FROM THE MAG: David Gower is delighted to see England return and recalls his time there in both a playing and commentating capacity with fondness
David Gower writes every month for The Cricketer magazine. This is an abridged version of his article that features in our November issue. To read the full version, grab a copy of the magazine by clicking here.
It's by no means just about the cricket...
Cricket series between England and Pakistan have historically attracted attention for reasons of history, politics, sportsmanship, umpiring and more besides. Now and again a classic contest on the field has managed to grab an intermittent headline.
Paradoxically the seven T20Is this September were played in fine spirit with seesawing results, brilliance and flaws inextricably intermingled for both teams, and the cricket was the sole story. Long may it last!
No doubt one of the reasons is that a strong core of the England squad has played here in recent years in the Pakistan Super League so those men have been renewing friendships made over the course of that time previously spent in Pakistan.
It shows via the various conversations one sees at the grounds before the matches and, as I have always believed it should be, that admirable camaraderie has not detracted one iota from the will to win on the pitch.
David Gower looks on after the 4th T20I between Pakistan and England at Karachi National Stadium [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
My one series as a player was the month we spent in Pakistan after the tour of New Zealand in 1983/84. The NZ leg had been enormous fun, not entirely for cricketing reasons.
As a clue, my big mate, the one they used to call just Beefy in those days, had been exposed by the Mail on Sunday for having far too much of a good time and there were stories of, for instance, a massive party in Wellington (largely true, I confess) among other hedonistic tales.
When we got to Pakistan we were warned to be on our best behaviour and we were obviously more than happy to respect the mores of the country and crack on with the cricket, which began with the first Test at Karachi.
The National Stadium looked a lot different in those days, without the big stands and with a much smaller pavilion side on to the pitch.
The pitch itself was ever so different to the ones I've seen in the PSL and T20I series. It had grass, on the first morning was bouncing and seaming, especially for Sarfraz Nawaz, and by day four was turning square.
It was our first sighting of the magician that was Abdul Qadir. I've always said that Abdul was pretty much as good as the much missed Shane Warne, with all the same variations but less of the bombast – a lovely man who loved the art of legspin bowling just as much as Shane.
I was pretty proud of my half-centuries in that match but fell to the Qadir flipper in the first innings, promptly making mental notes to look for it again from then on.
Abdul Qadir of Pakistan celebrates after he captures a vital England wicket during the first Test match at the National Stadium in Karachi in 1984 [Adrian Murrell/Allsport/Getty]
On that fourth day Pakistan needed 65 to win and I was equally proud of my Leicestershire colleague, Nick Cook's, 5 for 18, which almost saw us snatch an unlikely victory with Pakistan 66 for 7 as they stumbled across the finish line.
After that it was flat pitches. Bob Willis and Ian Botham left the fray, the latter stirring things up post back op from his hospital bed in Birmingham by describing Pakistan as a place to which he wouldn't even send his mother-in-law, or words to that effect.
She, Jan, was undecided as to whether to take offence but again the Pakistan nation was in no doubt that this was an unwarranted slur. Much as we might have attempted to play it down, the matter was debated in parliament in Pakistan and the catering staff at the stadium in Lahore downed their kitchen tools, condemning us to lunches of baked beans on toast.
That third Test saw me as acting captain declare leaving Pakistan needing 243 to win but also giving us enough overs to maybe sneak a shock win but at 173 for 0 they were well on their way.
I remember Mike Gatting suggesting putting deep square leg back for Norman Cowans, a trap was sprung and with Mohsin Khan and Shoaib Mohammad out we ended up watching them shut up shop to draw the match but keep the series, with 'Normie George' picking up five.
Back to 2022, over the course of the T20I series much work was done behind the scenes to build on the goodwill and the Test tour will be yet more important in building and cementing relations between PCB and ECB. I hope to be back if possible as part of the PCB authorised broadcast team but will also be helping to host a tour group with Black Opal.
The question that quite naturally all prospective tourists have reasonably asked is whether it is safe to come.
My answer with hand on heart is that, although one can never be 100 per cent sure of anything whether you are in London or Lahore, the more likely situation is that visitors will be overwhelmed by the number of cricket lovers in Pakistan saying thank you for coming. It means so much to them.
Inside our November 2022 issue of The Cricketer magazine, you'll also find:
- A cornucopia of county cricket with 2 pages on each club, and sections on red ball, white, and off the field
- George Dobell and Vic Marks review the season
- Huw Turbervill on the counties' resistance to the Strauss reforms
- Tanya Aldred names her County Championship XI of the season
- George Dobell previews England's prospects at the T20 World Cup
- Barney Ronay on his fandom for Mark Wood
- Jamie Theakston tells us why he loves cricket
- Ed Smith on his time with England, and the McCullum era
- Shane Lee recalls meeting The Queen in 'whatever happened to'
- Nick Cook reflects on a half-century of playing and umpiring
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