Figure 12 On-field camaraderie – Inzamam and Anil Kumble walk back arm in arm at the close of play after a brief spat on the field – Lahore Test, April 2004.
CHAPTER 10
2006 – THE FATEFUL YEAR
Returning now to the cricketing narrative, the year 2005 had ended on a high note. Pakistan were ready to enter the last year before the World Cup on a rising graph of performance, stability and continuity in the team, its management and relative cohesion. However, 2006 was to prove a fateful year that led to my resignation being accepted three months before my term ended. The year ended with Woolmer’s tragic death.
In early 2006 India’s second tour of Pakistan was eagerly awaited on both sides of the border. The two earlier series had been contested with immense enthusiasm, both teams playing the game in the best spirit watched by sporting crowds with no trace of rancour. The 2004 India–Pakistan series was acclaimed the friendship series after the luminous public relations glow that it generated.
For the 2006 series I had directed the chief curator to prepare true, bouncy pitches that would produce lively cricket. Unfortunately, the weather in the preceding winter months had been unusually cold and rainy so that the pitches could not be baked in the sun. I had been assured by the chief curator that we did not, as last time, require the services of Andy Atkinson as he felt confident that our ground staff could produce the desired results. Regrettably, this claim failed to materialize, except for the Test in Karachi.
In the PCB we were better prepared to organize the series so that accommodation, visas, security, media reception, tickets and hospitality were well in hand before the tour began. There were no major glitches before the tour even though the BCCI – under its new administration – raised objections to playing in Karachi, but we referred them to the Indian manager’s public announcement after the 2004 visit to Karachi that next time India would play a Test in Karachi. Thanks to Sharad Pawar and Raj Singh Dungarpur’s support, the BCCI relented and agreed to play a Test and an ODI in Karachi. This time the Test series preceded the ODIs.
The first two Tests were dull matches played on lifeless pitches providing no help to the bowlers, fast or slow. Only eight wickets fell in five days of cricket at Lahore. Faisalabad was as bad with centuries flowing from the batsmen of both teams.
I was extremely annoyed with the chief curator and the curators of the Lahore and Faisalabad stadiums for not heeding my orders of preparing fast, bouncy wickets. Their excuse was that the inclement weather had prevented them doing so. I wished I had asked Andy Atkinson to come out again but my cricketing advisers, the Director of Cricketing Operations and the chief curator, had advised me against it. I then appointed Hanif Mohammad who was known in cricketing circles as the finest expert on pitches to help reverse the trend for the last Test in Karachi.
For the Third Test, in contrast to the two earlier matches, Karachi provided an excellent pitch on which grass had been left to produce a positive result. In fact, the Karachi Test provided an extraordinary turn-around with Pakistan emerging winners after being six wickets down for 39 runs in the first innings. Winning the toss, India inserted Pakistan and in a sensational start reaped immediate reward for their decision. In his first over, Irfan Pathan achieved a hat-trick and had Salman Butt, Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf back in the pavilion. Pathan had taken three wickets for no runs. Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal and Shahid Afridi soon joined the trio with the match virtually written off. Then Kamran Akmal and Razzaq, the heroes of Mohali, engaged in another rearguard stand, and with the help of Shoaib Akhtar reached a respectable total of 245. In India’s first innings Mohammad Asif, Pakistan’s new find as an opening bowler, blasted out the opening batsmen, with the spinners completing the job by bowling India out for 238. In their second innings all seven Pakistani batsmen made more than 50 with Faisal Iqbal outstanding in making his maiden Test century. Yousuf and Razzaq made 90s before Pakistan declared at 599 for 7. India then subsided to the Pakistan bowlers with Asif again prominently announcing himself as a leading find.
Pakistan’s series win against India provided a boost for national morale and of course to our cricketers. There were better crowds for the Test matches, strongly supported by students who were given special facilities like buses and packed lunches.
In the ODI series that India surprisingly won 4–1, India recovered some of its prestige. At Peshawar, the only ODI that Pakistan won, a bizarre incident took place, which led to Inzamam’s dismissal for obstructing the field.
