Test Match Special - The Summer of Acrimony England v Pakistan 1992

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Simon Mann is joined by former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, broadcaster Aatif Nawaz, chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew and TMS statistician Andy Zaltzman to look back on the tumultuous summer of 1992. Pakistan beat England in a controversial Test series played with the backdrop of accusations of ball-tampering and heated clashes with umpires which overshadowed Wasim and Waqar's inspired win.

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ad-free with an Amazon music subscription. This is the TMS podcast. From BBC Radio 5 Live. We are going to look back to a famous series between Pakistan and England. It was played in 1992. I don't know whether to give out the result. You probably know it if you know your cricket history. Well, I'll keep it on tent to hooks for a while.

Anyway, Pakistan came to England in 1992. They hadn't played each other for five years in test cricket. And the last time they played each other, there was a lot of acrimony. It was eight, they played eight tests in 1997, I should say. Pakistan won the series in England. There was a bit of controversy about some of the umpiring. Pakistan won the series. Of course, there was a lot of controversy about the umpiring in Pakistan

where the whole Shakurana incident where he saw him like Gatting, wagging his finger at Shakurana and Shakarana was holding up play while he thought that England were changing the field and then the play didn't resume on the next day. So there was a lot of kind of acrimony in a way, or a little surface tension building into 1990. And the two teams had met in the World Cup final as well earlier that year in Australia, which Pakistan won dramatically.

They just about qualified for the knockout stages. They beat England, who'd gone very well in the group stages, and won nearly all their games. So there was that context to it as well. It was a full Pakistan tour. So it's not like these days where you turn up for three test matches, or you come here for five whiteball games or six white ball games or whatever. Pakistan were here for the summer.

So their first game was in. on 3rd of May in Arandall against the Duchess of Norfolk's 11, a game that they won. And their last match, I think, was against the World 11, right at the end of the tour in late August. There was a five test match series. There was also five one days. And the five one days weren't together in those days. There was a couple at the start and three at the end. And one of them caused an enormous amount of controversy as we are going to discover.

Jonathan Agnew who remembers reporting and commentating on that series is here. Atif Nawaz, first memories really of Pakistan cricket and a man who was right at the centre of it, Rames Rajah, who played in the series, played in all five test matches. So where did we start? Well, let's start out of the start, the series really and start of the tour. Ram's if you can take your mind back to it. What was kind of like the feeling of Pakistan coming to England in 1992? Well, we had just beaten England in the World Cup finals, so we were very confident that we can do it again.

And this time the challenge was a little different. Obviously, it was Test Max cricket. But before the test series, you know, there was this Tetley Bitter challenge that if we beat counties, and I think we needed 12 wins out of 17 to win the Tetley Bitter Challenge, which was 50,000 pounds, that we'll be the first team to do that. But I think previously it was Australia, who had toured England.

They didn't do that. So we used to feel our proper test match team in every county match. And in those days, you know, there would be three day games, not four-day first-class games. And yet we won that Tetlibitter. And so we were feeling really, really good. And then we had quality bowling. I think in test match cricket, you need quality bowling. And we had two of the very best in Vasim and Vakar.

Then we had Mushi. So it was a lethal combination. three options to pick up wickets and then the reverse thing to go with it at 100 miles an hour and even though England had a fantastic team established names and playing at home yet we somehow felt confident

that we could pull it off what do you remember about that series as a start of it it was the ugliest most hostile series that I've ever covered resentment real deep resentment suspicion thoughts, strong thoughts of cheating,

ball tampering. This is, of course, the issue with Mike Gatting and Shakurano in 1987 that hit the headlines, losing the World Cup final in Melbourne, where we're seeing came on at a vital late-ish part in the game and swung the ball all over the place. Again, fingers pointed at that. He can't have done that without scratching surfaces.

Imran Khan had come out the year before and admitted that he had once, used a bottle top to scrape the side of a ball. So England had no real idea about reverse swing in those days. And I was telling around a minute ago, we first encountered Wakar when we were playing for Leicestershire against Surrey, who was playing his first season. He would heard a bit about this stuff.

And there was a wonderful photograph on the back page of the Daily Telegraph the day after the first day of that match. It was involving Peter Willie, old friend of mine, who was very professional, Peter, and he would always watch when he's batting, the bowler walking back to his mark which side of the ball he was shining it where that shiny side would go and so on and we'd heard about this reverse swing but there it was graphic there's photograph on the back page of telegraph Peter willie's shouldering arms and his leg stumping ripped out of the ground it had gone completely the other

direction at about 100 miles an hour so this is what was going on and in England had no idea about it we had no bowlers who could do it and therefore the feeling was that it had to have been done through illicit means. And all these factors led to a concerted campaign probably by the British media to expose this.

Essentially tabloid led but everyone was involved in it. A determination to prove that this had, that Pakistan were cheating us, had to be done. On slightly on the other level as well, you had the Pakistanis had their own agenda in really, really

trying to push the issue of neutral umpires they had fallen out badly with david constant on a previous tour um and there was definitely the agenda driven by pakistan just in world cricket actually that there had to be neutral umpires um so you've got these these two big things going on at the same time in the same series um and it led to some pretty awful scenes meltdowns um you know real real issues with umpires and players a ball mysteriously being changed in a one day international with no reason given Alan Lamb

a massive piece he wrote in the Daily Mirror explaining the headline was I've been writing about it how Pakistan cheated cricket that was the front page that earned him a big fine he alleged in there that Safraaz Nawaz the former Pakistan bowler who played at North Amputy with Lammy

Alan Lamb described what Safrazzaraz got up to on the field for Northamptonshire. Safaraz threatened to sue him and that only went away because Alan, what he said, admitted, that he'd never actually seen Safaraz do this. So that went away. But that was it. We talk about pressure cookers. This was unique in terms of the hostility, really personal feeling. Racism, yes, I suspect there was that sort of element.

it to trying to prove that Pakistan were doing this, were cheating. I suspect there was an element of that amongst the media reporting of it. And it's worth saying that apart from one glimpse in the final test match of the Oval of Akeb Javed, quite a firebrand of a young fast bowler then, really digging his nail into a ball. And Richie Benno commentating saying the most bizarre thing, isn't it strange what you see in the city late at night? or something like that.

