Saeed Ajmal recollects wanting to smash James Anderson's head during 50-run knock

Lahore, April 14: Pakistan and England have had some of their best contests against each other on the cricket field and reminiscing one such incident, former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has spoken of an incident during a Test against England in Edgbaston when he wanted to smash James Andersons head.

"When they [England] took the new ball, Anderson came up to me and said ‘Are you ready for bouncers?' and I told him that I don't know English. I thought he [was] joking since I am a tailender and he would probably bowl straight and get me out," he said in a YouTube video.

"But they fired a barrage of bouncers at me. When I got hit by six or seven bouncers, I told Zulqarnain (Haider) that I want to smash Anderson's head with my bat. Then I decided to go for my shots. I tried to step out of my crease and hit a couple of bouncers. Then the ball started coming on to my bat and I ended up with a fifty."

Pakistan ended up losing the Test by 9 wickets even though Ajmal had finished with five wickets in the first innings. Batting first, Pakistan could only manage 72 in the first innings and in reply, England hit 251 with Kevin Pietersen hitting 80.