An Indian fielder, noting Inzamam straying from the crease, hurled the ball at the wicket. Inzamam, who had in the England series been given run out when avoiding such a throw, this time hit the throw with his bat and was rightly given out for obstruction. Inzamam was both furious and confused by the decision and made the highly comic comment: ‘I am given out against England when avoiding a throw aimed at me. This time I hit the ball when the throw is again aimed at me, I am still given out. I don’t get it!’ Anyway, since Pakistan won the match there were no further repercussions of the incident that has since passed into cricket folklore.
The friendship series was another cricketing public relations success without the tension and hype associated with the 2004 contest. There was not a single incident on or off the field. Typical of the spirit between the two teams was when Kumble flung the ball into the wicket narrowly missing Inzamam. The two players glared at each other and perhaps exchanged a few hot words. At the close of play Inzamam and Kumble walked back to the dressing room arm in arm.
Figure 12 On-field camaraderie – Inzamam and Anil Kumble walk back arm in arm at the close of play after a brief spat on the field – Lahore Test, April 2004.
Figure 13 President Bush asks Inzamam and Salman Butt: ‘When can a team change the new ball?’
Pakistan’s series win in the Tests boosted its international standing in the ICC ranking to second. India’s easy win in the ODI series was a compensating gain for them. Having defeated England and now India, Pakistan was riding on a crest of a wave, full of confidence, unity and spirit.
The fact that cricket is a vital element of Pakistan’s ethos was recognized by a non-cricketing country – the USA – when it decided that as a public relations coup President Bush needed to be seen interacting with cricket during his official visit to Pakistan in March 2006.
On 7 March 2006, President George W. Bush arrived on an official visit to Islamabad. I am not a statistician and stand to be corrected but President Bush was probably the first US President to actually play cricket, albeit with a tennis ball! In 1959, President Eisenhower watched a Test match in Karachi, and George Washington once posed with a cricket bat, but I doubt if any American President has actually batted and bowled in a cricket net. It was, therefore, a momentous event in the long history of cricket when President George W. Bush engaged in a cricket experience in Islamabad on that day, and as I was a personal witness, I feel that posterity demands that I record the proceedings in some detail. Long after the turgid minutiae of joint communiqués, nuclear non-events and compacts on terrorism have been buried in obscurity, President George W. Bush’s historic step into the cricketing arena could shine like a beacon forever.
It all began three days before President Bush’s official visit to Pakistan, with a telephone call from a US Embassy official in Islamabad enquiring if I could help organize a short interaction with cricket for President Bush during his visit. Could I also bring along a few national stars? For security reasons, the event would be organized on the Embassy lawns where local schoolchildren would participate in a net session. I immediately checked with the Foreign Secretary who gave me the all clear to cooperate with the Embassy. It was obvious that the cricket event had been scheduled at the 11th hour at the initiative of the Presidential entourage as a photo opportunity for the US President, who would be seen to engage in a sport that has a fanatical following in South Asia. I then asked Inzamam, Younus Khan and Salman Butt to accompany me to Islamabad as other national stars were engaged in the T20 finals in Karachi.
Two days before the visit, an American diplomat was killed in a terrorist attack in Karachi and I was asked, on 6 March, to put the cricket net on hold. Then at 4pm, the green light was given and we began our slightly hazardous journey to Islamabad on the day of an aggressive wheel jam strike called by the Opposition. We were to meet at the US Embassy at noon for a rehearsal and again at around 5pm when the US President would attend the schoolboys’ net. Inzi and Salman joined me from Lahore but Younus, travelling from the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), was stopped by security at Attock Bridge and had to return home to Mardan.
A rather amusing rehearsal was held at noon on the Embassy lawns, where a young red-haired State Department official who did not have the first idea of cricket rehearsed our respective roles.