You think, what is it? Ritchie, look at it, you know. But that was the only thing that was, despite that massive scrutiny, telephoto lenses and everything else, the attempt by the British media to prove that the ball tampering could only be done through cheating. That was the only incident that was ever seen. Artie, were you aware of this as you were watching your first ever series and falling in love with Pakistan cricket? Yeah, well, you sort of pick up on bits of it.

I remember it vividly as my sort of first memory. you'd go off to school and you'd come home and you'd ask you, what's the school, what's the school? What's the school? It was that era before the internet where you relied on things like C-Fax and the newspapers, which you never normally cared about. But because there's this test series happening, you want to look at the back pages

and see exactly who did what in these really lyrical descriptions of cricket players. And you've got to understand, in 92, the Pakistan cricket team, they were like gods to their fans. They'd all of a sudden achieved something that was so remarkable, and you were told constantly about this achievement,

by people around you that you know this team has won a world cup they came back from out of nowhere they were cornered tigers and so on and so forth and there was just something about them i mean even in their sort of you know the bright green the lime green uniform they look like cartoon characters to a kid you know so you're watching them and you're fully in you know engaged and engrossed and as you say in love with this side uh this 92 tour for me will always be where that love turn into full on infatuation and there was an element of you know there's nefarious things happening but you're not fully understanding you're hearing something about ball tampering you're hearing something about accusations you're hearing you know you're watching

this um this back and forth i remember it made me really uncomfortable as a kid to watch akib javid with umpire roy palmer i think it was the old traffic and it was i remember vividly feeling really uncomfortable like oh my god are they are they fighting like what's what's happening i remember he was bowling at devon malcolm too young to understand the concept of of hostile bowling and things like that, already drawn into the fabulous stroke play of, of, you know, Ramiz and Amish Sahil at the top of the order, the classiness of Javed Mielad, batting in helmets without grills and things like that. And then you got Washim and Wakaru had a different kind of swagger. Now my brother often tells me, he's got 15 years on me, my brother, that was

very much a product of a swagger that had developed. It started from this sort of pre-colonial, this kind of like fitting in mindset to like and expressing yourself, my brother. No, no, no, we're here, we have our own identity and we want to express ourselves. And there were issues related to sort of racism or feeding like you for being put in a box and things like that. But this team was a symbol of great, enormous pride. And it sort of ripples through to this day. I mean, I mean, people my age and a little bit older, a little bit younger, who remember moments of that series so vividly. You could, you know, it crystallized in your mind.

It was wonderful. I still have one of my prize possessions to this day. Simon is a floppy England hat and it's got TCCB written on it because this is pre-E-CB and I imagine it's worth a few quid at some yeah yeah I still hold on to that because I think it might be worth a few quid at some stage but it but for me it's the opposite of that I know there was a lot going on and historically I've been informed and obviously learn more as you go along but at the time it was a magical cricket series for me Bramese do you recognize the context that the Agers was talking about there not at at all because you see I we were brought up on say if the term is scratching the ball as a norm to survive on those dead pitches in Pakistan so we considered this as an art and something that we thrived in because it was only available to us the the knowledge you know how to hold the ball so my first

you know I was reprimanded three four times by Imran high I was holding the ball in the field because you weren't supposed to to hold it with your palm because it wet the dry side and so I said what is happening here because even my elder brother he never talked about this because he played for 57 times for Pakistan never ever shared you know whether the ball was being ripped apart was being tampered with there's no such thing in our dictionary because Imran khan in a way was was doing it and so we thought was the was the gospel because he was a genuine leader and we felt that you know this is how we survived on those dead pitches and that's why we were so good from fast bowling point of view on those on those

pitches in Pakistan so this was huge news to me at least what was happening here because we felt pretty okay and certainly we were told that this is cheating so it it didn't go down well at all because we've been doing it for the last whatever seven eight years and we felt it was fine because I remember New Zealand tried it there was a bowler by the name of Pringle. We didn't complain. He picked up seven wickets in Fesslabad.

And so, I mean, it was on. Yeah, I mean, if you are good enough to do it, you do it. But it was a matter of survival for most of us in Pakistan, you know. And we thought that it was genuine. It was all within the laws of the game. But it wasn't. What exactly, they, around these? What are we talking about here?

The ball tampering. Yeah, but no, what exactly? You know, what are the details of the? that what happens what with the ball yeah so you keep one set I mean now everyone does it so they do it discreetly but it's done so you keep one side shiny the other side as as rough or as dry as possible but then obviously you need a vicar or a seam to fully use the conditions or you know use the old ball and and so I think England were a bit frustrated during that series also because according to them, the seam bowling or the way, you know, the English conditions hit the length and the ball will do the job should be enough for them to beat Pakistan.

But we were different because we had faster bowlers who bowled a different line, length. And in that series, we were better than them when it came to picking our wickets. But there's a difference, isn't there, between keeping one side of the ball dry and allowing the other side of the ball to go rough. and actually doing something to the ball, isn't there, with your fingers or whatever. Sure. You know, the bottle top or whatever. Well, we didn't use bottle top. So it's just the natural way of making sure that the ball listens to you after, what, 30, 40 overs, whatever.

