I am going to learn the art of swinging the ball both ways from Anderson: Hasan Ali

The Pakistani speedster Hasan Ali has joined Lancashire CCC for this year's County Championship, and he is ecstatic about sharing the dressing room with James Anderson. As per the hit-the-deck seamer, the six weeks that he will spend with the Manchester-based cricket club is a massive opportunity for himself to finetune his bowling skills under the guidance of the legendary Englishman. 

If swinging the ball is an art, Anderson is known to be its Picasso. The veteran Lancashire pacer is known for his skills of moving the ball both ways and also has troubled batters time and again with his mysterious wobbled-seam delivery. 

In his reaction to having Anderson as his teammate, Hasan said that although he hasn't had a lot of conversations with the English legend so far, he will disturb him in the summer by asking a lot of questions relevant to swing bowling. 

"Honestly, I have never spoken with him before. But now I'm going to have a lot of questions to ask him. I'm going to disturb him. [Laughs] We know he's a great bowler. I'm going to learn how he swings the ball both ways, especially the cross-seam ball. I'm going to learn it," Hasan said. 

The 27-year-old also had some talks with his teammate Saqib Mehmood, who has represented the Peshawar Zalmi alongside him in the PSL. However, Hasan revealed that Saqib has told him that the ball reverses at the Old Trafford because of the dry conditions. 

Also, Hasan himself has played a handful of games in the venue and has the experience of reversing the old ball there. So, being a good exponent of reverse-swing bowling, the young Pakistani seamer aims at troubling the batters with the same during his stint with the Red Roses. 

"Saqib spoke with me this morning. He told me the ball reverses here. I know the weather is chilly, but the square is dry, and the wicket is dry, so, hopefully, I'll get some reverse", Hasan said. "I've been coming here [for] six years. I've played a couple of games here, in the World Cup and T20s. The ball does reverse here, and I like to reverse the ball," he further added. 

Talking about the opportunity to play county cricket, Hasan opined that the participation of many Pakistani internationals in the English domestic competition is a matter of great pleasure. 

He stressed that this journey would make them evolve into better players, and they would look forward to using their county experience in domestic and international cricket. He also sounded very hopeful of giving his best for Lancashire in the six matches he will play for them. 

"We have nine or ten players who are going to play this season, and I think that's a very good thing for us as a unit. We're going to get a lot of experience from here, and we'll put it into our domestic and international cricket," Hasan said. 

"I'm here for the first six games and I am going to get a lot of wickets for my team, Lancashire. Fingers crossed. Let's hope I will take wickets," the fiery fast bowler concluded.