Oh No ! Pakistan V Australia at Lords !

Lords
By Saj
September 1 2004

The recent history of Pakistan versus Australia matches at Lords is terrible, but its time to put that right in Saturdays warmup fixture for the ICC Trophy.

Well this coming Saturday it’s that dreaded combination for Pakistani fans of the venue being Lords, the day being a Saturday and the opposition being Australia. This combination of course conjures up some unhappy and painful memories for Pakistani fans all over the globe.

The most famous occasion being the 1999 World Cup final where a match that promised so much turned into a one sided and embarrassing show. The Pakistani team had gone into the final on 20 June 1999 with the backing of most neutrals and looking in sparkling form. With the likes of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam ul Haq, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq in their ranks, this was expected to be a showpiece occasion.

The fact that Pakistan could only muster 132 all out and Australia knocking those runs off for the loss of only 2 wickets and in only 20.1 overs, does still hurt Pakistani fans, despite the match being over 5 years ago.

Unproven match fixing accusations were thrown at the players, accusations of late night misbehaviour the night before the match were also made at the players – however once again these allegations were unproven. There were stories about unwanted officials and politicians being in the Pakistan dressing room shortly before the match was due to start and disrupting the atmosphere and levels of concentration of the team.

The atmosphere throughout the tournament for any matches involving India and Pakistan was electric, with both sets of fans providing, colour, noise and passion. However this was nowhere to be seen in the final as the MCC placed a ban on flags, banners and hooters.

All in all a miserable day for Pakistani fans and players alike.

The second miserable match with the dreaded combination of Lords, Australia and Saturday was in the Natwest series on 23rd June 2001. This was the final in of the tri-series between Pakistan, England and Australia where the 2 overseas team shad dominated the home team.

This match was almost a replica of the 1999 match. Pakistan had 5 players who did not play in the 1999 match yet still succumbed to 152 all out scoring only 20 runs more than the match of 2 years earlier. Once again a few cameo innings of twenties were not good enough.

The Australians in almost ruthless fashion, bludgeoned their way to 156 for the loss of only 1 wicket, from only 26.3 overs – yet again game over well before the scheduled time and Lords became a park for the spectators to enjoy their picnics, not that too many Pakistani fans would have stayed behind of course. The bowling with the exception of Wasim Akram took a fearful pounding.

So that’s the painful history of showdowns with Australia at Lords, but what of this Saturdays match. Well its allegedly a friendly and a warm up for the upcoming ICC Trophy, so in theory, there should be less pressure on the players. The Pakistan team ran the Aussies close in Amsterdam recently so should be confident that the Aussies are beatable and therefore should not be overawed by the occasion.

However in my opinion the most important weapon for Pakistan will be, no not Shoaib Akhtars near 100mph deliveries, no not Samis inswinging Yorkers, no not Inzis square cuts, but the hooters (if permitted by MCC). Yes those hooters that accompany the Pakistani team wherever they play in England. Every die – hard Pakistani fan has to have one and whilst it irritates the hell out of the fans sat in front of you, Pakistan fans feel that the hooters inspire their team.

So all you Pakistani fans in England who have tickets for the warm up or ICC Trophy matches get your hooters out and get behind the boys !