Umpiring decision mars drawn match

By Ted Corbett

FAISALABAD, DEC. 3. Another day at the Iqbal Stadium, another umpiring controversy. Thirteen years ago an umpiring row brought the ground two days of infamy, and as the final hours of the second Test were played out for a draw on Sunday umpire Mian Mohammad Aslam gave the England captain Nasser Hussain out when he was more likely not out twice.

If the decision against Hussain was lbw then television replays showed that his leg was outside the line of the off stump at the moment of impact; if the decision was a catch behind the same replay showed Hussain's bat missing the ball. In the first innings Hussain was ruled out lbw by the West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor after edging it into his pads. He has also had rough decisions this year in Cape Town and Rawalpindi. Little wonder his top score in Tests is 25, his Test average for the year around 11 and his confidence at an all-time low.

There is another side to this coin. England was set a winning total - this is theory for it had no hope of getting the runs - of 244 in 62 overs. If it had looked likely of achieving the target Pakistan would have put up the shutters. So when England faced the sort of total that would have been easy in one- day cricket - with its fielding restrictions and stricter rules on wides - it still knew it could only lose or draw. Moin Khan's declaration took that into account after his batsmen had added 83 in 90 minutes before lunch and totalled 269 for three.

But from the moment Marcus Trescothick was out having made just ten, it was clear that Hussain might want to test out the possibility of a win. He was out of his seat on the balcony and walking briskly down the stairs the moment Trescothick left the wicket so that they crossed on the field. Hussain took a big swish at his first ball from the off-spinner Arshad Khan, hit a risky four and tried another big shot.

Off the ninth ball he aimed a hefty stroke and the ball ended in Moin Khan's gloves. Umpire Aslam, who has been restrained throughout this Test, gave him out immediately. Umpire Bucknor is reported to have been ``horrified'' when he saw a replay of the lbw and no doubt umpire Aslam will have the same reaction. As if that was not bad enough Graham Thorpe was bowled in Arshad's next over as he left a straight ball so that three were down for 57 with 39 overs left to bowl and Alec Stewart, an unsure batsman against spin, next at the wicket. He and Michael Atherton, who revels in a long, slow innings and who had already been hit on the visor by a ball from Wasim Akram before lunch survived until tea even though Moin Khan switched his spinners frequently.

Shahid Afridi sent a new panic through the England ranks when he had Stewart caught and bowled Graeme Hick for nought but Craig White and Atherton saw out time until Moin Khan gave up the victory attempt with five overs left.

The Test had died and, I am afraid, so had the series which now seems doomed to be played out on pitches that ought to be used for a ploughing competition. The first two have been low and slow on the instructions of the Pakistan management who fear the power of the England pace bowlers. It seems unlikely that they will change their policy for the Karachi Test.

Atherton's unselfish 64 spread across 205 minutes and 57 overs secured the draw but it was the hitting of Abdur Razzaq in the first session which put Pakistan in such a strong position. He was allowed to complete his first Test century which must be a measure of the respect with which he is held and his future.

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