‘You Mr Commissioner’, as he addressed me, ‘will stand here and brief the President for about three minutes on the laws of cricket’. ‘The best I can do in three minutes’, I replied, ‘is to summarize the differences and similarities between baseball and cricket’. ‘OK, fine. Captain Inzamam will stand there with the students and you Mr Commissioner will introduce him to the President. Salman Butt will stand there at the bottom of the net’, he explained to the three of us, adding bushy-tailed, ‘aren’t you guys excited?’
I remained impassive while Inzamam gave his famous vacant stare. Salman looked bemused. A few more instructions were conveyed to us by the State Department official on how the President would interact with the schoolboys while repeating his earlier comment: ‘Aren’t you guys excited?’ A comment he repeated three times during the rehearsal to deadpan faces. He treated us like a bunch of English schoolgirls awaiting royalty.
After a five-hour wait during which the lawns, the schoolchildren and the three of us were thoroughly security checked by metal detectors, sniffer dogs and various other gadgets, we were paraded to our appointed positions while the 20–25 schoolboys and a few girls began their net.
At 5:15pm the Presidential media party lined themselves on the perimeter of the playing arena, somewhere between square leg and mid-wicket. It was a sign that the President was about to arrive. I then saw in the distance the Presidential group approaching the net like a swarm of bees. President George W. Bush was in trousers and a blue shirt with sleeves rolled up. Mrs Laura Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Ambassador Crocker and security personnel accompanied the President but stood back at the top of the slope. As often happens in carefully planned rehearsals, the President did not follow his cue, and instead of walking down the curved path where Inzi and I awaited him, he bounded straight down the grassy slope through the bushes and trees leaving Inzi and I waiting at our appointed positions. Halfway down the slope, he came across the winsome headmistress of the Islamabad Model School and gave her a bear-hug from behind. Fearing that the breakdown in the rehearsal might lead to chaos, Inzi and I broke ranks and dashed over to the President who was talking to the slightly bewildered headmistress.
I introduced myself to the President and began my three-minute introduction to cricket. I told the President that cricket’s similarity with baseball was that in both sports ‘the batter’ struck the ball to collect runs, except that in cricket the batter ran up and down while in baseball he careered round a diamond-shaped quadrangle. In both sports, the batter could gain bonus runs by hitting the ball out of the field. In both sports the batter could be caught by a fieldsman and run-out if he did not reach base. The main difference from baseball was that the ‘pitcher’ threw the ball full toss at the batter, while in cricket he was not allowed to throw the ball but to bowl it. Unlike baseball, the bowler bounced the ball on the pitch on its way to the batter, hence the importance of the pace and texture of the pitch. Moreover, in cricket play, was possible behind the batsman, while in baseball, play could take place only in front of the batter.
Figure 14 President Bush with students (boys and girls) of the Islamabad Model School after their net on the Embassy lawns. The US President batted and bowled with a tennis ball. The headmistress stands on the right.
Halfway through my three-minute introduction, the President bellowed to the gathered media: ‘Listen you guys, the Commissioner is explaining to me the differences between baseball and cricket.’ After my brief introduction, I introduced Inzamam as the national team captain adding that he was one of the finest batsmen in the world. President Bush asked Inzi which was the best team in world cricket. ‘Australia’, replied Inzi, ‘but Pakistan is also a good team. We have recently defeated England and India’. I interjected that even Australian commentators felt that Pakistan posed the greatest threat to their supremacy. I added that cricket was a great unifying force in Pakistan as rich and poor, young and old were fanatical followers of the game. The recent series with India had led to a mega-burst of goodwill at the public level and had created a positive benchmark in political relations between the neighbouring countries.
