Q for quality and quantity

The famous journalist Qamar Ahmed, nicknamed Q, died at 89, covered cricket from 1974 through speech and writing. He was everyone’s friend; Imran Khan, a likely exception

Qamar Ahmed (right) with renowned cricket photographer Patrick Eagar at the Lord’s Media Center in 2011. PIC/CLAYTON MURZELLO

Your browser does not support HTML5 audio

The phone rang one day in 1986.

“Hello, this is Qamar Ahmed from London.” The voice on the other end of the line belonged to one of the most recognizable names in cricket journalism. Qamar wanted to speak to the owner of The Marine Sports, the sports bookstore where I worked before becoming a cricket journalist. He was calling about a forthcoming imprint of his Pakistan Book of Cricket 1985-86.

Little did I know then that in 1999, when Pakistan resumed its Test cricket ties with India after a decade-long hiatus, Qamar and I would be sharing press box space. Nor could I have imagined that four decades later I would be writing about his passing.

Qamar Ahmed – Q for cricketers and fellow journalists – died on June 18 at the age of 89, just over a week after telling me he had suffered a heart attack.

His death prompted heartfelt tributes from the cricketing world. Harsha Bhogle recalled how Qamar helped him during his first tour of England in 1990. “I have only warm memories of Q and will be surprised if anyone else has another,” he wrote on X.

When I informed Ian Chappell of Qamar’s death, his response was: “A decent guy.” Ravi Shastri asked me to convey his condolences to the family of a “lovely man”. Later that day, Abdul Majid Bhatti, another senior journalist, told me that Qamar’s funeral took place in the presence of a congregation of cricketers and journalists from Karachi.

For much of his working life, Qamar, single, lived in England, working for the BBC while contributing as a freelance writer to newspapers, magazines and, of course, the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, year after year.

During his early years in London, his Shepherd’s Bush flat became a home away from home for young Pakistani cricketers, including Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. However, her relationship with Imran eventually became turbulent.

In his autobiography Cutting Edge, Miandad said he defused a confrontation between the two in the apartment. According to him, Qamar, powerfully built at the time, stood his ground, “protruding his chest, urging Imran to swing.”

In Imran Khan, author Ivo Tennant refers to another confrontation – this time during a robbery – which again required Miandad’s intervention.

When I revisited Qamar’s 2020 memoir, Much More Than a Game, I found that he had dismissed Miandad’s account of the Shepherd’s Bush incident as fictional and wrote that he criticized her for including it. What he did admit to was the altercation with Imran on a plane during the 1992 World Cup. According to Qamar, an Indian journalist mischievously told Imran that he had celebrated India’s victory over Pakistan in a Sharjah match the previous year, a claim that likely fueled the dispute.

The relationship never really recovered.

After the victory in Auckland that sparked Pakistan’s spectacular entry into the 1992 World Cup final, Imran started looking for someone. “Where are the jackals,” Debasish Datta, a good friend of Qamar, recalled telling Imran at the time.

Qamar also played an important role in one of cricket’s defining moments. Former South African captain Ali Bacher considered him a trusted ally in the campaign to secure South Africa’s return to international cricket after apartheid. When Bacher invited cricket legends and leading journalists to celebrate the unification of the country’s white and non-white cricket boards in 1991, Qamar was among the selected guests.

Qamar’s achievements as a journalist were remarkable. He has covered over 450 test matches and produced several memorable exclusives.

Perhaps his biggest break came in 1990, when Sunil Gavaskar revealed to him that he had turned down life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club for personal reasons. Qamar also recounted how Gavaskar was stopped by a steward at Lord’s when he tried to enter the field to collect his press pass. Gavaskar had suffered similarly three years earlier in the MCC Bicentenary Test, when he represented the Rest of the World XI. The exclusive appeared in The Times of London.

I almost forgot to tell you that Qamar was a top-class cricketer himself. A left-arm spinner and right-handed batsman, he has represented Sindh, South Zone and Hyderabad in Pakistan domestic cricket. During the Press versus Cricketers festival matches, the media saw him as their key player.

Born in Chapra, Bihar, before Partition, Qamar’s family – headed by his dentist father – migrated to Pakistan.

During Pakistan’s tour of India from 1979 to 1980, he took the opportunity to visit his childhood home in Chapra. He cried uncontrollably as memories of the life his family had left behind came flooding back. During the same tour, he met famous names from Bollywood and hosted a phone chat where Rishi Kapoor spoke to his hero, Wasim Bari.

Many of Qamar’s contemporaries are either deceased or retired. But Qamar will also be missed in press boxes around the world by the young journalists he encouraged. Ideal for a man who has always been young at heart.

Midday associate editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your comments to [email protected]. The views expressed in this column are those of the individual and do not represent those of the newspaper.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos