As England prepare to face Pakistan, we rewind 20 years to find Wasim and Waqar in their pomp.
As England prepare to face Pakistan, we rewind 20 years to find Wasim and Waqar in their pomp...
It is 20 years since a strong side led by Javed Miandad, and featuring Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in their pomp, arrived on English soil to lock horns with Graham Gooch's England outfit.
The 1992 summer series between England and Pakistan was played in the aftermath of the World Cup, in which the two sides had contested the Final at the MCG in front of 90,000 spectators.
After choosing to bat, old-stagers Imran Khan (72) and Javed Miandad (58) helped their side recover from a slow start to reach 249-6. Pakistan's attacking bowling soon left Gooch's side in a mess at 69-4 (Botham 0) and although England's batsman of the tournament Neil Fairbrother (62) and Allan Lamb (31) brought about something of a recovery, Man-of-the-Match Wasim Akram (3-49) and leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed (3-41) ensured Pakistan's first World Cup triumph by 22 runs. Imran Khan's 'cornered tigers' had given their country its finest cricketing moment.
Hopes
Eight weeks later Pakistan arrived in England led by Miandad, in the absence of Imran Khan due to injury (it turned out that the World Cup Final would be his final first class appearance). In a break with tradition, the Texaco Trophy one-day international series would be played in two chunks, at the start and end of the summer. Sizeable totals from England in the first two matches owed much to opener Alec Stewart (50 and 103), as the home side ran out easy winners.
Rain badly interrupted the First Test at Edgbaston - the first day was a complete washout and, on the second, only two balls were bowled. This led to controversy as the Test and County Cricket Board's rules stated that any play whatsoever negated the need for a refund - hence, 15,000 spectators received no compensation at all despite the paltry amount of cricket they had seen. In the remaining time, Phillip DeFreitas briefly raised English hopes, reducing Pakistan to 110-3 but a record fourth wicket stand of 322 between Miandad (153no), who scored his 23rd Test century, and Salim Malik (165) took the visitors to an imposing 446-4. Dropped catches and an attack shorn of a front line spinner did little to aid Gooch's side.
Nonetheless, they were never in any danger, thanks primarily to a fourth Test century (and his highest Test score) from opener and Man of the Match Alec Stewart (190), and a seventh Test century from Robin Smith (127). England's eventual 459-7 when time ran out meant a match total of 902 runs for 11 wickets.
Tight
Conversely, the Second Test at Lord's turned out to be a classic, low-scoring contest.
Crucially, Pakistan's attack at last included both Wasim Akram (who had missed the First Test with shin trouble) and Waqar Younis (recovered from the stress fracture that had kept him out of the World Cup).
Having won the toss, Gooch and Stewart initially progressed without alarm, adding 123 for the first wicket before Gooch (69) played onto his stumps off Wasim. With Hick (13) and Robin Smith (9) also going cheaply and Stewart (74) falling to part-time spinner Asif Mujtaba, the innings was in the balance at 197-4. However, Waqar cleaned up the lower middle-order in a spell of 4-17 in 40 balls, his swinging yorkers proving too much for Botham (2), Lewis (2), Lamb (30) and DeFreitas (3) to handle. Waqar's figures of 5-91 left England all out for a poor-looking 255.
Pakistan's reply was halted by intermittent rain but, in only his second Test, left handed opener Aamir Sohail (73) played freely at the top of the order to give his side hope of gaining a decent first innings lead. Despite Ian Salisbury taking the illustrious first Test wicket of Javed Miandad (9), thanks to a fine slip catch from Botham, half-centuries from Asif Mujtaba and Salim Malik took Pakistan to the relative comfort of 228-3. The recalled Devon Malcolm (4-70) then tore through the middle order, dismissing Asif Mujtaba (59), Inzamam (0) and Salim Malik (55) in 13 balls, as Pakistan's eventual lead was restricted to only 38 runs.
Gooch and Stewart wiped out the deficit on the third evening before the former was trapped LBW by Aaqib Javed for 17. A tight match entered what would be a dramatic fourth day but any hopes England had of setting a testing last innings target soon evaporated, as Mushtaq Ahmed claimed the wickets of Hick (11), Smith (8) and Lamb (12) to leave the score a perilous 137-5.
Waqar again yorked Botham (6) in what would be the all-rounder's final Test innings and, with Wasim (4-66) finding prodigious late movement at pace to take the final three wickets in four balls, England were bowled out for just 175. The continuing form of Alec Stewart (69*) was the one shining light, as he became the first Englishman to carry his bat in a Test at Lord's.
A target of 138 for Pakistan appeared inadequate but an inspired new ball spell from Chris Lewis reduced them to 18-3, accounting for Ramiz Raja, Mujtaba and Javed Miandad, all for ducks. When Salisbury's turn and bounce saw the end of Saleem Malik (12), the visitors were 41-4. Although Botham and DeFreitas were both unfit to bowl, England's three remaining bowlers kept on taking wickets and, with Inzamam (8) being run out, Pakistan were reduced to 95-8, seemingly on the verge of defeat.
