Naved Arif is a left-arm pace bowler who has represented the Sialkot Stallions and Pakistan A. He was a key member of the Stallions squad that won the 2009 RBS T20 Championship, and has taken an impressive 146 wickets in 31 first-class matches.

PakPassion.net are proud to present an in-depth and exclusive interview with Arif, who has recently signed up for Sussex in the English County Championship.

 by Uzair Minhas

14 April 2011

PakPassion.Net: First of all, tell us how did you secure the Sussex contract, who contacted you? How did this all come about?

Naved Arif: It was Saqlain [Mushtaq] who helped me by introducing me to his agent who was able to get me trials with the club. They really liked me in the trials and made an offer which I accepted. I did this also with the confidence that I would be playing alongside and supported by Rana Naved as well as with other well-respected Asian players like Monty Panesar and Amjad Khan. I suppose, I would be supported in fast bowling by Rana bhai and that would be beneficial for me, and which made me accept the offer.


PakPassion.Net: We have seen the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Imran Khan, Rana Naved and many more who have benefited from County Cricket. What do you think, how will county cricket benefit you?

Naved Arif: In terms of benefit, let me say that I started to train from 1st of February of this year and in these two months I have significantly improved myself. Although I am a bowler, yet they [County Management] felt that my batting skills would allow me to play as an all-rounder! 

In the past during my days in Pakistan, I have played for Pakistan A and no one there ever coached and pointed out any faults in me. In effect, whatever I have played until now is basically due to my own ability. However in county, you get to learn a lot as you have separate coaches for fielding, batting and bowling. They advise you on all aspects and you feel the improvement, many incorrect techniques are fixed. Thankfully, I have enough experience due to my age (29 years) and have played enough cricket in my time. Now when someone points out a problem, I can see where problem is and how to fix it. In this way, with the help of coaches, one can fix issues before the season begins as I have done. All in all, I expect the county stint to be a good learning exercise as I will be playing alongside some very experienced players.


PakPassion.Net: Before this you have played league cricket in Lancashire, how did that go for you ?

Naved Arif: MashAllah, the Lancashire League season went very well for me. I had some outstanding all-round performances, taking 64 wickets and scoring 2,800 runs at an average of 40+. MashAllah, it was very good and I was clearly the best pro at Lancashire League.


PakPassion.Net: Last season you didn't play domestic cricket in Pakistan, what was the reason behind that?

Naved Arif: In 2009, I was clearly the best bowler of the [RBS Twenty20] tournament. In the following season I had 40+ wickets but wasn't able to play all matches as I was unfit but my performance was still very good. My name also came in the 2009 Champions Trophy reserves list but I believe that in our system, Pakistan Cricket Board gives more importance to big city players - you can say they have a lobby. Since I am from a small city no former cricket has seen me, nor do I have have relationship with anyone who would support me and back me up. It?s almost like when you are a top performer in an exam/test ? what more can you do to prove yourself? You can get disheartened in such a situation, where you perform so good and don?t get recognition

Second problem is that if you don't get an international chance and only play domestic cricket you don't have enough money to survive in domestic cricket. In my case, I realized that even after performing so well for 2-3 seasons, my financial future was bleak.

With this in mind, I came to the conclusion that England would be the better option due to my family connections, which would allow me to settle here as a local and play first class cricket. 

Imran Khan has said in a few of his interviews that if you want to improve your cricket then county cricket is the best resource available. Since senior cricketers like Wasim Akram, Rana bhai etc have improved themselves after playing in county cricket, I believe this is a very good chance for me to improve and I will try my best to perform and leave the rest to Allah (SWT).


PakPassion.Net: Since you are playing county cricket now it means you can't play for Pakistan anymore. Does it bother you that you can't play for Pakistan?.

Naved Arif: Definitely, I made my debut in 2002/2003 and I had very good performances back then as well. One would think that based on those performances, no one can be asked to sit out! When I was first dropped from the team, I had 19 wickets in 3 matches. At the end of the day, I am just a sportsman and not a politician. The Association President had changed and even with a superb performance, I was dropped and the whole season passed by. 

Next season they played me in only a few matches, Even then, I had 37 wickets in 7 matches but I was dropped again. My career was basically over but I made a comeback in 2009, a good 5-6 years after being dropped. You may wonder how you can make a comeback after not playing for such a length of time? Alhamdulilah, Allah (SWT) helped me and I made a comeback and I performed well and I became the best bowler as I topped the bowling charts in Pakistan. Once again in following season, I performed exceptionally but was still denied an opportunity. I don't think anyone has faced so many struggles in cricket because like I have even while putting in exceptional performances ? what more can one do?


PakPassion.Net: You did go to Australia with the Pakistan A tour and Australian tours are very tough. What did you learn by playing against the Australians? Did you come back as a better cricketer?

Naved Arif: I felt that it was a very good experience, but I felt that I didn't get the Captain?s support. This is very crucial and plays important role in any player?s performance. I was very confident when going there as I was the leading wicket-taker in domestic cricket. Unfortunately, my start wasn't very pleasing because I got unfit in the first game. The management wanted to send me back while the coach wanted me to continue on that tour. Those few days were very tense for me. I was unfortunate to be unfit on first day of the game so they told me at that time that they would be sending me home to be replaced by a player from Karachi. The tour became more difficult for me as I did not a get full chance.

But what I learned in Australia is that after playing on those pitches and conditions, everything is easy. When you play in Pakistan you believe that cricket in Australia and England is tough but when you play there you get confident and realize it is not very difficult and you realize you are better than them. They put more hard work than us so if we work hard then we can be much better than them.


PakPassion.Net: You have spent time at the National Cricket Academy as we have seen many photos of you training there. What do you think of NCA (Lahore) - Is it beneficial and is it improving players?

Naved Arif: I have been to Sri Lanka on an A tour and what I saw there is that whichever ground we went to they had swimming pools, gyms etc and have separate net hours for juniors and seniors. Pakistan in terms of economy is better than Sri Lanka, our cricket board is much stronger than them. However, in the whole of Pakistan they just have one indoor academy and players who have central contracts are the only ones who can use those facilities. Even if you are a first class cricketer you can't go there or use it! The benefit of that academy only goes to the 30 centrally contracted players and if you are not centrally contracted player it almost means that you are not part of Pakistani cricket.


PakPassion.Net: As you know, there are young and upcoming left arm bowlers like Sadaf Hussain & Nasser Malik from Rawalpindi. We also have Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan who are some of the outstanding left armers. Who has impressed you the most? 

Naved Arif: In my opinion, Mohammad Amir really stands out in the way he came in and made a place for himself in the side. It was obviously due to the fact he performed and apart from that, Wahab Riaz is very good. Junaid Khan is young and is a very talented bowler and MashAllah our bowling coaches are good too so they will improve his in-swinger. I rate Junaid Khan very highly. 


PakPassion.Net: Since this is your first season for Sussex, and MashAllah you took your first wicket of the season in your very first over as well. On behalf of PakPassion and its members I wish you all the best for this season and upcoming season. Do you have any message for PakPassion fans?

Naved Arif: I thank you guys for your continuous support and also my coaches are supporting me a lot. Rana bhai is a big advantage for me and I am confident that he will help me as he is an experienced fast bowler who has been playing county cricket since 8 years. I am hoping for a lot of support from him and I will try my level best to perform. Your duas are required and I will do my best on the field. Please remember me in your