Intriguing encounter (6 June 1999)

6 June 1999

Intriguing encounter

Nizamuddin Ahmad in London

Trent Bridge, June 5: The Pakistan-South Africa match generated a lot of interest, not only because it was the clash of the two group champions, a calibration of group strengths, but also because it was Pakistan's opportunity to keep the enduring 'fans' at bay. New Zealand and Australia may have to work that much harder to prove the pundits wrong.

South African fans, in their yellow-banded green jerseys, seemed to have interred the Zimbabwe zap and were as exuberant as the bright Saturday morning sun. The Pakistanis appeared still dazed from the Bangladesh bolt from the blue.

The day began very well, but weather forecasts predicted cloud and rain later in the afternoon.

All sorts of people thronged Nottingham today. There was a school teacher, now head of a school in Bournemouth, who came to a cricket match after thirty years. "My son is giving me a birthday treat," he said with a wide grin. His big day was next week.

Nine-member of the "Lady Supporters of Cricket Clubs" have travelled all the way from South Africa to follow the team in the World Cup. "There are about two hundred of us in the whole of the tournament," said one of the ladies dressed in the majestic flag of Mandela-land.

Grounds around England are waking up to the call of Wasim Akram and Azharuddin to make them safe.

Security has been beefed up and bags were searched. Spectators were warned over the public address system yet again that they should not invade the playing area during play and that offenders would be ejected from the ground. Despite stewards forming a garland around the ground, a crowd invasion at the Oval on Friday could not be stopped at the end of the India-Australia match. Today, if predictions are in order, will be no different.

Additional security measures are in place for the India-Pakistan clash at Old Trafford in Tuesday next. Unlike at other grounds, only accredited personnel will be allowed access when the two teams practise at the Lancashire County Cricket Club ground the day before.

The English problem is the grounds, including this one, has no barrier between the sitting area and the playing field. It is not possible to stop the invading crowd, racing to get the stumps as souvenir, or to just touch their heroes, with only the help of outnumbered joyless stewards. More measures will surely be required if the apprehended trouble at Old Trafford is to be arrested on Tuesday.

Wasim Akram's his security plea was answered with large number of police joining the ground stewards to make conditions safe for the players. They returned to the pavilion for the lunch-break through a cordoned-off corridor.

Pakistan fans were rather subdued on the day. They were not in their usual large numbers as at other venues previously. For the first few overs they were not sure whether to forget the Bangladesh sting and enjoy themselves, or to wait and see to save the blushes later. It is to the credit of their cricket sense that they chose the latter. Their judgement was rewarded for Pakistan crawled to 157 for six in 43 overs. The last seven overs saw a different story as Moin Khan played a gem of an inning.

The Pakistanis need not have worried for much of the support at the county ground went their way. As some English fans told this correspondent in the morning on the way to the stadium, "We are neutrals. We'll support Pakistan."Lady supporters or not, the South Africans were hopelessly outnumbered in the stands. Their fans were sparsely sprinkled around the ground, but not even in one consolidated group. For once an English cricket ground looked to be dominated by the English. It may be recalled that the noisy Bangladeshi fans made every ground a home affair.

The high price of the Super Six tickets could have put many off, but not all of them. One Pakistani bought a sixty pounds ticket at one hundred in the black. As always, whatever the rush for ticket days before a match, tickets were available near the ground on the match day, but at a premium price.

Only Moin Khan, it seemed, did justice to that Pakistani's gamble.

Wait! There could have been a mistake. In the 48th over of the Pakistan innings, after Moin hit Pollock for a straight six and then a four through extra cover, pockets of Pakistani supporters popped up from practically all the galleries. There were in fact many more of them than met the eye.

However, as this is being written Moin paid for taking a second run, proving once again the risk of running off a mis-fielding, especially if Hansie Cronjie is the fielder. In the spirit of the 'carnival of cricket' a steel band from Trinidad & Tobago played during the lunch interval. Young children played 'quick cricket', an effort of the England & Wales Cricket Board to popularise the game among them, as the catchy tune drummed on.

Source :: The Daily Star