Mohammad Irfan not reached expectations as Pakistan lost the 1st ODI

Mohammad Irfan towers above his Pakistan team-mates.

So many bad vibes now cling to the Pakistan team's tour of England that it was asking a lot for them to summon a wonderful cricketing story from nowhere. Mohammad Irfan, the 7ft fast bowler whom Pakistan hoped would begin to restore their pride, proved to be a bit of a letdown. And a letdown from that height is quite a way to fall.

More relevant than his height was his speed, generally a touch above 80mph, which for international batsmen, unless allied to considerable craft, amounts to a walk in the park. Andrew Strauss asserted himself immediately by cutting and pulling him for boundaries in his first over.

His opening over cost 15 runs and he was immediately taken off and invited to gaze up at Lumley Castle and come up with another theory. Pakistan tried four bowlers at that end in the first five overs without success, so Irfan was hardly alone.

"His height is enough to fear the batsmen," a Pakistan blogger had predicted, excited by YouTube footage of his heroics in a club match in Karachi. Another blogger had retribution on his mind. "We want someone like him to kick England ass. India is not our enemy, it's English team. They have insulted our team instead of hosting it. They were always like that but these kids weren't awared [sic] about them."

Those wishing to turn the ODI series into a nationalistic struggle were to be disappointed. Irfan slipped in a couple of quieter overs at the other end, without ever looking menacing, but in mid-innings returned at the Lumley Castle End, was stricken by cramp and fell in a heap. When a Pakistan team‑mate pushed his leg back to alleviate his suffering, he looked as if he was leaning against a white flagpole.

Irfan was led off by Pakistan's medical staff. Normally an injured fast bowler might expect to fling his arms over a couple of shoulders. The most they could manage was to sort of prop him up at the waist. His international debut finished with figures of nought for 37 in 5.3 overs and a recognition that English pitches do not always bounce as much as you expect them to.

His action is reasonably gainly for somebody so tall – there have been many world-class basketball players of similar height who have run up and down court with less certainty – but he has a somewhat crumply front leg and a leading arm as wet as a fishy handshake. He made his first-class debut only a year ago but at 28 it is probably too late to change things.

Irfan, who arrived in England two days ago, can expect to get stronger as the series progresses. He also did considerably better than his more senior colleague, Umar Gul, whose reputation is collapsing by the week and whose six overs cost 67.

Wahab Riaz, who was dropped for sound cricketing reasons for the second Twenty20 in Cardiff, was also not selected today before his meeting with Scotland Yard investigators in London next Tuesday. Pakistan's tour manager, Yawar Saeed, said that Riaz was available for selection but had not been picked on cricketing grounds. That stance will be harder to justify at Headingley on Sunday if Irfan's injury persists and if Gul's bowling figures are studied even briefly.

Saeed had said before the game that he would drop "X, Y and Z" if he was told to do so. If Riaz is allowed to play against expectations at Headingley, we will have to assume that he is actually Q, a British double agent, who has spent the last year building Mohammad Irfan and arranged him to break down at just the right moment.

There were few Pakistan supporters present to watch their side try to rediscover its talent for playing outrageous, brilliant cricket. Headingley, on Sunday, will provide a more apt test of whether England's Pakistani community, whether because of disgust or economic necessity, has turned its back on its cricketers.