Pakistan doesn't even have 30 percent of the facilities that are available to club cricketers here in England: Naseem Shah

Fast bowler Naseem Shah claims that Pakistan does not have even 30 percent of the facilities that are available to club cricketers in England. He said that, in Pakistan, most players come from places where it is difficult to avail facilities. Shah played for English club Gloucestershire in the ongoing T20 Blast season and was replaced by Mohammed Amir due to injury.

Shah added that, while the arrangements in cities such as Karachi and Lahore are good, there was not even a cricket ground in the place where he came from. He feels that if Pakistan has even a small portion of the sort of facilities that are available in England, there would be more cricketers coming up in the country.

“I think we don’t even have 30 percent of the facilities that are available to club cricketers here in England. I know where I’ve come from, I started playing cricket with a tape ball, and when I see the cricketers playing here, it’s completely different,” said Shah, in an interview with Cricket Pakistan. “Here, when I play a club match and I see the ground and facilities, I think, ‘Wow, these guys are so lucky. They have so many facilities’.”

You couldn’t play cricket with a hard ball: Naseem Shah

“When we look at our cricket, most players come from places where it’s difficult to avail facilities. In places like Lahore, Karachi, there are good arrangements. But from where I belong, there was no cricket ground. You couldn’t play cricket with a hard ball. Even if Pakistan can have a small percentage of facilities available in England, you will see many more cricketers coming from our country,” Shah further said.

Shah made his debut for Pakistan in 2019 against Australia in Brisbane at the age of 16 years and 279 days, becoming the ninth youngest player to play in Test cricket. He is also the second-youngest player to pick up a five-wicket haul in Tests after Nasim-ul-Ghani. He has appeared in 11 Test matches and picked up 26 wickets in 16 innings in the format with the best figures of five wickets for 31 runs.