David Leggat: Akmal's brilliant test debut signals birth of a superstar

In years to come, might the spectators who were sprinkled around University Oval think back on the day they saw the start of a test career for which the overused G word could genuinely be applied?

Those present on a sunny afternoon this week to watch Umar Akmal's brilliant 129 in his first test are entitled to wonder if the 19-year-old's first bow in the classic form of the international game is an accurate pointer to what could follow in the next 10 years or more.

There is something special about being there when greatness stands up for the first time. In Akmal's case, he has played 10 ODIs, where he averaged 44.42, and has already been talked of as the future of Pakistan batting. Thursday's performance merely rammed home his potential.

He is the 11th Pakistani to hit a century on test debut, the most recent his teammate in Dunedin, Fawad Alam, who hit 168 off Sri Lanka last July in Colombo. The most famous is Javed Miandad, whose career began with 163 off New Zealand at Lahore in 1976.

Miandad, undeniably great and undeniably one of cricket's most colourful characters - and make of that what you like - then hit a double century two tests later. His test average never dropped below 50, perhaps no surprise given his early output.

Cricket legend tells of the Australian opener Archie Jackson, only 19, who demolished a strong England attack for 164 at Adelaide Oval in 1929. Gifted from the gods, better than Bradman some of the contemporaries reckoned, but that could not be proved; Jackson died of tuberculosis within four years.

Fast forward to Australian heroes Doug Walters (155 at Brisbane against England in 1965) and Greg Chappell (108 at Perth, same opponents five years later), both touched by batting genius.

In 1972 Lawrence Rowe marked his entrance for the West Indies against New Zealand on his home ground in Jamaica with 214 and 100 not out.

A wonderful player and yet he was gone - temporarily - by the end of that five-test series, a sudden loss of form and confidence amid the fierce political divides of the Caribbean islands doing for him.

Only one batsman has scored centuries in his first three tests, India's Mohammad Azharuddin against England in 1984. Wrists of steel enabled the slender Azharuddin to whip the ball through the onside like no one else. He had a genius about him too - shame about the disgrace of being run out of the game amid the match-fixing scandals several years ago.

Not all careers have glittered after golden starts. Akmal might go that way, but right now you wouldn't bet on it.

The first test of this series has thrown up two real gems for Pakistan, Akmal and young left-armer Mohammad Aamer.

Aamer is 17 (although Pakistani sport can be a shade loose on the exact birthdates of its prodigies) and bowls at a pace sharp enough to have troubled New Zealand's best batsmen on a pitch the home team's quickest bowler, Shane Bond, described as flat. He also possesses a keen eye with the bat.

It's far too early to make comparisons with Pakistan's greatest left-armer, Wasim Akram, but the boy is certainly making a strong early impression.

In the same way, it is unfair to compare Akmal with Miandad.

Pakistan's coach Intikhab Alam, who played that test in Lahore with Miandad, then 19, steered clear of any such talk this week.

In any case, he said, Miandad was more an accumulator of runs and had an addiction to making big scores, whereas Akmal is an exciting shot-maker, a diligent worker at his game.

Greatness beckons, but can he grasp it?