So one side rough, one side dry? Yeah. Yeah, which we, I mean, I say, we didn't know anything about it. Occasionally you get a ball that would swing the wrong way that you're expecting it. It always surprised. that was not through reverse swing reverse swing was entirely new to

English cricket before Waka Yunis arrived and was playing for Surrey and Ram's right you have to be a special type of bowler you have to have a bit of a slingy action it had to be quick he had a bowl full length

and I mean the result of this series for England was Darren Goff because he fitted that mould absolutely he was the same exactly the same sort of trajectory, if you like, to Wasima Waka. So that was, England suddenly started searching around for someone who could do it. Who was it going to be?

Darren Goff, who played here, of course. And that was how it came about. But, you know, those were the suspicions that England had at the time. So there was this undercurrent throughout that whole series. Pakistan, yes, wanting neutral umpires. And I remember, Artif mentioned the incident with Roy Palmer up at old Trafford and I interviewed Intiqabalam after that he was the coach or the manager of the side and I've known Interkab a long time play with him at Surrey you know nice guy I interviewed him

and I've just written about it here and he actually said that the English umpires were biased and that got him into trouble of course but that was that was from the management of the Pakistan team so again it just it just fanned the flames that were already burning as far as the the English media was concerned it was like Manor from heaven. Let's get into the series. You talked actually about this Tetley bit of challenge

winning 50,000. That was quite a big incentive, wouldn't it? We went for it. Decent amount of money. I was just looking at some of the... It was a good attempt, though, but it was done for a reason,

and that was to make those games competitive. Yeah, it really matter, yeah. So you won a one day, there were some one-day games in those days before the tour got going to the Duchess and Norfolk. You beat Kent in a one-day match. You lost, actually, your first first last match you actually lost around me.

You've beaten at Worcester by five wickets, then a victory against Lamorgan, the victory against Somerset. What did you want to say there? Andy Saltsman? Just about the context of that Pakistan team as a test match force coming into that series. Out of their previous 15 series

had only lost one, that's over seven years. They had three drawn series of the West Indies in their peak years, two in Pakistan and one in West Indies. They were a fantastic team over a prolonged period of time, plus that one day World Cup win earlier in in 1992.

So they were a huge force in world cricket at the time. England had had a bit of an uptick after a terrible few years at the end of the 1980s. It had a good home summer in 1990. Drew the West Indies in 1991, won in New Zealand that winter and reached the final of that World Cup. So you had one team that had been really good for a long time, and England showing improvement after a difficult few years. Yeah. So getting into that series, you lost the first two of the first two years.

one day international, as I said, there were a couple of games at the start of the tour, and then three, bizarrely, at the end of the tour. It seems hard to believe now, doesn't it, the way it's all divvied up and pass it up nicely. You won some tour matches, because you had that incentive. Get to the first test.

The first test, Edgberston, was an absolute belter. It really was. 446 for 4 from Pakistan, played 459 for 7 from England. That was it. Yeah, placid conditions, absolutely, I still remember. I think there must have some rain around. thing happening is just getting some practice for the series. The first day was entirely washed out and at the end of day two, Pakistan batting first were three for naught.

I'll tell you what, though. One significant thing that happened there, I think that was the game where Inz Malmalk made his test debut. It was, yeah. Inzy didn't have a great tour, actually. Didn't have a great series. Had a great World Cup, but didn't really contribute a great deal. So, the first test actually quite a dull game, which is. by weather both teams making over 400 I just had a note down what did you do

there's no complaint of ball tempering then no because England got 400 so Rames you were you were talking about umpiring you were LBW to Phil de Freitas for 47 were you out can you remember not out yeah I was as an on-site kind of a player so it must have been must be good plum yeah playing across the line Yeah, anyway. Well, Jarvid made 153 and Sally Manick 165. Alex Stewart made 190 for England. Kind of a game to draw the curtains, too, really.

A dull draw, spoilt by the rain, high-scoring match. So on to the second match. I've mentioned the umpiles the second. Go on that. Because it's worth noting again, and this is all added to the pot. Dickie Byrb was considered England's finest umpire. He umpired in one of those games. David Shepard, again, massively respected, and by the Pakistan.

is two, did only two games. Why? Why do the two best umpires, indisputably, and who would have... Calm things up. Calm things out. 100%. Why did they only do one and two games?

It makes you wonder. And also talking about the umpiring as well, there was a sort of general call, wasn't there? And it was instigated by Imran for neutral umpires. You'd use them. In 1986, some neutral umpires were used in a test match in Pakistan and the West

the West Indies. Yes, I mean, and West Indies in those days was a really big team. I mean, you know, Viv Richards and company. But you see, what was happening under Imran was that Iran didn't like when we were being labeled as as cheetahs or umpires really helping us. So the idea was born. I think it was a Sri Lankan tour in 8586 where he chatted amongst us in a dressing room chat. He said, look, enough is a enough and we need to introduce this because nowhere else in the world you see these local umpires umpiring a local game and that creates a bit of a bias so let's try for this neutral umpire idea and so and then he persisted with that idea and then actually when it happened it calmed so

many things because we were only now looking to get to the you know over the tape to win the game rather than worry about whether that leg before was the right call from the umpire from the local umpire from shakurana or shakil or whosoever they were during that period so we were then able to focus squarely on cricket yeah so just on that 1986 then first ever appearance of neutral umpires in test match cricket piloo reporter and vk ramaswami in in Pakistan match against west indies nineteen ninety two the iCC ran trials requiring one neutral umpire per test match. So around that time of this series, it's starting to really become a reality.

