Reiseplan » gave up Bakers opposite-field homer two batters later to giv

What was the secret of your success at Lords? I thank Allah for what I achieved. It was a dream come true. My aim was to contain the batsmen and support our fast bowlers. I bowled my first three or four overs tightly, without conceding many runs, and bowling the ball in the same area. But when I realised I was getting help from the wicket - some balls were going straight on and others were turning - I decided to attack. Luckily I was successful.Your first experience of bowling in a Test in England - what was it like? Im used to bowling in Asia, and you have to be patient there and bowl with great heart. The wickets are slow. You need to push the ball through. Ive played here for a few years in league cricket, and I learnt that the wickets are a little quicker and the ball naturally bounces more. That means you need to bowl a little slower here. So I prepared for these wickets, and I think that brought me success.In UAE, the wickets are slow. Batsmen have time to play even a fullish ball on the back foot. You need to bowl with a little more power and speed so that the batsman doesnt have time to go back, or so that the ball can skid on. If a batsman does go back to a full ball, youve got a chance of the ball skidding on and you can get him bowled or lbw. You need to bowl with a little more zip. Its different here - the wickets are faster and greener. Legspin bowling is different on these wickets because you need to bowl with more flight and with loop. Youre more successful that way.Practice is very important for a legspinner. You need to practise every day and thats how you get control. Also, you need a repeatable action. If your action doesnt fall away, you bowl in the same area, contain the batsman and make life more difficult for him.You seemed to be more dangerous from the Pavilion end at Lords. When I saw the wicket, and the slope from the Pavilion end, I tried to bowl in the same area. I thought if I bowl ten overs in the same place, Ill pick up at least a couple of wickets. Thats what I tried, and thankfully I ended up with many more wickets.Did the slope help you? The effect of the slope was that when the ball lands on the shiny side it goes down the hill, and when it lands on the seam it turns. It puts the batsman in two minds - he doesnt know if its going to land on the shiny side or on the seam. Thats why the batsman ends up confused as to whether to play for a legbreak or a ball that goes down the hill.Shane Warne said hed sent you some advice before Lords. Yes, we do stay in touch on Twitter, Messenger and Whatsapp. We were in touch before the Lords match, and he said he wouldnt be there for most of it, but he arrived the day after I took five wickets. Hed been asking me how my bowling is going, how I was coping with the Dukes ball. I said its harder with the Dukes ball but our camp in Southampton helped me a lot.The camp helped with my fitness, but I also got accustomed to the pitches. I worked first on my grip, since the Dukes ball is a little more slippery than a Kookaburra. Its the first time Ive played a Test match with a Dukes. Did Warne give you any specific advice about bowling at Lords? No, there was nothing specific but when we met in Sharjah during the England series he did give me advice, including about how to use the crease. I tried to do as he said and its been very helpful to me, especially in English conditions.Hes always been my favourite bowler ever since I was a little boy. When I played my first Test match I took four wickets against Australia, and he tweeted about me. When I went to the press conference, the first question was: Shane Warne has tweeted about you, what do you think? I was quite surprised. What? Hes tweeted about me? Shane Warne is talking about me? I couldnt imagine that would happen. It was like a dream come true to be praised by your favourite bowler. We stayed in touch after that.You also played your part with the bat at Lords. How did you come to be promoted up the order? I was No. 10 in the first innings but we sent in Rahat Ali as a nightwatchman. That moved me down to No. 11. In the second innings Misbah just told me I was going in earlier, and I said fine. But my whole effort was to allow my partner to play on. I wanted to fight until the final ball. If the captain needs me to bat in any position, Im ready.Youve arrived on the international scene quite late. I made my first class debut in 2003. I played a couple of first-class matches and then I didnt play for three years. I played Grade 2 club cricket instead. The reason was that when I played first-class cricket, my bowling wasnt what I thought it should be for a first-class bowler. It wasnt properly first-class standard. Thats why I played Grade 2. I was 16 years old and I wanted to improve my bowling and my performance.After that I played first-class cricket for