Enter Wasim (45*) and Waqar (20*). Having bowled Pakistan into a winning position, their attacking batting carried the visitors to a nail-biting two-wicket victory in the dying moments of day four. Fittingly, it was Man of the Match Wasim's cover drive off Salisbury that sealed the match.
Altercation
For the Third Test at Old Trafford, the England selectors chose to bolster their suspect batting, dropping Botham and Lamb (neither would play in a Test again) in place of Michael Atherton and David Gower, despite previous criticisms from Gooch about the left-hander's attitude. It would be Gower's 115th Test (then an England record, passing Colin Cowdrey). Warwickshire seamer Tim Munton would make his debut in place of the injured DeFreitas.
England were soon in trouble again as, on a fast and true pitch, Sohail and Ramiz Raja put on a rapid century stand. Although Ramiz Raja (54) was unluckily given out caught behind off Malcolm, Sohail made his first Test century from just 127 balls, as he put on another century with the more measured Asif Mujtaba (57). England's agony continued with Miandad atoning for a poor match at Lord's by hitting five successive boundaries off Ian Salisbury. Meanwhile Sohail continued on, to reach an imposing double-century. Even the loss of the left-hander shortly before stumps for 205 couldn't detract from a fine day in which Pakistan had reached 388-3.
With the second day being washed out, England's bowlers took advantage of cloudy conditions on day three to regain some semblance of control. Munton took his first Test wicket when he had Miandad (88) caught at slip but the real surprise was the effective medium pace of Gooch (3-39), who found swing, to record his best Test figures, as Pakistan declared on 505-9.
Poor light and rain hindered the start of England's innings but not as much as a fired-up Wasim, who dismissed both Stewart (15) and Atherton (0) with balls slanted across them at considerable pace. It could have been worse but for two dropped slip catches offered by Gooch. The reprieves allowed England to close in relative comfort at 72-2.
The Test was the only one in the summer that featured a rest day to avoid a clash with the Men's Final at Wimbledon (in which Andre Agassi defeated Goran Ivanisevic).
When play resumed on the Monday morning, the sunny conditions were altogether less menacing and once Smith (11) had fallen LBW to Aaqib Javed, there was a standing ovation for Gower, who needed just 34 runs to overtake Geoff Boycott's record England aggregate of 8,114 Test runs. His returning innings would be typical Gower; a first-ball steer down through the slips to the boundary, a cover-drive for four, a missed chance to slip via a back-foot drive and, the coup de grace, a vintage cover drive to take him past Boycott's record.
Gooch (78) finally fell caught down the leg-side off Waqar and, with Gower (73) slashing Wasim to the keeper after a highly entertaining innings, the hosts were suddenly 200-5. Failures by Hick (22) and Russell (4) left them potentially facing the follow-on at 256-7 but, with time starting to run out, Pakistan were left frustrated by a lower order that, in the shape of Lewis (55) and Salisbury (50), for once fired.
No doubt their irritation contributed to an unseemly incident between Pakistan captain Javed Miandad, Aaqib Javed and Umpire Roy Palmer. The umpire warned Aaqib for intimidatory bowling at tail-ender Devon Malcolm and the pace bowler then took exception to the way in which Palmer returned his sweater, prompting an angry intervention from Miandad. In the event, Aaqib was fined half his match fee by match referee Conrad Hunte. This altercation was the main talking point of a match that petered out once England had reached the relative comfort of 390 all out.
Pakistan batted through the final day reaching 239-5 with Ramiz Raja (88) the mainstay of the batting and Graham Gooch again England's best bowler (2 for 30).
Enthralling
The lively Headingley pitch on offer for the fourth Test was always liked to provide England's limited bowling resources with their best chance of taking 20 wickets, and the selectors gambled by asking Alec Stewart to keep wicket and choosing an all-seam attack, including a first cap for the 30 year old Somerset fast-medium bowler Neil Mallender, alongside Lewis, Munton and Derek Pringle.
On a sluggish pitch, Pakistan struggled, losing Sohail (23) and Mujtaba (7) to Mallender, and the medium pace of Pringle accounted for Rameez (17) and Miandad (6) to leave the visitors on 68-4. Apart from Saleem Malik (82*), the rest of the innings fell away with Graeme Hick taking four slip catches in a total of 197 all out.
Brighter conditions on the second day meant the ball swung less and allowed the reunited opening partnership of Gooch and Atherton to assert control. In the Headingley Test a year earlier, Gooch's unbeaten 154 in a low scoring contest had almost single-handedly given England victory over the mighty West Indies. This time round his innings was almost as important as he added 168 with Atherton (76) before a Wasim delivery kept low and bowled the Lancashire batsman. With a dominant approach against the leg-spin of Mushtaq Ahmed, Gooch took his side into the lead, in the process bringing up his 17th Test century and his first against Pakistan.