President Bush, having listened attentively to our comments, then waded into the schoolchildren playing in the net. He engaged the youngsters in a warm and friendly banter that put them at ease as he sought their comments on how the game was played. Then the US President walked down to the wicket and after Salman Butt had given him a brief lesson on the correct stance, President Bush faced his first ball from a net bowler. We held our breath but the President struck the tennis ball with a straight bat, lofting it in the direction of mid-off to relieved applause from the schoolkids. The next ball was firmly struck in the direction of cover-point but the third ball was a spinner that bounced high, striking the US President on the shoulder at which the bemused batsman asked ‘was that a googly?’ The President was obviously enjoying his batting stint and hit the next ball for a straight six. There was loud applause and a wide grin from President Bush. He played a few more balls and then moving to the bowlers’ end, began bowling to Salman Butt. He was certainly ‘bowling’ the deliveries and most of them were straight on target, while a few landed in the side netting. The President’s batting and bowling stint lasted about 15 minutes and President Bush thoroughly enjoyed himself in the net. He then had a long chat with the schoolchildren without interference from us or from security. He was extremely warm and gracious with the students and ended the cricket encounter by autographing each and every youngster’s shirt with a felt pen.
President Bush then rejoined Inzi, Salman and I, and asked some pertinent questions, clearly indicating that he was a sportsman and an active baseball player. Looking at the new cricket ball in my hand, he asked: ‘what happens when the shine goes off?’ Inzi explained that the new ball swung readily in the air and was used by the faster swing bowlers. After the new ball lost it shine, the spin bowlers used the old ball more effectively. He asked: ‘When do you change the new ball or do you play with one ball throughout the innings?’ Inzi replied that a new ball was due after 80 overs. ‘Does not the bowler get tired bowling for so long?’, asked the President. I replied that it was the captain’s decision when to rest a bowler and replace him with another. Slow, spin bowlers could bowl longer stints than the fast bowlers who used up more energy. Taking the new ball in his hand, President Bush enquired: ‘do you wear gloves when fielding?’ Inzi replied that only the wicketkeeper wore gloves, the remaining players fielded barehanded. I asked Salman to open the palm of his hand and showing it to the President explained that through intensive fielding and catching practice, the palms had become hard. ‘These players could catch cannon balls’, I added.
President Bush then enquired how long an innings lasted because it seemed that a batsman could play for as long as he liked. I told the President that the team captain needed to declare an innings closed so that he could ‘bowl out’ the opposing team in an attempt to win the match within the agreed time-frame. President Bush then enquired if there was a World Championship and whether a US team participated. I replied that a World Cup was held every four years with the senior Test-playing countries participating alongside six qualifying associate members. The USA was an associate member but was not strong enough yet to qualify for the next World Cup, which was to be held in the West Indies early the following year. Given support from the government, the USA had the potential from its Caribbean, South Asian and Commonwealth residents to prepare a strong US team in the future.
So ended the 40-minute cricket encounter in which the US President had a net with the schoolchildren. One last gesture from President Bush showed his appreciation. Halfway back up the slope, he noticed the banner of the Islamabad Model School welcoming him. President Bush walked all the way down and autographed the banner before bidding farewell to the children.
The Test series win for Pakistan against India had been satisfying; only the 4–1 ODI series loss had taken the shine off Pakistan’s success. Mohammad Asif had been the find of the recent series and Shoaib Malik had batted with discipline and composure. Pakistan’s improved fielding, discipline and team spirit had seen it climb the international ratings to second (Tests) and third (ODIs) where Australia reigned supreme. The Sri Lanka tour was to be the final test for Pakistan’s strength especially as, at home, Sri Lanka were always redoubtable opponents. Inzamam had been appointed captain for the whole year and was virtually confirmed as the team leader for the World Cup. Shoaib Akhtar was not included in the squad as he had failed to pass fitness tests after a spate of injuries.
In the First Test at Colombo, Pakistan held out for a tense draw in a rain-affected match. Pakistan then went on to win the Second Test at Kandy, thanks to superb seam bowling by Asif and Razzaq. Pakistan thus notched up its second series win of 2006.
Pakistan went on to win the three-match one-day series 2–0 with the first match being washed out. So far, 2006 had seen Pakistan climb the international ladder. Even the guns of our traditional opponents were silent as we approached the series against England.
