Cricket-Pakistan's schoolboy seamer Naseem set to make Brisbane debut

Pakistan's 16-year-old seamer Naseem Shah will make his debut against Australia in Brisbane, the touring side's captain Azhar Ali said on Wednesday on the eve of the first test. The schoolboy cricketer from Lower Dir district on the Afghanistan border would eclipse former home captain Ian Craig as the youngest test debutant on Australian soil.

Craig took the field as a 17-year-old against South Africa in 1953, scoring a half-century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. "We are definitely looking to play him," Ali told reporters in Brisbane. "He's bowling really well. We'll announce the side tomorrow (Thursday) but he's definitely going to be part of it."

Naseem has only seven first class matches under his belt but could hardly ask for a better pitch for his first test outing, with the Gabba usually serving up a fast and bouncy wicket.