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KARACHI, April 21: Former Australian pace king Jeff Thomson Sunday admitted that Shoaib Akhtar reminds him of himself in terms of attitude and fire in the belly.

"I think there are similarities between me and Shoaib in terms of attitude. What he loves to do is to bowl fast like me. I never bothered about inswingers, outswingers, yorkers. I think the people also enjoy watching express fast deliveries," Thomson told Dawn at the National Stadium.

The Australian is still the world's fastest bowler when he clocked 161kph. Shoaib came close to breaking the 100-mile barrier in Sharjah when he recorded 159.5kph on the speed gun. But the world's most feared and versatile paceman said speed guns could be deceptive. "I don't think the speed guns work too well. I think they are unreliable."

The 51-year-old from Queensland, who took 200 wickets in 51 Tests and toured Pakistan in 1982-83 with Kim Hughes's team, also took a swipe at the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the way they handled Shoaib's issue of suspect bowling action.

"It's a bit funny and ridiculous. The ICC clears him and then he is reported again. It's rather annoying. I mean how many times does Shoaib need to clear himself," Thomson said, adding: "I think he is just no different to Brett Lee. He (Lee) also has a similar sort of action. I believe Shoaib's action is just fine."

Shoaib has been reported thrice since December 1999. Lee was also reported in early 2000 on the tour of New Zealand. But Thomson was all praise for the Rawalpindi Express for the way he bounced back after a string of injuries and controversies on his bowling action.

"He had a lot of hurdles to get through. But he has proved that he is a strong character by coming back. "I believe he is a good bowler. He is exciting for the game and the best thing about him is that when he bowls during a game, he tries to bowl every ball quickly," he said. But the graceful and soft-spoken Australian had a word of advice too for Shoaib.

"You can't always be aggressive. Yes, you have to be a bit crazy sometimes because it does help. You can be too enthusiastic and it doesn't work sometimes on different pitches. So you have to have something different up your sleeves."

Thomson felt Shoaib should not cut down his speed. "You never give away your advantage by slowing down your pace. His advantage is his speed and he shouldn't give it up. "He might not always get wickets but may help his partner to pick wickets from the other end. And that's how things work at times. "If he is quicker than others, he has to use that."

Thomson said he couldn't speak for Shoaib if he should concentrate on Tests or one-dayers or play both at the same time. But he did admit that one-day cricket was a bit hard on real fast bowlers. "Fast bowlers like to attack and you can't always attack in one-day cricket."

To a question if Shoaib and Brett Lee were the best bowlers of their generation, Thomson diplomatically said: "I think they are the quickest around. "You can't compare Shoaib with me or anyone. Everyone is different. Shoaib has his own style and that makes him unique."

Thomson, like many others, expressed his great admiration for Pakistan cricketers. But he agreed with his fellow pundits that they were under-achievers.

"Pakistan are as good as anybody if they play as a team and they don't play as a team too often. Their batsmen are too aggressive at times instead of trying to hang in there. "Most of the time, the big shots they try land them into trouble. But they are highly talented and can beat anybody."

Thomson refused to accept South Africa as the second best team after Australia. "If you ask me, South Africa isn't good at all. I don't think they are number two. What I am saying to you is that Pakistan on ability should be the second best team but maybe they aren't."

Thomson said with the side Pakistan has, they would be one of the favorites for next year's World Cup.

© Dawn