Bob Woolmer considered the Pakistan tour of England to be crucial not only for team morale but because it was the last important series before the World Cup. All loose ends needed to be tied up, including the final squad, management and coach–player relations.
During the winter season, I had prevailed on the selectors to include Mushtaq Ahmed as assistant coach to Woolmer. Mushtaq had been the toast of English cricket because he had, almost single-handed, won the county championship for Sussex and had taken over 100 wickets in the season. Mushtaq was a jolly, ebullient sole who was a born again Muslim sporting a thick beard. My reasoning for including Mushtaq in the squad was primarily because Woolmer had come to appreciate his contribution to player management. He was a highly respected cricketer and had an excellent relationship with the players, especially with Inzamam. Bob Woolmer had great regard for Haroon Rashid the former manager because the players respected him and Haroon helped Woolmer organize the nets and cricket practices. In fact, Haroon Rashid acted as a bridge for Woolmer in covering the cultural gap between the coach and players.
After Haroon Rashid’s tenure as manager had been terminated following the Australia tour, Bob had felt the need for a wise and mature cricketer to play this bridging role. Unfortunately, Haroon’s successor as manager, Salim Altaf, had a poor, grating relationship with Bob, so the need of a wise moderator became all the more urgent. Mushtaq filled this vacuum perfectly and his presence among the players was of immense help to Woolmer.
My second reason for having Mushtaq around was that even though he was in his mid-30s, his extraordinary success in the English county championship merited that he should be considered as a second spinner in the squad, not necessarily as a replacement for Kaneria but as a second top-grade spinner, in the mould of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill who sometimes played in tandem for Australia. Pakistan had not seen the emergence of a good second spinner since Saqlain Mushtaq’s loss of form, with neither Shoaib Malik nor Arshad Khan assuming the role of a wicket-taking spinner. I accepted the view that Mushtaq would not be required for the World Cup but I considered winning Test matches equally important, for which Mushtaq’s credentials could not be doubted.
My reasoning fell on deaf ears with the selectors, coach and captain. Contrary to media opinion that saw Mushtaq’s engagement influenced by Inzamam – his friend and Tableeghi companion – it was the conservative captain who was disinclined to include Mushtaq in the playing squad but was enthusiastic at his role as assistant manager and bowling coach. Inzamam maintained that including Mushtaq as a player would undermine Kaneria’s confidence and would unnerve a key player. Inzi probably insisted on protecting Kaneria and was supported by Wasim Bari and Bob Woolmer, so Mushtaq was retained not as a player but as assistant manager/coach. As a matter of principle, I did not interfere in selection matters and did not press my point, though I still feel that Mushtaq’s inclusion as an attacking bowler was justified.
Secondly, Waqar Younis was engaged as a bowling coach to the team, this time at the behest of Inzamam. Before appointing him I consulted Bob Woolmer who was not enthusiastic but did not raise any objection, particularly if it helped smooth relations with Inzamam. Waqar was engaged on the clear understanding that he would train the faster bowlers in pre-series camps and would accompany the team for part of its foreign tours, in the mould of Troy Cooley, the Australian bowling coach hired by England who rarely accompanied the England touring party. In the early period, Woolmer found Waqar’s presence helpful as he assisted him in taking practice and supervised the bowlers efficiently. Later, misunderstandings developed between the two but not at a critical level.
Another issue was the appointment of a manager for the team. Salim Altaf had filled in this role after Haroon Rashid’s termination, which meant that he was away for long periods from his appointed position as Director of Cricket Operations. Salim was keen to resume his official duties as Director of Cricket Operations and preferred to be released from the role of manager. In any case his stint as manager had not been an outstanding success with the players and especially with the coach. My first preference for the role of manager for the England tour was senior civil servant Shahid Rafi and alternatively another secretary to government, Aslam Sanjrani. Signals from the presidency indicated, however, that neither of these two senior civil servants would be spared so I turned to Majid Khan’s brother – Asad Jehangir Khan – an Oxford Blue and senior police officer. He too declined. Meanwhile, Zaheer Abbas, the famous batsman and current columnist, was appointed manager for the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka from which he emerged with credit, even though Inzamam seemed to doubt his capabilities in critical situations. Salim Altaf proposed Talat Ali, his former PIA colleague and Test opener, but I felt that Talat should first gain experience by managing an under-19 or ‘A’ team tour before his appointment as manager of the national squad. Eventually, the matter was debated in the ad hoc committee and though Salim Altaf pressed Talat Ali’s credentials, the committee preferred Zaheer Abbas on the grounds of his cricketing fame, his affable personality and for being a member of the journalist’s community.
