Sunday, 14th October 2007 at 6:57 pm

Inzamam-ul-Haq takes a final bow

Cricket, as we’re reminded so often, has little time for sentiment. Signing off a great career with a romantic flourish is the way every cricketer wants to go, but ever since Don Bradman’s infamous final innings, fairytale finishes haven’t been standard practice. Cue this week’s high-profile goodbye to Test cricket: Inzamam-ul-Haq, who went out on a note he hardly deserved.

The big Pakistani has always been one of Feverpitcher’s favourite cricketers. The comical running between wickets - no one in the history of the game has ever been more reluctant to take a single - marked out Inzi as a cult figure from an early stage, and the bizarre attack on a spectator who had the temerity to call him a ‘big potato’ in a one-day game in Canada only added to his profile.

But what Inzi will truly remembered for his batting. Fluid, unhurried, possessed of some of the greatest timing the game has seen - for a big, often ungainly looking man, Inzi had a subtlety of touch that defied first impressions. Throw in timing, patience, and, when the mood caught him, raw power (the one-day innings that won the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan being the ideal example), and Inzamam-ul-Haq was one of the true greats of the modern generation.

Finishing as Pakistan’s leading Test run scorer was an achievement he deserved; as with Bradman, however, Inzi fell desperately close, a wild charge giving Paul Harris a wicket few will surpass as prize scalps. But if Javed Miandad stays top of the list by a run or two, then Feverpitcher still votes Inzi the better batsman - and one we’ll miss wandering slowly to the wicket, before destroying attacks with an ease few other batsman have consistently matched.