Smith (42) provided useful support but the loss of Gooch, bowled through the gate by Mushtaq for 135, led to another Lord's-style batting collapse as England lost their last seven wickets for just 22 runs. Waqar's in-swinging yorkers again proved all too difficult for the lower middle-order and tail, as he produced a devastating spell of 5-13 to end the innings and leave Gower stranded on 18 not out. Nonetheless, England's total of 320, almost entirely due to the top order, had still given them a significant lead of 123 runs.
It soon appeared more than enough as the Pakistan top order again failed against Mallender, his movement dismissing Sohail (1), Mujtaba (11) and Miandad (4), to leave the score 64-3. Raja (63) continued his good series before carelessly flicking Tim Munton to square-leg. Once more the visitors were indebted to Saleem Malik (84*) as the rest of the batting order contributed little against the English seamers. Pakistan's total was restricted to 221 all out, a lead of just 99 runs, primarily thanks to Mallender (5-50) and Pringle (3-66).
Initially, England were very lucky as a clear run out of Gooch was given in the batsman's favour. Nonetheless, the captain lost Atherton (5) and Smith (0), both to Waqar, as their target suddenly began to look a long way off. When Mushtaq saw the back of Gooch (37) and Stewart (2), England were 65-4, with memories of their dramatic earlier collapses in the series very much to the fore. Again Gower (31no) was resolute; in two hours at the crease, together with Mark Ramprakash (12no), he saw England through to a tense victory which levelled the series, as the team's headed to the Oval for the final Test of an enthralling contest.
Unbelievable
On what was expected to be a flat pitch, the England selectors recalled Malcolm and Tufnell, whilst Pakistan dropped Inzamam Ul-Haq, who had disappointed in his first Test series, in place of the experienced Shoaib Mohammad.
England won what seemed an important toss and Gooch, together with Stewart (once more reinstated to open, despite Atherton's success in the role at Leeds) set about resisting Pakistan's pace bowlers.
Gooch (20) fell to Aaqib Javed and, after some fine attacking shots, Stewart (31), was caught at fine leg, mis-hooking Wasim as England reached 57 for 2. With Smith (33) being bowled by Mushtaq, Atherton and Gower looked to have set the home side up for a respectable total as they reached 182-3. Gower (27) unluckily chopped Aaqib onto his stumps, the cue for yet another unbelievable batting collapse.
Wasim Akram (6-67) again found significant in-swing at pace to dislodge Ramprakash (2), Lewis (4), Pringle (1), Mallender (1) and Malcolm (2). All the while England's only resistance was Mike Atherton (60), who eventually fell to Waqar, but a total of 207 all out on a blameless pitch owed everything to the quality and enterprise of Pakistan's attack.
Pakistan's reply was notable for the number of starts that were not converted into big scores but nevertheless half-centuries from Shoaib Mohammad (55), Miandad (59), Asif Mujtaba (50) and new wicketkeeper Rashid Latif (50) took the visitors to a lead of 173 runs, a position that could have been much stronger but for the efforts of Devon Malcolm (5 for 94).
In England's second innings, it was Waqar's turn to cause havoc, this time with the new ball, as he accounted for Stewart (8), Atherton (4) and Gooch (24). By the time Gower (1) shouldered arms and lost his off-stump in what would be his final Test innings, England were a parlous 59-4. Despite a typically pugnacious effort from Robin Smith (84*), Waqar (5 for 52) and Wasim (3-36) took the last five England wickets for just 21 runs as England were dismissed for 174, a lead of 1 run. Sohail square cut Ramprakash for four to give the visitors a 10-wicket victory and a 2-1 series victory on the fourth morning.
Mammoth
Imran's record of 21 wickets in a Test series in England, achieved in 1987, had been equaled by Wasim and broken by Waqar, with 22 wickets. Their ability to reverse swing the old ball to devastating effect had been the defining factor in Pakistan's triumph and they deservedly shared the Pakistan Man of the Series award.
With ball tampering allegations against Pakistan rife in the media, the two teams still had to complete the one-day Texaco Trophy series which had begun at the start of the summer. England reverted to their tried and tested limited overs specialists and, in the third match at Trent Bridge, duly racked up their then highest limited over score (363-7) with runs from Smith (77), Fairbrother (62) and Hick (63), as they won by the mammoth margin of 198 runs.
The fourth ODI at Lord's turned out to be a classic contest on the field (Pakistan defended a modest looking 204 by bowling England out for 201) but remains even more memorable for events off it. After play, it was revealed that the umpires had found it necessary to change the ball during England's innings. The implication was ball tampering but Pakistan argued it was merely out of shape. The ball was never made available for public inspection and the ICC duly closed the matter a few days later.
In the final match at Old Trafford, England stretched their victory margin to 4-1 with a comprehensive six wicket victory. Chasing 255, Gooch (45) and Stewart (51) provided the platform, before Robin Smith (85no) and Graeme Hick (42no) took England home, at the end of a controversial tour that is still memorable nearly 20 years later.
