IT IS rare for a cricket club in Yorkshire to take pride in a century being scored against England.
But that has been the case for Hoylandswaine CC this week after Kamran Ghulam, who spent much of the English summer with them, made a hundred on his Test debut for Pakistan.
The 29-year-old batter was Swaine’s overseas player for the 2024 season, although his appearances were limited due to poor weather and him being called up for his country’s A team.
Ghulam said: “I want to say thank you to everyone at Hoylandswaine for supporting me and all the encouragement while playing for the club in the 2024 season, to pursue my achievements in international cricket.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to play for Hoylandswaine CC, it’s just unfortunate I did not play a full season as I got called back to Pakistan.”
Hoylandswaine secretary Tony Harrison said: “Kamran only stayed with us a short time but he’s the best overseas we’ve had – and we’ve had some very good ones. To come over from the flat, dead wickets in Pakistan to wet, pudding-like wickets in England and be so good shows how adaptable and high-quality he is.
“He’s a very nice person. He’s only five foot four but a feisty character, in a good way. He was getting plenty of sledging from fielders when he played for us and knew how to handle it.
“When he was called up, we were devastated and delighted. It’s the risk you take with a player that good.
“We would have won the league with him here all season, certainly, so you could say the signing backfired but it’s fantastic for the club to have a player who has gone on to do what he’s done this week. We’re still in contact with him and we’ve passed on our congratulations. We’re all delighted for him.
“He will have demi-God status now and he’s all over TV in Pakistan.”
In six innings for the Haigh Lane club in the Huddersfield League in May and June, Ghulam averaged 244 as he was only dismissed once.
He then impressed in Pakistani domestic cricket and was called into the Test team for the second game against England in Multan, following last week’s record-breaking innings loss.
He replaced superstar batter Babar Azam who was surprisingly dropped after a run of poor form. Ghulam made 118 on the opening day of the match.
He is another player to play international cricket following a stint with Swaine – after Kesrick Williams with the West Indies and England opener Alex Lees, while former Pakistan bowler Junaid Khan also appeared for the successful Huddersfield League club.
