The Pakistan team has had to endure a barrage of reminders of the events of six years ago. Three of their 2016 squad have first-hand knowledge of a Lord’s Test match that started so brilliantly for them but which ended up with the team and the tour in disarray, Azhar Ali, Wahab Riaz and, of course, Mohamed Amir. The rest have only to glimpse the previews of a much-anticipated contest today to be confronted by the narrative of the grimmest of Test matches. England also have just three survivors from that game now that Jimmy Anderson has been ruled out – Alastair Cook, Steven Finn and Stuart Broad, who hit a superb, almost forgotten century.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan must crave better templates for playing at Lord’s, which is often regarded as the pinnacle of a Test cricketer’s career, and they exist. Pakistan prevailed at Lord’s on both their visits in 1992 and 1996. The man to whom Amir is often compared, Wasim Akram, was central to those victories, as an irrepressible all-rounder in 1992, who matured into a relatively calm, diplomatic captain four years later.
Wasim seldom seemed to overcomplicate the game – why bother when blessed with so much natural talent? Looking ahead to today’s Test, he has acknowledged: “It won’t be easy for him [Amir]. But my advice to him will be to enjoy the game. He has got pace and skill, so go out and try to do your best. Amir can be the leader of the pack that also has a quality leg-spinner in Yasir Shah, who can be the trump card in a varied bowling attack”.
Wasim was never an advocate of conservative caginess. Pakistan are at their best when they attack, giving free rein to pace bowlers and wrist spinners. That is what they did in the 90s when there was Waqar Younis alongside Wasim and another paceman (it might be Aaqib Javed or Ata-ur-Rehman) abetted by the impish wrist spinner, Mushtaq Ahmed, who is currently part of the Pakistan coaching team, having served an apprenticeship of sorts in England’s ranks. That attack seldom took a backward step and the headlong pursuit of wickets was usually successful.
Wasim now counsels an equally forthright approach against an England side that may be more challenging than the ones he encountered in the 90s. “England have shown remarkable confidence in the last 18 months so they will be tough to beat. For me the only way is to do ‘tit for tat’ in all departments of the game if you want to beat them.”
Certainly Pakistan’s 2016 bowling attack, although not so proven, has similar characteristics to that of the 90s, with the prospect of Amir, the old tearaway Wahab Riaz plus another paceman alongside the gifted wrist spinner, Yasir Shah. They are no more likely to hold back than the side which conjured a cliffhanger of a victory back in the Lord’s Test of 1992.
That was quite a fractious tour, though not by the standards of 2010 or 2006. There were umpiring controversies, ball-tampering allegations and sweater-tossing drama (involving the umpire Roy Palmer at Old Trafford). Javed Miandad, as captain, was less inclined to be as conciliatory a figure as Wasim in 1996.
There was also a pulsating finish on the Sunday of the Lord’s Test match when 17 wickets fell. That is the Lord’s Test that Pakistan players of today would like to remember and a good number of them are just about old enough to do that. If not, Misbah, who was 18 at the time, can surely enlighten them.
This was Ian Botham’s last Test match and one of his worst; it was Ian Salisbury’s first and probably one of his best. There were no runs of significance for Botham, who was flummoxed by Waqar’s reverse swing — it was no fun batting in the middle order against that Pakistan side. Botham soon aggravated a groin strain, which, along with a badly bruised toe courtesy of the Pakistan pace attack, prevented him bowling more than five overs. Salisbury took five wickets in the match and hung around pluckily as a nightwatchman.
But the key figures were inevitably Wasim and Waqar. They shared 13 wickets and then came together with Pakistan 95 for eight and needing 139 to win against England’s three-man attack (Phil DeFreitas had also acquired a groin injury by then).
For once Wasim and Waqar combined brilliantly with bats in their hand. Still trusting their aggressive instincts they stayed together until the end, whereupon there were rather more smiles in the Pakistan camp than in 2010.