CRICKET
notorious circumstances after Kamran Akmal missed at
least four straightforward opportunities to get rid of Michael Hussey, much to the chagrin of Danish Kaneria.
The sting operation reported that Mazhar predicted Amir
would be bowling the third over in the fourth Test and
that the first ball of the over would be a no-ball delivery.
Amir did bowl the third over, and on his first delivery from
the over, bowled a no-ball, a good half a metre over the
line. Mazhar also predicted that the sixth delivery of the
10th over would be a no-ball, and that ball, delivered by
Asif, was also a ‘huge’ no-ball delivery. Punitive actions
were subsequently taken against Mazhar and the three
players in the aftermath of the controversy after prior
warning from Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan team manager
on the fateful tour, was not taken seriously by both
Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif and other players at
the start of the tour. It seems controversies are never far
away whenever Pakistan play in England. Some say the
notorious British media make it a habit to start a war of
attrition to shake up every touring team to the Old Blighty,
while rekindling postcolonial mentality of the so-called
elite echelon of cricketers the Englishmen claim they
are, particularly when playing the likes of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Somehow it is usually Pakistan who land themselves in unnecessary trouble. But sometime with a valid reason, too. Their
objection to appointment of controversial umpire David
Constant during the 1987 Test series was overruled by
the English authorities. Haseeb Ahsan, the outspoken
manager of that team, was specifically tasked to ‘teach’
the local media a harsh lesson. Even Imran Khan as
captain was very impressed by Haseeb’s handling of the
entire issue and started respecting the man more and
more. There is another story that Haseeb was seeking
an opportunity to settle old scores with the Englishmen
after his playing career was abruptly halted during Pakistan’s 1962 tour of England by allegations of the offspinner being a chucker. Ball-tampering allegations are
not new to Pakistan cricket. On the 1992 and 1996 tours
to England, the likes of legends Wasim Akram and
Waqar Younis were creating havoc in the English ranks
with the uncanny ability to make the ball swing in the
reverse direction. The deadly duo shared 43 wickets in
the 1992 series amidst accusations from former England players that they used unfair means to dismantle
the host team 2-1 in the five-match series. Remarkably,
if umpires from Pakistan are found wanting they are
swiftly dubbed as cheats by visiting teams, more so by
England. But what transpired in the 1987-88 series in
Pakistan was a ramification of the tour a few months
ago. There are many of us who have not forgotten how
England missed a great chance to level the series when
their battle-hardened skipper Mike Gatting and colourful
Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana got embroiled in an ugly
finger-pointing confrontation during the second Test at
Faisalabad as they hurled obscenities at each other.
Shakoor accused Gatting of cheating by adjusting the
field after informing the non-striking batsman, Salim Malik, just as spinner Eddie Hemmings was about to bowl.
As Hemmings began his run-up, Gatting motioned to
David Capel he had come far en