Customs, and I think I took 34 wickets in five matches. In 2011 I played against Zimbabwe when Waqar Younis was the coach. I took two wickets in a one-day match, and I also played T20s.I saw the standard of international cricket and I started working harder. I was out of the team and my plan was that when I returned, Id be a regular player and a major player. That was my ambition and it made me put in more effort.How did you start out in cricket? When I started to go to games in the sixth grade at school, I was very small and I was only allowed to field. I loved watching Jonty Rhodes at the time, and Id dive everywhere. Thats why they got me to field. Then I started to bowl in the nets. When I bowled my first ball it dont reach the other end of the net, so I started bowling from halfway down. From there, I worked and gradually improved.I was supported a great deal by my cousin in every way, including financially. When he moved to Bradford in 2002, he started to send me videos of Shane Warne bowling.What was your experience of playing league cricket in England like? From 2009 to 2012 I played league cricket in Middlesborough. It was quite an experience. In my first game, a crowd gathered to watch the new club professional. It was very cold. Id just arrived from Pakistan two days earlier. The first ball bounced twice. I thought, okay, my hands are cold, it happens. The next ball did the same thing. The third ball did that too. The next one was a wide. My hands were cold, the ball was different, and theyd asked me to bowl the first over in the match. All the English people watching were laughing. But thankfully, after that I bowled a couple of decent overs and then took five wickets. Once my balls started landing, that was it.Would you say your career was helped by Saeed Ajmals ban? Yes, but I was very sorry we lost Saeed Ajmal. He was our leading spin bowler and he was a big player for us. Whenever a player of that calibre is ruled out, the team is weakened. We really felt his loss, even though I was playing. Also, if wed played together he could have helped me. But I still got lots of support from the other seniors like Hafeez, Misbah, Younis and Waqar. Waqar motivated me a great deal.You took 50 Test wickets fairly quickly. Was there anything in particular that you did? There was a camp before my debut series against Australia, and we worked hard on my action. Mushtaq Ahmed worked with me and told me I needed a repeatable action. He said, If you keep bowling in the same area in a Test match youll pick up a lot of wickets. He motivated me and worked very hard on my action in the nets.I also have a great desire to perform well for Pakistan in every match. I make a separate plan for each game, and I play every match like its my last one. You cant take it easy. Cricket is such a game that you can be knocked down at any point. Its a game you have to respect.How successful are your variations? My legbreak is working fine but I try to learn something new every day. Im working on my topspinner but my googly is improving and Im starting to land it more consistently. I used to avoid bowling a googly in a match and it was hard with my action, but Ive worked on it and its improved. All the variations are important for a legspinner, so you can bowl a ball when you want and a batsman will then find you hard to hit.This is your first Test back after a ban. Was it hard being out of the team? I felt miserable. You blame yourself for what happened, and for when things go wrong with the team. I watched the World T20 match against India and it was a spinners wicket. R Ashwin bowled the first ball and it turned alarmingly. I felt so bad that I couldnt sleep all night. I was blaming myself, but you learn from these mistakes.Can you believe what has happened to you? A couple of years ago you were almost unknown and suddenly youre being acclaimed as the best spin bowler in the world. Ive worked hard, and Ive been blessed. Ill keep working hard, and do my best to perform for Pakistan. It might seem sudden but behind this is the result of 12 or more years of effort. If Id lost heart whenever I lost my place, I wouldnt have got anywhere. Whenever there was a disappointment I decided to work harder and perform better. I hope the performances continue to improve and help Pakistan. If I think theres something wrong with my performance, I try to work on my mistakes and weaknesses. Even in my home, in Swabi, I make a video of my practice sessions to watch my action, my arm and wrist positions. Our local coach, Maqsood Ali, has done his Level 2 coaching and hes a great help to me.Ive been helped by Mushy. Shane Warne, too. Ive been to Abdul Qadirs academy in Lahore several times. Whenever theres a problem, he lets me know what it is and offers his advice.Waqar Younis helped me while he was coach. Mickey Arthur is excellent and I have a good understanding with him because we worked together in the PSL. He gives me advice on how to plan for different situations and helps me understand my role in the team. Before a match, all the bowlers sit together and watch videos of the batsmen we will face and assess their strong and weak points. We try to develop a plan for each batsman. England have plenty of good players, especially Cook and Root, and we try not to bowl to their strengths and focus on their weak areas.What are your ambitions? To keep playing and to remain fit. To keep performing as well as I can. However long I play, I want to play for Pakistans pride and help Pakistan win. 