status.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
cricketer
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
who played in 57 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and 54 ODIs for the Pakistani national cricket team from 1973 to 1985. His younger brother, Rameez Raja
Rameez Raja
Rameez Hasan Raja is a former Pakistani right handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan cricket team during the 1980s and 1990s. He also worked as captain of the national team...
, also represented Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, becoming captain of the national side. Another brother, Zaeem Raja, also played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, as did his father, Raja Saleem Akhtar.
Early and personal life
Raja was born in MultanMultan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
in the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
. His father was a high-ranking civil servant. Raja obtained a master's degree in political science from Government College, Lahore. He was captain of the Pakistan Under-19 side.
He settled in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
after marrying an Englishwoman, Ann. He studied for a certificate in education from Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
, and had a spell teaching geography, mathematics and physical education at Caterham School
Caterham School
Caterham School is an independent coeducational day and boarding school in Caterham, Surrey and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.-History:...
in Surrey. He was also a coach for the Pakistan Under-19 team, and International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
match referee
Match referee
A match referee is an official appointed to oversee professional cricket matches. Match referees for Test matches and One Day Internationals are appointed by the International Cricket Council...
in 15 Tests and 34 ODIs from 2002 to 2004.
He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Marlow
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Marlow is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in August 2006 while playing cricket for the Surrey over-50s side. He is survived by his wife and his sons, Ali and Ahmad.
Career
During his playing career, Raja was known primarily as a dashing middle-order left-handed batsman, with a characteristically generous backlift and breathtaking stokeplay combining a keen eye with wristy execution. Raja also bowled flat wrist spinWrist spin
Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball...
with his right hand that was good enough to take 51 wickets in Tests, with his scalps including Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
, Roy Fredericks
Roy Fredericks
Roy Clifton Fredericks was a West Indian cricketer who played from 1968 to 1977....
, Glenn Turner
Glenn Turner
Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....
and Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
. In all, he played in 250 first-class matches, scoring 11,434 runs at an average of 35.18, including 17 centuries, and taking 558 wickets at an average of 29.05.
His finest hour in Test cricket was the tour to the West Indies in 1976-77, when he topped the Pakistani batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
s with 517 runs at 57.4 and came second in the bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
s with 7 wickets at 18.7, behind Majid Khan
Majid Khan (cricket player)
Majid Jahangir Khan is a former cricketer, specialist batsman and former captain of the Pakistan cricket team and perhaps the most fearless opening Batsman produced by Pakistan. Khan's first-class career spanned from 1961 to 1985...
. He also scored 14 sixes in the Test series, setting a record that has been equalled 4 times but still remains the only instance away from home.http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2006/feb/02sixes.htm He top-scored in both innings of the drawn 1st Test in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, to push West Indies to within one wicket of their first loss at Kensington Oval
Kensington Oval
The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the major sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket...
since 1935. In their second innings, Pakistan were reduced to 158-9 by Andy Roberts and Colin Croft
Colin Croft
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.-Cricket career:...
, a lead of only 144 just over half-way through the fourth day, but a last-wicket stand of 133 with Wasim Bari
Wasim Bari
Wasim Bari is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 81 Tests and 51 ODIs from 1967 to 1984. Bari was a wicket-keeper and right-handed batsman...
set the West Indies a target of 306. At the close of the fifth day, West Indies were 55 runs adrift, on 251-9. West Indies won their next 12 matches at Bridgetown, until they were finally beaten by England in the 4th Test in 1994. He was a cricket teacher at Haslemere Preparatory School from 2004 to 2006 and what an excellent, amazing teacher he was.There is a memorial plaque there in his honour. He is also fondly remembered in the north east of England, playing for Durham CCC, before the county was awarded 1st class status.