1994 neutral umpire system. One neutral umpire per match became officially mandated. And then 2002, we got to two neutral umpires for every test match. And that, you know, that has happened ever since. Yeah. Yeah. And it was very welcome. I mean, it just takes the heat out of everything, doesn't it? You know, and, you know, whatever, you know, it was driven hard by, by Imran and by Pakistan, but it was the right thing. There was so much suspicion, you know, and unhappiness at decisions. Chris Broad famously refusing to go off the field

in one of the test matches in 87. It dipped well out in the bud. It's done away with it. You know it might be a bad decision, but it's just a bad decision. It's a mistake. It's not done for any other reason. And of course, DRS now has put the icing on the cake, hasn't it?

You can't argue with it. I still remember there's a lot of back-level and resistance from the local umpires because they felt that their livelihood was at stake. So, I mean, so we had to go through so much and only I think Imran

could have sealed the deal because he's all powerful guy. Well, English umpires said, well, we'll never get to stand in a test match at Lord. So why are we going to be, you know, umpires, if we're robbed of that opportunity. But that,

that soon went away. Yeah, because I think the benefits to test match cricket, you know, outweigh that in a way. Sure. I mean, yeah, they're always going to be winners and losers, I suppose, in any change that's made, a significant change in life. But there we go. Anyway, so let's go on to the second test match.

The first test match, drawn at Egbaston, rain ruin. Second test match. And this really was the kind of the belter match of the series, wasn't it? Pakistan won the game by two wickets. England, 255. Pakistan made 293. Then England, 175. And you thought, well, Pakistan, they didn't need too many to win.

But actually, they were 95 for 8. Yes, I remember that. It's a very, very restless Lord's balcony. I think it was Vasim was bathing with, I don't know, Wakar. Yes. Or with Moin, I'm not too sure. But it was heart in the mouth kind of a situation where we sort of made a straightforward run look like an impossible, Everest kind of get-to situation.

Well, they felt like superheroes at the time. It was Waseem and Waka who closed out that match. Rassim got 45 not out. Warr had 20 not out. And it was a novelty of watching them bat in tandem because you'd seen them bowl in tandem for such a long time. These were these superstars. They've been bowling beautifully.

I think Waseem got four in the second innings. Wakar got five wickets in the first innings. So you're thinking like, this is superb. And then there's this panic. And, you know, again, going back as a child, sort of watching this panic of, oh my God, they're crumbling. What's happening? Why aren't the batters getting run?

And then your two sort of heroes at the end of the film come along and they saved the game. I vividly remember Wachar Yunus playing a lofted off drive just over the fielder who was stood at Medoff and it really was a heart-in-mouth moment. It was like, oh my God, it's up in the ear. He's good, no, no, it's just cleared the fielder

and it bounces away to the boundary and it really was, yeah, it was quite a spectacular finish and it was a thrilling test match and one of repeated many, I think that VHS tape has probably seen better days but the amount of times I played it. You didn't help out very much in that second thing.

Yeah, it's a story behind my lack of form. So what happened is I had developed this severe back pain and I hadn't played any couple of county matches. And so there was the doctor who came in his private jet somewhere in London, a Pakistani Brit doctor. He said, look, we've got to, you know, there'll be anesthesia used and so you'll go to sleep and there's a nerve that is pinching in the bag or somewhere. I said, please, let me go back to Pakistan

because I want to play that Lord Stasmas. So there's this guy who worked his fingers. I mean, his fingers are magic, Cairo practitioner. I got myself fixed. Really? Yeah, I went. So, Inthea, I remember saying, what the hell is wrong with you?

You know, people come here in UK to get their stuff fixed. But why are you going back? I said, look, I have confidence in this guy. So I went for this break. I think there were two back-to-back first-class matches, which I missed. So I went back, came back and played that. because I just wanted to play the Lodz test match.

Couldn't miss it. And you got Nort. 24 and Nort. I made it, I mean, because of me, it became such an interesting test match in the end. There you go. There you go.

Well, you were in reasonable company in that second, and he was Asi Mushchevah and also Javan Manda were out for Nort as well. So, you know, there'll be a company up on that balcony. But you got it over the line.

What did it mean to win that game? Well, it was massive, actually. You know, winning a test match at Lodds and so, I mean, after a flat first test match, this was huge actually. And then the world saw what was even Waka could do with the ball also. I mean, it's just wonderful bowling. Vakaa was specially special because he had more pace than Waz.

And Waz was difficult, left arm angle, reverse. But Wakaa was genuine pace. He's one of the great sights to watch Waka Yunus bowling at his pomp. Of a ridiculously long run-up, tearing in almost. was almost kick-starting off the old Vauxhall stand at the Oval when he played at the Oval there. It was a sprint from start to finish, more energetic.

I mean, Michael Holding ran a long way, but Mikey was kind of silky and smooth, as whacker was just, power, double world of the old. Catapulted. Boom. It was an exhilarating sight, unless you were 20 yards away with a bat.

That wasn't so good. And Waz, of course, was a magnificent bowler as well, wasn't he? That fast arm, left arm yeah I mean they made our life so difficult in the nets because they bowled from 18 yards and bowels and then appeals and then make you feel so little well England's bowling attack in that match in that second innings where

Pakistan were chasing 140 to win 141 can you remember England and you use three bowlers well I'm guessing Lewis was Chris Lewis is one of them in in Salisbury in Salisbury was one yeah so he took three for 49 from his first game was his first test match is it yeah I think it was his first yeah because I remember he was also out hit wicket and that was the first time I'd ever seen a hit wicket who is the third Kevin Devin Malcolm yeah so England used three bowlers they they nearly nearly lost a victory so Pakistan home by two wickets one up in this five match here results you wanted to say well

Defratus took three in the first things I've been injured I was he in both in his last test match as well he didn't bowl in the in the second innings. And with Wazim and Waka, a lot of bowls and LBWs in that game. It was Wackar's first series against England. Wazim had been an established global star for a long time,

but Wack had taken 113 wickets, average 14 for Surrey, the previous county summer. Came into the series with 71 wickets at 19 in his first 14 tests. So it made this phenomenal start to his career.