One last factor before proceeding on the tour of England was Bob Woolmer’s proposal that he would, for a reasonable fee, seek the coaching skills of Alan Knott and John Snow – perhaps for a couple of days each – to give specialized coaching advice to our team before they started on the Tests. I agreed. Earlier in June, I had engaged Jonty Rhodes for a one-week fielding coaching work out because, despite our recent success at home and in Sri Lanka, our fielding had not shown the desired improvement. Bob Woolmer did not agree with me and felt the overall standard of fielding by our team had been improving, but after discussing the issue with some Test cricketers, it was apparent that though improved, our fielding had reached a plateau from which it needed to raise their levels.
Jonty Rhodes, a supremely committed man, arrived in Lahore in the intense heat of June for a week’s coaching stint. He decided to divide coaching of the squad in groups of four, giving each group 90 minutes of intensive personalized coaching. From 10am to dusk, I could see Jonty Rhodes from my window giving 150 per cent of his expertise to the players in the burning heat. While the groups practised, four at a time, in imbibing Jonty Rhodes’s expertise, Jonty himself was out in the field all day with succeeding groups and returned every evening covered in dust and bathed in perspiration. I deeply admired Jonty’s commitment and at the end of the day would ask the players if they had benefited from his coaching. They, especially the young ones like Salman Butt and Imran Farhat, reported that the fielding experience had been unique and highly rewarding. Alas, Inzamam had a cold and did not attend any of Jonty Rhodes’s sessions. Yousuf and Razzaq were clearly laggards and Shoaib was still nursing an injury. I could not help feeling that the commitment of the seniors was not exemplary for the juniors.
Cricketing relations between Pakistan and England had turned the corner in the 2005 series. The recriminations of the past had been buried, and cricketing ties restored between Pakistani and English players and public. Unlike the past, the British press adopted a sympathetic and friendly attitude towards the Pakistan team, reflecting the goodwill generated in the earlier series.
The first port of call for the Pakistan team was a visit to Glasgow to play a one-day match against Scotland. Unfortunately, the cold and sleety weather prevented practice, so the ODI against Scotland was played in front of a sparse crowd, with frequent weather interruptions. The players were also grumpy because their hotel was uncomfortable and they could not wait to move down south to England. When they arrived in Kent, in contrast to Scotland, England was engulfed in a heatwave. Once again there were complaints about hotel conditions as players and their families found it difficult to sleep without air conditioning. Player management relations deteriorated further when Inzamam refused to allow his team members to be routinely photographed by the tour sponsors, and raised objections to Knott and Snow providing coaching tips at practice that Woolmer had arranged and organized with his former colleagues. At Canterbury, Inzamam cancelled a practice session that Woolmer had organized and it was obvious that Inzamam was engaging in one of his periodic sulks with Woolmer. I sensed a rift between Woolmer and Inzamam with senior players supporting Inzamam. Player power was beginning to rear its head.
Strident religiosity was also affecting the performance of the players. Normally, Pakistan cricketers on tour are left to decide for themselves whether or not they say their prayers at the appointed time or not at all. In my two stints as manager I noted that players usually said their Friday prayers jointly. The more religiously inclined players would say their prayers regularly, sometimes jointly with others and sometimes on their own. After Inzamam’s stewardship of the team, growing religiosity meant most players felt obliged to follow the captain’s example by offering their prayers jointly and at the prescribed time. This meant that in an English summer, the morning (Fajr) prayer, which has to be performed before first light, meant getting up at around 3am for the community prayer. Sleep was interrupted as the more religiously inclined cricketers woke up their colleagues around 3am to prepare for the joint prayer. This meant loss of vital sleep and energy.
