Saeed played strokes all round the wicket, but none was hit with as much grace and power as his drives, which rocketed through the V before the bowler had finished his follow-through. He was forced to change his normally upright stance when he toured England in 1962: he decided to crouch more in an attempt to get a better view of the fast bowlers on the seaming pitches, but the tactic had limited success. He also bowled serviceable offspin, and had his turn as captain, in three drawn Tests in 1968-69. Unfortunately, Saeed is best remembered for the undignified end to his Test career. He declared himself unfit for the third Test against Australia with a back injury following a heated altercation with Dennis Lillee in the previous Test at Melbourne. But as Lillee was vowing revenge on a Sydney greentop, the Pakistan management was sceptical about Saeed's injury and sent him home for indiscipline. For all that, Saeed - the half-brother of Younis Ahmed - was a terrific player, as a Test average in excess of 40 suggests. He made 508 runs in his first Test series, in the Caribbean in 1957-58, and had a taste for big hundreds: three of his five at Test level were of 150 or more.
Lawrence Booth