But he'd missed the World Cup injured, hadn't he? So he took him a little while to get into that series. Yep. So on to Old Trafford then, Third test match at Old Trafford. This is where Roy Palmer features. I think it's his first test match as umpire.

Younger brother of Ken, who played one test match for England in a very strange situation in South Africa. Roy was a lovely quiet fellow. He was one of those traditional old county umpires used to trawl around with his caravan. He'd park up on the, you know, Grace Road in our case, up in his van there.

An old scene bowler, him. himself, former scene bowler. And yes, why they went to a new debutant when they could have had Dickie or David Shepard? I don't know. But I mean, this series was now, you know, one down and these suspicions, you know, brewing up, you know, Basim and Wackarb, taking all these wickets at lords, sort of a siege mentality growing within the team. And it's also worth noting that the relations between the players and the press would different in those days. There was no media liaison person. So each media correspondent, newspaper or whatever, made it his business because he had to get on well with maybe

it's three or four players as a go-to interview for the end of the day because there wasn't somebody lined up like there is today. It's not like yesterday with Josh Tongues down there, thanks very much. You had to go and do it yourself. And so there were these quite tight relationships formed between journalists, particularly those who needed interviews, tabloid journalists, and England players. And so you can imagine, therefore, there's a lot of this stuff coming out of the England camp being fed to journalists as a sort of a two-way thing. And that was built up and built up and built up this feeling of something nefarious

going on. And so that helped to feed that. from BBC Radio 5 Live. Growing businesses deal with the same problem, too many tools, too much back and forth, and not enough time. Odu helps bring it all together. It's an all-in-one business management platform

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So let's go back to 1992. Manchester, 2nd of July, third test match. And this ended in another draw, another quite high scoring draw. Ram, you got some runs. So that back treatment you were getting. Thank God for that. It really helped. 54 and 88.

He would be exposing my stats. 54 and 88 in that game. Pakistan 505 for 9 declared. England 390. I'm going to say, Hail made a double 100 in that Pakistan. 505 for 9 declared. England 390 and then Pakistan 399 for 5 declared. There must have been some rain there as well, Zoltz, in that game,

that prevented some sort of conclusion to England, obviously, saving the follow-on. So that was, you know, that pushed the game more towards a draw. The second day was totally washed out. This was, this Amirsa Hill innings is one of my all-time favorite innings. I remember watching it, and my mind was blown. He got 205 off 284 balls. It was a very quick double-hundred. It was actually his first.

test hundred in his third match and it was a double so he started with a double hundred and I vividly remember watching his interview on on the BBC highlights that night which obviously I recorded and he was talking to I think it was Geoffrey Boycott that he was talking to oddly enough and he said to him something like you know Jeffrey Boycott had said to him at Lords you look so good you were going to get a double hundred I thought you were going to get a double hundred and he went in at 73 overnight the next day got out first ball of the day or whatever for 73. And then this time around, he had that in his mind the whole time. He was like,

Boycott said I looked good for a double hundred. Maybe I could get a double hundred. And Chris Lewis had a tough old time in that first innings because he kept feeding him that length that he felt comfortable driving down the ground, constant barrage of boundaries. I don't have a written in front to me, but I remember it vividly. 32 boundaries he had in he hit in that 205. It really was a very special innings. Yeah. Well, fantastic. Yeah, I mean, I remember. opening with him and so we were in after winning the toss and I previously played in that 88 famous series against the Wendy's against Malcolm Marshall and you name it you know all the greats of the game fastballers and that opening spell from Devon Malcolm is the fastest

ever ever faced it's just lightning fast and so we both after a couple of four words we said what the hell why have why are we batting first it's it's it's it's it's it's a lot of it's a couple of four words we're It looked greasy pitch and it looks so fast and Devin Malcolm was making our life so difficult. So, I mean, that test match, as far as I'm concerned, in my books will be remembered of how quick Devin Malcolm was. So Devon bowling quickly. So was that, you know, was the Aki Javier bowling at short balls at Devin Malcolm?

Was that kind of reciprocal because Devin was, I must have been weighing them down, as you mentioned there? because that led to the jumper-pulling incident with Roy Palmer. You might want to describe it, Agnes. Well, it was still very much a thing in those days. Yes, you bowl bouncer at tail-enders. Yes, you did. But umpires are more likely to stand up for a tail-ender

if they felt that there was, he was in danger, if you like, and being intimidated. The war has always been so woolly about intimidatory fast bowling. but Roy Palmer decided that Akib Chavid was bowling in an intimidatory fashion to Devin Malcolm who let's be honest

batted below Phil Tufnal you know in glasses Devon Devon's batting actually has improved enormously now he plays for lashings and he smashes them all over the place he didn't in those days

at this level and Roy Palmer decided his decision to make whether it was right or wrong that Akib Javvo is bowling too many bounces at him so he warned him to stop and this I think from memory I think Javed who was a spiky character of brilliant batsman but but Jabba was one of those always always always he was always in the you know he kind of one of those

people who was always in it you know bustling around and and from I think he and he got involved in an argument anyway about this and someone came running on a spectator do remember this quite vividly came running on towards the umpire And that also sparked a bit of panic. A steward dashed on and bundled this fella away. And Roy, I think, was his first test match. And I think he was just a bit, you know, taken aback by the whole scenario. He's got Pakistan caps in literally his photographs, nose to nose,

a bit like, you know, Gatting and Shakurano, no, furious arguments going on. And Palmer just tried to take the sweater, Akib's sweater out of his coat. And, of course, sweaters, certainly, those days, so hung on a bit of a loop that dangled down from the coat. And so he's trying to pull this jumper out of this loop with all this going on, Hullabaloo, steward bundling this bloke away, Javad going mad. It tries to pull this jumper out and it gets caught, gets stuck. And so he gives

it an extra big tug to get it out and goes, basically, not in a dangerous way, but it did hit Aki Bjaven in the stomach, or the solar plexus, you know, firmly, should we say. It's all went, like that. There's an involuntary action. Well, then it all kicked off. I mean, it just, you know. Is that how you saw the incident around? Yeah, I know. I think this is brilliant description of what happened.