I had proceeded to London to attend the Annual ICC meeting and had decided to take my annual month’s leave watching cricket. This tension between the captain, coach and management was a source of concern to me, and I spoke to Bob Woolmer, Inzamam and Zaheer Abbas with a view to diffusing these minor issues that appeared to be due to miscommunication. Inzamam appeared intent on assuming total control of the team and I noted that the overt religiosity in the team had increased, with team members attending local Tableeghi sessions at mosques in London, Manchester and Leeds.
Pakistan therefore approached the First Test at Lords slightly undercooked and they proceeded to drop six catches in England’s first innings, four of them by the unfortunate Imran Farhat. Despite creditable bowling by Pakistan’s seamers, their fielding lapses saw England build up a huge total of 528 with centuries from Collingwood, Bell and Cook.
Despite losing the usual early wickets, Pakistan responded with a total of 445, with Mohammad Yousuf making a sublime double century and Inzamam scoring his fifth consecutive Test half-century. In their second innings England scored 296–8 declared with Captain Strauss scoring a fine century. Pakistan saved the match comfortably with Inzamam making yet another 50 against England.
On a fast wicket at Old Trafford for the Second Test, Pakistan were blasted out for 119 by a fearsome spell of fast bowling by Harmison with only Younus Khan 44 resisting the onslaught. England went in and built up an impressive score of 461, Cook and Bell repeating their centuries at Lords and showing that the wicket was playing fast and true. In Pakistan’s second innings Harmison intimidated the Pakistan batsman with sustained hostile bowling and had them all out for 222, giving England an innings victory. Some of the Pakistan batsmen were seen retreating to square leg in the face of Harmison’s short-pitched fast bowling.
After Pakistan’s pusillanimous performance at Old Trafford, I sensed that all was not well in the Pakistan camp. Woolmer was unhappy at the truculent attitude of the captain and the senior players. Zaheer Abbas was at loggerheads with both captain and coach having lost control of discipline in the team. My suspicions were confirmed when for the county match against Northamptonshire two senior players – Yousuf and Afridi – were rested and two league players who were not part of the Pakistan squad included without consultation with the PCB, the selectors or myself. Moreover, the players’ families who were supposed to have returned home after the Lords Test were still accompanying the players apparently with Inzamam’s permission and creating havoc in the hotels, where extra beds and cots for children had to be procured at short notice. The children were also out of control, keeping their parents and others awake by screaming and running around corridors until late at night. I sensed that discipline and cohesion were falling apart and that player power and overt religiosity were taking over. I was alarmed at these reports of player power and decided to motor up to Northampton where I had sharp admonitory words with the captain and manager. I told them to pack off their families immediately and to concentrate on reviving Pakistan’s performance on the remainder of the tour. Bob Woolmer was clearly unhappy at this attitude but resolved to put matters right in his usual persuasive manner.
For the Third Test at Leeds, Pakistan fielded yet another set of openers – Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt – with the reliable Shahid Nazir coming in as the third seamer while Asif and Shoaib were still unavailable, recovering from their injuries. England batted first and thanks to three appalling errors by the umpires – two by Darrell Hair and one by Billy Doctrove – Pietersen and Bell were let off the hook and scored centuries. Even the British press acknowledged that they had been fortunate. Pakistan then responded creditably with Younus and Yousuf scoring over 150 each. Inzamam, who came in to huge cheers, was out in another bizarre manner, losing his balance and falling in a heap on his wicket. He seemed to resemble Oliver Hardy doing a comic turn in one of his films! Nevertheless, Pakistan took a narrow lead in the first innings, taming the threat from Harmison. In their second innings, England scored 345 thanks to a century by Strauss, but Pakistan collapsed spinelessly in their second innings to Sajid Mahmood and Monty Panesar, losing by 167 runs.
