A few days before Jimmy Anderson became the first fast bowler to claim 600 Test wickets, the last word in the English alphabet was in the forefront of cricket news. Young England batsman Zak Crawley fascinated cricket fans with his magnificent 267 against Pakistan at Southampton. And Zaheer Abbas was inducted in ICC's Hall of Fame along with South African all-round giant Jacques Kallis and Australian women's cricket great Lisa Sthelekar.

For Indian cricket fans, the name Zaheer Abbas conjures up images of tall scores, relentless attacking batsmanship and yes, his spectacles. Against Bishan Singh Bedi's touring team in 1978-79, he was more than just a pest; starting off the series with 176 and 96 in Faisalabad and following it up with unbeaten knocks of 235 and 34 at Lahore, where Pakistan reached their victory target of 126 in less than 21 overs. A public holiday was declared to celebrate Pakistan's first triumph over India since 1952.