Pakistan are the visitors for the second half of the summer, and it will be a surprise if the latest renewal of the cricket rivalry between England and Pakistan does not involve controversy and even acrimony.
Probably because Javed Miandad and Imran Khan played for Sussex I have always had a soft spot for the Pakistan team, despite all the rancour. As a teenager I admired the batting of Zaheer Abbas and the fashion sense of Asif Iqbal. Maybe my memory is playing tricks but I am fairly sure it was Asif who wore flared cricket trousers when batting for Kent in the Benson and Hedges Cup Final (the halcyon days of tobacco sponsorship).
The widespread popularity of Pakistani cricketers in county cricket did not though dampen the ill feeling between the national sides at test level. Javed would fight anyone, 'Surian' (Beefy) Botham famously declared he wouldn't even send his mother-in law to Pakistan. Imran had a noble and lofty Pathan disdain for the English batsmen.
Mike Gatting, President of the MCC despite leading a rebel tour to apartheid South Africa, abused the Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana on the field of play, jabbing his finger in his face and accusing him of cheating.
Two great Pakistani bowlers, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, invented reverse swing but were openly accused by 'Beefy' and the South African English batsman Alan 'Legga' Lamb of ball tampering. This controversy even led to a ludicrous libel action in the courts which did not reflect well on any of the parties involved.
Ball tampering allegations surfaced again under the captaincy Inzamam-ul-Haq, who took umbrage at being deducted runs by umpire Darrell Hair and led the Pakistan team off the pitch in protest.
Finally the last tour was blighted by the match fixing allegations which have dogged some members of the Pakistan team over the years. In truth it was 'spot fixing' (fixing an individual event within a game) rather than actually throwing the whole match, but those Pakistani cricketers involved were deservedly prosecuted and sent to prison for their corrupt behaviour.
I had always assumed that part of the reason for the rancour was an overhang from colonisation. Understandably the Pakistanis would want to get one over their former 'masters' in the great game of cricket that had been introduced by the English. However it still did not offer a full explanation as both India and the West Indies had similar imperialist issues but the ill-feeling did not seep onto the cricket field in the same way.
It occurred to me that perhaps it could be religion. After all Islamist terror has resulted in the Pakistani team having to play their 'home' tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and perhaps the culture clash was greater than with former colonies which had a more relaxed attitude to such issues.
It was only when I read the obituary of Donald Carr that I came to see that there might be a more simple explanation. Carr was steeped in the English cricket establishment, captaining the 'Public Schools' Eleven', managing MCC tours, 'probably' taking the minutes at the 1968 meeting where Basil D'Oliveria was not selected for the England team to tour South Africa and then being appointed Secretary of the Test and County Cricket Board.
The startling revelation for me though was his involvement in an incident when he captained the MCC (England) team which toured Pakistan in 1956. The England players disguised themselves in masks and kidnapped the Pakistani umpire Idris Baig, because they disagreed with some of his decisions. Mr Baig was taken by force to the England team hotel where he was doused in water and then released. As captain of those responsible for this crime Carr felt it was simply high jinks and a prank, and received a lengthy 'telling-off' for his part.
Obviously it is sometimes a mistake to judge events of a previous era by the standards of today, but it still seems extraordinary that the kidnapping and humiliation of a Pakistani umpire by the English cricket team could simply be explained away as a 'ragging' brought on by 'high spirits.'
Having learnt this history I can now sympathise with any Pakistani cricketer being pretty keen to do all he could - within the rules - to beat England.
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