Kamran Akmal who had been a sprightly and reliable wicketkeeper for Pakistan, began a progressive decline in his performance. He appeared to be wearing iron gloves as he dropped simple takes and missed catches and stumpings with regularity. His confidence was gone and his batting was affected. I mentioned his loss of form to Bob Woolmer, who admitted that it may have started from his remark at Canterbury that Kamran should concentrate on improving his wicketkeeping as Bob had informed the selectors that a reserve wicketkeeper, Zulqarnain Haider, was ready to join the team. Bob intended this remark to challenge Kamran into lifting his performance. Instead it unnerved him into a further loss of confidence. Bob admitted his error of judgement to me, which I considered to be an element of the culture gap, not realizing its effect on players who are generally insecure. Kamran’s loss of form with bat and gloves affected team performance in England.
The infamous Fourth Test at the Oval is described in detail in the next chapter. Pakistan was playing for honour and had Asif back in the side. Hafeez was drafted in as opener for yet another opening pairing. Asif bowled superbly supported by Umar Gul so that England were all out for 173. For a change Pakistan were off to a great start, with Hafeez (95) and Imran scoring 90s and totalling 504. Mohammad Yousuf scored his third century of the series receiving support from Faisal Iqbal. In their second innings, Pietersen and Cook made a spirited reply but were both out by lunch, leaving Pakistan in the driving seat to secure the match with a day and a half to go. Then came the ball-tampering saga which led to England being awarded the match because Pakistan had ‘refused to play’.1
In the first ODI at Cardiff, Asif and the now fit Shoaib Akhtar opened the bowling for Pakistan. Only Bell (88) stood in the breach and England were all out for 202. The threatening clouds then emptied themselves for two stoppages and play was abandoned before Pakistan, ahead on the DL system, could complete the minimum number of overs.
At the second ODI at Lords, Shoaib Akhtar and Asif pulverized the England batting, bowling them out for 166. Pakistan then comfortably made the runs, with Younus (55) and Yousuf (49 not out) ensuring a seven-wicket win.
For the third ODI at the Rose Bowl, England batted first again and this time built up a score of 271, Dalrymple (62), Collingwood (61), Strauss (50) and Bell (42) contributing to the total. Pakistan then chased successfully, with a century from Younus and steadfast support from Yousuf. Despite a late-order collapse, Inzamam stayed in like a rock and led Pakistan to victory by two wickets.
For the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge, Pakistan batted first and were 165 for eight when Razzaq, in a blistering knock off 75, saw them to a respectable total of 235. Strauss (78) and Bell (86) then led England to victory by eight wickets.
For the final ODI at Edgbaston, coming off the boil, Pakistan allowed England to square the series 2–2 by being bowled out for 154, only Younus 47 making a respectable score. England in turn made heavy weather of their task and were 118 for seven but Yardy and Mahmood saw them home.
The England tour of 2006 had led to deep acrimony as a result of the Oval Test fiasco. Though the Pakistan team’s indignation had been addressed towards the umpires and the ICC there was a negative fallout on Pakistan–England cricketing relations, particularly after Inzamam’s reluctance to play the ODI series. Nevertheless, the British media remained relatively sympathetic and supportive towards Pakistan over this period.
During the England tour, player power had seen a breakdown in relations between management and players, as described in detail in the next chapter. Woolmer was distraught at the fraying relations between himself and the senior players. There was also a perceptible slide in the team’s performance even though Mohammad Yousuf had achieved a record-breaking year by overtaking Vivian Richards’s record of most runs in a calendar year. By the end of the year there were question marks regarding the performance of Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, the assorted openers, Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik. This decline did not augur well for the World Cup that was to follow six months later.
The overt religiosity issue was also getting out of hand, with strident criticism at the team’s conduct from the Pakistan press and liberal public opinion. The fateful year of 2006 had begun. And now to the Oval Test fiasco.