I mean, I'm missing a few pieces, but I remember. Where were you standing? I probably mid-off knowing you. Actually, I can go back a bit. Were you on the field? It's a brilliant field. Mid-on and mid-off was my favorite post. But, yeah, I remember that, you know, it was getting ugly because,

and then he came in and said, enough, enough. no more bounces. And then Archib Javed obviously got, you know, he didn't like that. And since Javed, as you rightly said,

you know, a bit of an instigator. Yes. He got engaged and involved. And then I remember, because I remember it from the photograph where Palmer is trying to

get the sweater back to Akeb Jave and then all help. It was one of those things that could only have happened because of everything else that was going on. Yeah.

Yeah. It was just the buildup or what was happening around. All the other things. Archip's perspective might have been that. You know,

look he pulled the jumper out very young akib at the time too he was 2021 something like he was very young man so Roy Palmer sort of pulls the jumper out but before he does it he sort of shakes his head in disgust almost as he pulls out the jumper and hands it to akib javid and it was the manner in which he gave it to him and irked him immediately and then um javid meandad comes into the fray and sort of pantomimes like well why why are you flinging it to him to him properly the jumper and um and uh yeah then they have sort of they have a few words and things like that. Yeah, it wasn't very comfortable to watch at the time. It was bad.

It wasn't great. And I remember Brian Johnston, we had a sort of news crossing in those days. There wasn't Five Live and something as I think as Radio 2 or something came for like a 45 second report or something, just as that was kicking off. And Brian was the most sort of relaxed broadcaster, but this required a 45 second report on a stopwatch. And he did it brilliant. When the man came on, look out Roy Palmer behind you. I remember him saying, you know, this news crossing in the commentary that he had to do. With all this sweater stuff going on, it was a brilliant piece of reporting.

But it was unnecessary. But I mean, Aki, he was a young man then. He was a young man. The irony being that when he actually did bowl out, Devin Malcolm, it was with a slower ball. Yes, he was. He hit Devin on the head. Yeah, on the helmet, it flung almost at a right angle off his helmet as well, a short ball. So he did pepper him.

So, okay, so the game was drawn. So it was Pakistan were 1-0 up going to the next test match. So what was the kind of the temper in the series, if you like, at that stage? Bad, terrible. Really shocking. I mean, it was awful. Because I said, I interviewed into that night. And he said that the umpires are biased.

And that just disfanned the flames of what was going on. Because the media was still searching. There was still searching for evidence of ball tampering. And they couldn't find any. They were still searching. Zolz? Yeah, but the wisdom description of that game has some choice. Choice phrases in it describes Ken Palmer, the umpire.

Roy Palmer. Sorry, Roy Palmer. Retained the dignity of a patient policeman watching a family squabble. Amidst all that. Who wrote that fish? Hacob Javid was fined half of his match fee intercub. The team manager was, was reprimanded by the match. Match referee. Little thing on the Ramees Roger Armagh Sahel opening stand,

131 for one at lunch. For the loss of Ramees, writes Wisden, given out of the ins of an inside edge discernible only to umpire Palmer. Sorn off Ram? Absolutely. Sorn off? Can't remember. Seriously. And also in that game, David Gower, who's recalled for the first time since the Ashes, Tauria, 18 months before, with the famous, the flight, incident came back in the side and batted beautifully and overtook Jeff Boycott as England's highest test run scorer with a sumptuous extra cover drive. OK, so 1-0 after three test matches. On to Headingley, the fourth game. And this was a pretty low-scoring game. But there were also some ructions. Surprisingly, in this game as well. So Pakistan 197 all out. England, 320. Graham Gooch made 135. Pakistan bowed out for 220.

when Neil Malander played in that match. So in those days, you'll remember, some listeners will remember it. It was a real horses for courses ground headingly. So you picked a sort of trundler like Agers to come in and play in this match. I never played here, thank you. I said like, Agnes. Anyway, Neil Malander.

The ghost. The ghost. Yeah, the ghost. He took five for 50 in the second innings and three for 72 in the first innings. Took eight wickets in the match. He wasn't player the match. I went to Graham Gooch. Pakistan, all that for 221.

I think the conjurial. of us he really kicked off in England's second innings, unless you can think of any other instances earlier in the game, because Graham Gooch was given not out, I mean, you can see it on YouTube, whatever. I mean, it's an astonishing not out

decision, isn't it? Because he was out by a considerable distance. Certainly a yard, yes. And it was Empire Palmer, but it was Roy's brother, Ken. Keeping it in the family? Yes, standing down, I can see it happening now, and it was just

yeah it was just what the game did not need and there were reports of photographs of it appearing on the sides of buses in Lahore and all sorts of things you know but again it just it was just further evidence that Pakistan wanted to demonstrate that the umpiring was biased was it a genuine mistake well he knows it was Ken Palmer

who made who did it and he was a very experienced umpire very experienced umpire so a lot of test cricket and he's done a lot of county cricket that time. People make mistakes. But, you know, if you're if you're if you're trying to drive an agenda, then obviously he did it on purpose. How did you say it around? Can you remember? I can't remember this. No. Just remember sort of the pitch wasn't as spicy or as difficult to bat on. I remember that. I think Neil Melinda was probably making his test mesh debut. And he was a swing bowler, medium pace. So we were quite wary of the fact that Henningley will offer some assistance to seam bowlers medium paces.

