Pakistan makes mincemeat of England

By Ted Corbett

BIRMINGHAM, JUNE 8. The near riot which brought the first one-day International of the NatWest triangular tournament to a stop for half an hour at Edgbaston last night will be thoroughly discussed on Friday, ahead of two further matches in Cardiff and Bristol this week-end. The county clubs have been placed on alert and there will be extra security and more stewards at both matches.

But, as we saw on Thursday night, as the England- Pakistan match drew to a close, however great the number of stewards, there is nothing that can be done if a large section of the crowd decide to invade the field. This was clearly demonstrated when the capacity crowd thought that the England tail-ender Alan Mullally had been given out and rushed to congratulate their heroes. From that moment law and order broke down, with Pakistani fans refusing to leave the field despite pleas from the loud speaker system and the scoreboard announcements.

It needed a tour of the ground by the Pakistan captain Waqar Younis, who told the spectators that if they entered the field again there was a danger that Pakistan would lose the match, to restore order and even then, there were a few moments when it looked as if there would be a new invasion.

The match finished with a win by 108 runs to Pakistan - by a coincidence the same margin by which it won the second Test in Manchester on Monday - and few would argue that justice was done. But, the mob scenes left a nasty taste in the mouth and no doubt there will be demands for a full inquiry, new rules and a greater need for more police and draconian measures against those who run on to the field.

Cricket does not want that sort of justice. It prefers the gentle persuasion as the dulcet words of the public address system underlined. It repeatedly thanked fans who were clearly not co- operating for doing what they were told, said how much the authorities wanted to encourage them in their enthusiasm and that they would be welcome back.

It was difficult to tell how so many spectators invaded the ground because they were hidden by the huge number of stewards in flourescent coats, but a few highly vocal Pakistani men who had been standing in front of the Press Box were suddenly on the field, being just as vocal and holding up the game.

The captains, umpires and the match referee Brian Hastings of New Zealand held a meeting, at which concerns about the safety of players was raised, but in the end the match continued until the last wicket fell. The disturbance began when England had clearly no chance of winning the game and it is imperative that before another invasion the rules for dealing with a match which suffers a disturbance should be more clearly framed.

Pakistan was so much the better side that England put up one of its worst one-day displays and slumped to its fifth successive defeat. The World Cup in 2003 is not a viable target with this team and without Graham Thorpe, who will miss Sunday's match against Australia it has no one who can compete with such stars as Saeed Anwar, the man of the match, and Inzamam-ul-Haq who played yet another superb international innings.

``We were at our best and I am proud of the way we have played tonight,'' said Waqar Younis. None of the England bowlers showed the skills exhibited by the Pakistani squad, although after a poor start, Mullally kept control better than his team mates.

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