Fawad Alam's Pakistan comeback was ugly but earned after decade of graft | Andy Bull


The batsman’s comeback fell flat but hope springs eternal as Fawad hit a century in the second innings of his debut in 2009

They say the best things in life are worth waiting for. Fawad Alam’s innings in the second Test probably wasn’t one of them – unless, that is, you happen to have a particularly black sense of humour. Poor Fawad won the last of his Test caps in November 2009. Ten years, eight months, 17 days and 8,348 first-class runs later he was finally back, walking out to the middle at the Rose Bowl with his team 117 for four, Stuart Broad bowling at one end, Chris Woakes the other. He blocked one ball, left the next, played and missed the third, and then he was dismissed, lbw, by the fourth.

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