But other than that, I forget about this Graham Goose thing. Yeah. Well, we'll show it to you afterwards. I mean, it's an extraordinary. There's plenty of photographs of it. Do you remember Atif? Did it resonate with you? It didn't at the time.

Like, it wasn't something that stood out as like a major element of it. But it did feel like it was almost like a Star Wars movie. It's the Empire Strikes Back in this test match because it was sort of a very, strong England and he sort of wondered but Neil Malander I've never heard of this guy who is this guy I've never seen him on my Cfax score there was another incident because Rashid Lateef was fined I don't know if you can get the wisdom up there results with it there were there were there was more stuff going on I think there was a there was another is keeping wicked I think in that second

innings as well where Pakistan were convinced they had one of the England players out it was yeah there was more fines handed out yeah so but England got over the line they they they yeah They chased and, well, they scored 99 for 4 to win. Amazing. 42.4 overs as well. 99 to win. So at two runs per over to level the series at one all. The England first innings had one of Wacker's great spells.

England were 2.92 for 2. It was the last 8 for 28. And Wacker, the bottom half of England's card after Gooch made that big 100, Atherton 76 from six downwards, 0-1, 0-1-1-0. Brilliant fast, full, I mean, all bold and over W. Right, so 1-1 going to the final test match. I mean, that's really what you want in a series, isn't it? Although, you know, there'd been a lot of needle up until that point.

So the Oval test match, 22nd of August, 1992. England batted first, and they were going very nicely. They were 138 for 2, and then 207 all that, and Wazim took 6 for 61. Brilliant bowling from a brilliant bowler. I don't remember that game quite so clearly. Apart from that incident involving Hakeep Java Head. This is the shame of that series.

The cricket was so good and the series is so good that there was just so much attention being focused on stuff off the field. That was a great shame of it because it would go down as one of the great series which was marred by all this stuff that was going on, not even on the edges, it was going on throughout the whole thing. It was a very hostile, very antagonistic atmosphere about the whole thing. Yeah, so England bowed out for 207.

Pakistan making 380, England bold out for 174, which left Pakistan the simple task of scoring five for no wicket. And you were there at the end around. Yeah, I remember picking up the middle stump as a souvenir. But it was a great end to, yeah, I mean, you know, it wasn't a superb series off the field, on the field as well. but we'll remember it as a complete tour where we won a lot of county matches. We won the Test Series also. We had just been the world champions

at the World Cup in Australia, so it all ended really well. And then to do it without Imran. So Imran had retired and Javeh had just taken over. Different kind of a character, different kind of leadership. And so it all ended well in the end for us. And then we found Vasim and Vakar as a deadly pair.

Well, they took 43 wickets between them in the same. series and Wazim was a player of the series for 118 runs and 21 wickets. Yeah, in that oval test, Wazim, yeah, six in the first innings, another late order collapse with the last seven wickets going for 25. The lower orders could not cope with the reverse swing. They had no idea how to play. But then in the secondings after Pakistan, a good team effort. A lot of players make it contributing Rashi D-50 on debut down the order.

Waka Yunus with the new ball. I remember it was one of the first days of test cricket I went to and he bowled a new ball spell. There had a lot of talk about how he hadn't been so affected with the new ball and got out Graham Gooch, Alex Stewart, Mike Atherton and David Gower in his in his new ball spell. That was David Gower's last test and he finished with five in that innings as well. Mustak Ahmed bowled bowled really well. It was just a wonderful team team towards but that that's that spell was was do you remember that particular new ball spell? Yeah I remember because you see I had the best view in the gallery

because I would be at short lick most times when these guys were bowling at 100 miles in hour and at the top of the run-up I remember Vakar at times and this is David Gar and Ian Botham batting it's going to be a yorker he'd announce it. The batsman will hear it as well and could do nothing about it

it's just really? Yeah yeah 100% and hours and we were waiting that's going to be either a spread eagle or bat pad or whatever it's just too fast to handle Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I remember Michael Atherton playing quite dogged innings in that first match.

The first innings, so I got himself 60 of 190, and there was a lot of surviving, some high-quality fast bowling from Hussimakram as well. But my favourite thing about that match is that when Pakistan needed five to win in the second innings, the ball was thrown to Mark Ramprakash, who started with a wide, and the first legitimate ball was put away for four of Armourishah Hill,

and that was how they won. But poor Mark Ramprakash, what an assignment. Go defend five. Okay, right. So we come to the end of the series. Pakistan have won it by two matches to one. But there was still one more chapter to come in the acrimony because there were more one-day internationals to be played

after the test series had finished. Remember I said there were two at the start and three at the end. Now we get to the Lord's match. And nobody wanted to play the one days anymore because we were so exhausted after the test series. And all those county matches is one way you're winning a 50 grand. And you know, from say whatever, April to September is such a long stretch.

So there were three one-day internationals played at the end. And in one of them, the game at Lords. Well, you tell the story, Jonathan. Well, yeah. I mean, there was still the, I mean, you know, as we've seen that last test match, again, reverse swing, blowing away the lower order. there's still this business of trying to nail, if that's the right word, ball tampering.

And there had been that shot of Akeep Javid at the Oval, which kind of just kept that thing going. But come this Lord's one day international, which was rain affected and went over two days. It wouldn't have been an issue actually, in modern one day international, it wouldn't have been an issue, the game would have been abandoned,

exactly. Yeah. The ball was, the ball used by Pakistan, who had batted first, England than batting, the ball was changed. And I can't remember how I learned about it, but it was a phone call. I mentioned the contacts that players had with press men. There was a phone call from the England dressing room to the press box at Lords, that the ball had been changed.

