WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Mudassar Nazar, Pakistan's former opening batsman and medium-pace bowler, appeared in three World Cups. However, he was a sharper thorn in England's flesh on other occasions, notably in Lahore in December 1977, when a century spanning nine hours and 17 minutes - the slowest in Test cricket - established him as one of the great stonewallers.

A more cherished memory is of taking 6 for 32 in the Lord's Test in 1982. "That was very special because it won the match for Pakistan and we had never beaten England at Lord's," he said.

Unlike many contemporaries, Mudassar did not join a first-class county, but still spent most summers in England playing league cricket in the Manchester area. He settled here in 1980 and now lives in Bolton, where he runs a frozen-foods shop.

Now almost 40, he retired from international cricket in 1989 and seemed destined for a career in banking. "I joined BCCI, actually, but after 12 or 13 years of cricket I found it hard to work for someone else," he said. "I left about nine months before BCCI collapsed and bought into the shop in 1991. I found I liked it a lot better."

Mudassar now turns out for Bolton CC, in part to encourage his 12-year- old son, Danyal, who may extend a Test-playing lineage begun by his grandfather, Nazar Mohammad. "He is into a lot of sports, but cricket is the main one. It would be nice if he could follow me."

Jon Culley