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Jeff Baker hit a two-run homer and Berkman added a three-run shot, both off Seattle starter Joe Saunders, and the Rangers beat the Mariners 9-5. Bakers shot in the second inning gave the Rangers the lead, but it was Berkmans fourth homer of the season into the left-field seats that broke the game open in the third and sent Saunders to his first career loss at Safeco Field. It was the first homer for Baker since May 10 and first for Berkman since May 11. "We got him into some counts where he had to throw a strike and we didnt miss it," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "The big blow was the one Berkman got. We just kept battling him and battling him and got it done." Grimm (4-3) overcame a rough first few innings to pitch into the seventh despite giving up 10 hits. Grimm avoided a big inning, didnt walk a batter and struck out five in beating the Mariners for the second time this season. Joe Nathan got his 15th save of the season getting Michael Morse for the final out of the game after Seattle scored twice and had two runners on in the ninth. Grimm wasnt at his best early in the game as Seattle battered him for eight hits in the first 2 2-3 innings with relievers warming in the Rangers bullpen. But Grimm managed to limit any major damage — helped by a blown call by first base umpire Jeff Nelson in the second — before settling down and retiring seven straight batters at one point. Seattles chance at a big second inning took a hit with a botched call by Nelson. Jesus Sucre hit a grounder to Mitch Moreland at first, who threw down to second to get the lead runner. The relay from Elvis Andrus back to first was in time to get Sucre but the throw was caught by Grimm running over to cover and not Moreland, whose foot was on the bag. Nelson missed that it was Grimm who caught the throw and called Sucre out. "That happened so fast. I didnt realize the umpire had called him out at first," Grimm said. "... I was going over to cover the bag and Mitch took it on his own so when Elvis threw the ball it started to come toward me.dddddddddddd I didnt think Mitch was going to be able to get to it and I just snagged it up real quick in hopes to save a run and keep the double play in order." Seattle manager Eric Wedge went out to argue, but his argument was that Moreland had pulled his foot off the bag. He didnt realize until watching the replay later that it was Grimm who caught the throw and it never reached Morelands glove. "It would have been a much bigger argument if I had known that at the time," Wedge said. Some of the furor stopped when Brendan Ryan followed with a two-out RBI double to tie the game at 2 and was further muted by what the Rangers did against Saunders and Seattles bullpen. Still, the Rangers realized they got lucky. "I didnt have to see the replay," Washington said. "I knew we caught a break there." Saunders (3-5) entered the night 9-0 at Safeco Field, including a 3-0 mark with a 0.94 ERA this season. But Saunders gave up six earned runs and eight hits in just five innings and the Mariners lost their seventh straight. Saunders problems started when he walked Nelson Cruz on a 3-2 pitch in the second inning and gave up Bakers opposite-field homer two batters later to give Texas a 2-1 lead. He immediately faced problems in the third giving up a leadoff single to Jurickson Profar and a one-out double to Moreland. After striking out Berkman looking in the first inning, Saunders got just one pitch into the at-bat his next time up. Berkman drove the first pitch out to give the Rangers a 5-2 lead. Texas scored three more times in the seventh against Seattles bullpen, capped by David Murphys two-out, two-run single. Notes: Seattles been outscored 28-6 in the last three games. ... Texas announced after the game that Martin Perez will be called up to start the first game of Mondays day-night doubleheader at Arizona with Yu Darvish likely going in the nightcap. .... Raul Ibanezs had an RBI double in the third inning. It was the 400th double of his career. ... Injured Texas RHP Alexi Ogando (biceps tendinitis) will throw a bullpen session between games of the Rangers doubleheader on Monday in Arizona. Hell be reassessed after the bullpen and could come off the disabled list next weekend. ' ' '