There was no announcement made about it. Nothing obvious was done. It was done, I believe, at lunchtime on the second days. It was done quietly. And no one knew. The umpires with John Hampshire and Ken Palmer. Right. So the ball's changed and nothing is said.

But again, it's just opened, therefore, to one last effort to finally say, there you go. The umpires had changed the ball because they're scratching it up and cheating. There it is. So there was Derek Murray, who's a lovely chap, the West Indian wiki keeper from Trinidad. He was the match referee. And so he's now the man has to make this decision. The ball has changed. Something came round, word came around.

There's going to be a press release and a press conference in the Lord's Pavilion at the end of the game. This is it. This is it. And all the press are up there waiting for this. And sure enough, statements handed round. And there was one sentence on the statement, the ball was changed. Full stop. And that was it.

That was it. And as far as we know, the ball was locked into a safe at Lords where we think it might still be. He's never emerged, doesn't it, I think? Because in those days also there was, it was all quite litigious. I mentioned the question of, you know, the question of, you know, Saffras and Adam. I can't remember if it was before or after Imran had taken in both them to court. Oh, that's right. That was later.

It was a bit later. It's a lot of, this is all litigious stuff. How do you prove? This is what the ICC were saying. How do you prove that that ball has definitively being tampered with and who did it? And so that was why that ridiculous press statement was put out. No one dared say anything. No one said doing anything.

Poor old Derek, flew back to Trinidad. And it was the next day that Alan wrote that piece in the Daily Mirror entitled how Pakistan cheated cricket. It was still going. The whole summer, from beginning to end, that was the media line. And it just never, it was never proved. Never proved either way.

And then as Ram says, everyone started doing it and having a go. But they had to disguise it because now, of course, the umpire's look and check. At the end of every over, the umpire has a look at the ball now. When a wicket falls, the umpires, thrown the ball by the players, all things that have been brought in to try and stop anything that's, that is illegal because you are not allowed to scratch a ball.

You are not allowed to, dare I say, rub dirt on a ball, but that happened two years later. Which is another story altogether. It's another story, but the reason that I took that particular line with Mike Atherton doing that was because of this series. I felt that because of the attitude that the British media had taken towards Pakistan, that he would not be right. if we've turned a blind eye to the England captain looking suspiciously as if he was ball tampering. And that was why I took a fairly strong line on that. Because I just felt that it wouldn't be right otherwise

because Pakistan had been condemned. There was no evidence of it that was at least able to be put out to say yes or no either way. And so that was why old dirt in the pocket flared up as it did. How did he react, Ramiz, to the ball change at laws? I was actually captaining the side because Javed was injured, I think. He wasn't playing that game. And then the vice captain, Salim Malik, couldn't turn up for fielding also.

He was the vice captain. So I took over the charge. And so, yeah, I mean, we had no idea what was happening because he was just informed during the lunch break that the ball has been replaced. without letting us know why. And so I remember the manager then writing a complaint that nothing was discussed. It's just been changed by the umpire or the match referee.

And so we protested in the dressing room that never a thing was mentioned on the field. You know, there's no suspicious as such from the umpires to suggest that we were doing something with the ball. And so suddenly, you know, during the lunch break, We were given a new ball and yet we go on to win this game. So I mean, we just couldn't understand that. It's never been satisfactorily done.

I mean, Darrell Hare at the Oval that time, remember when the runs just added to the score? Yeah. And so hang on a minute. Or why's that bit added? Well, they must have been ball tampering. It's never been adequately dealt with because it's a very serious. It's a delicate issue.

It is. You know, you are labeling somebody a cheat effectively. And it's always. been a difficult one for cricket to handle. How did you feel at the end of that tour, Rames? You'd won the test series, you lost the one day series. All this fororee about all sorts of things, umpiring, ball tampering, all that sort of thing. But you'd come and done the job, I suppose.

Yeah, I mean, from cricketing point of view, we were absolutely ecstatic, beating England in England was a big deal. But then obviously we didn't need that controversy. I mean, we were being labeled as cheats nobody wants that i never tempered with the ball myself so why would i be part of the gang uh so i felt really bad about the whole situation um and most of us believed that we were we were undone uh you know it was unjust from the british press to be to be going after us all the time with a suspicious eye we didn't like it we didn't and i mean That series should always be remembered because of what was him and Vakar achieved with the old ball.

It was just phenomenal bowling. It really was. And it set up a new generation of cricket. Yeah. The reverse swing, which still carries on today. I suspect mostly legitimately. I suspect that cricketers will always find a way. In my day, it was lip salve or peppermints or it was that people would suck.

professional sportsmen will always find a way. So who knows what the latest technique is. But reverse swing is now accepted entirely as being a legitimate part of the game. Yeah. So in a way, a series that had lots of consequences for the future. You know, neutral umpiring, for example. Also, I suppose, down the line, DRS as well.

I mean, the Graham Gooch run-out situation headingly would never have happened in the modern game, would it? Because we've just gone straight upstairs and there was no DRS back in those days. And also what's really good is that the relations between the two teams quickly actually became much better.

They did. And now, there's no question at all of any animosity or anything. But there was for a while. It was not a healthy state of affairs between England and Pakistan. But happily things are better now. I think these leagues have

also contributed to knowing each other rather than living in that tribe mentality. I think that really has helped to understand each other much better. Beefy's saying he wouldn't send his mother-in-law to Pakistan, all that sort of stuff. I know he only said it in jest. But it was kind of the, you know,

it was just the way that relations were at the time. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. So much sport today for all the goals. They go in, up and down the league. This is five-life sports. It's all right to the lights. And for ten of a floor. To ball him.

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