JUNAID Khan may not have played international cricket since May 2019, but he has not given up on representing Pakistan.

The left-arm pace bowler, who turns 32 on Christmas Eve, has taken 71 wickets for his country in Test matches and 76 in one-day internationals, but has been in the wilderness for two-and-a-half years.

Khan, who presented the trophies at the Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League’s annual dinner and prize presentation at Madisson Restaurant, Bradford, is currently living in Manningham with his family while visa issues are sorted.

However, he hopes to return to Pakistan before Christmas, do well for Baluchistan and force his way back into the national squad, from which he was dropped in May 2019.

Khan, the first player from Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to represent his country, said: “Shaheen Shah Afridi has performed well (as a young gun) but as a senior pro if I perform well in domestic cricket the aim is definitely to get back into the Pakistan team.

“I believe in my work and my performance and after, two or three weeks, I will go back to Pakistan and play for Baluchistan in domestic cricket.

“But my future is also in Bradford League and county cricket. My speed was 130-135km per hour when I came to county cricket (in 2011) but now my speed is 140km per hour plus.”

Khan puts a lot of his improvement down to his three spells with Lancashire (2011, 2014, 2017), and particularly the influence of then-coach Peter Moores and star all-rounder Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff in terms of bowling yorkers and, more generally, swing and seam.

The 6ft 1in pace bowler said: “I played for Lancashire and in the Lancashire League and learned a lot of things off Jimmy Anderson and Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, and about how to look after my body from their coach Peter Moores.

“I learnt about how to bowl swing in English conditions and how to bowl the ‘death overs’.”

Khan is also thinking of his career after playing and admitted: “I want to do some work in county cricket after I retire so I am doing three coaching courses, which is good for me to work with the Pakistanis, but particularly in England.”

He isn’t ruling out further spells playing in county cricket or league cricket, however.

Despite the snow and ice, over 200 attended the 42nd annual Quaid-e-Azam Sunday League’s awards evening at the plush restaurant on City Road.

Awards – Premier Section, batting: Amjid Hussain (Keighley RZM) average 87.75; bowling: Zeeshan Qasim (Keighley RZM) 6.2; wicket-keeping, Danish Hussain (Keighley RZM) 9 victims (all caught); fielding, Asad Khan (Azad) 10 victims; highest score, Mohammed Zulfiqar (Kashmir Bradford) 154no; best analysis, Jawad Waheed (Kashmir Bradford) 6-25; highest partnership, Danish Hussain & Amjid Hussain (Keighley RZM) 185; most runs, Danish Hussain (Keighley RZM) 465; most wickets, Suleman Khan (Earlmarshall) 26.

Championship Section, batting: Asif Yousaf (Pak Cuisine) 72.56; bowling: Naveed Hafeez (Shaheen) 8.7; wicket-keeping, Husaifah Azam (Salem) 12 victims (11ct, 1 stumped); fielding, Mohsin Hamdani (Shaheen) 8; highest score, Asif Yousaf (Pak Cuisine) 139no; best analysis, Hassan Ali Fazal (Choudhrys CC) 7-40; highest partnership, Yasir Shahzad & Asif Yousaf (Pak Cuisine) 138; most runs, Asif Yousaf (Pak Cuisine) 653; most wickets, Wasim Khan (Great Horton Church Panthers) 26.

Division 1A, batting, Asif Hussain (Gulhar) 40.71; bowling, Allah Ditta (Mangla United) 7.9; wicket-keeping, Mohammed Suleman (Mangla United) 7 victims (5ct, 2 stumped); fielding, Sohail Choudhry (Panyam) 8; highest score, Mohammed Suleman (Mangla United) 102; best analysis, Azhar Iqbal (Panyam) 5-15; highest partnership, Naeem Ali & Harris Mahmood (Panyam) 122; most runs, Asif Hussain (Gulhar) 285; most wickets, Allah Ditta (Mangla United) 25.

Division 1B, batting, Syed Abbas (CJ’s XI) 32.43; bowling, Waqas Rasheed (Raja Riders) 6.2; wicket-keeping, Fahim Khan (Raja Riders) 11 (9ct, 2 stumped); fielding, Muhammad Siraj (Manningham) 6; highest score, Muhammad Yasir (Attock Sweet Centre) 138; best analysis, Anis Ur-Rehman (Attock Sweet Centre) 7-20; highest partnership, Muhammad Yasir & Muhammad Hafeez (Attock Sweet Centre) 187; most runs, Syed Abbas (CJ’s XI) 227; most wickets, Waqas Rasheed (Raja Riders) 29.