Following Pakistan's 14-run win against England on Monday, there were familiar murmurs in some quarters about the England players being unhappy with the state of the ball. The tacit suggestion was that the Pakistan pacers were indulging in a bit of mischief to alter the condition of the ball and gain reverse swing. Such 'controversies' aren't new to contests between the two teams.
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The root of the to-and-fro about ball-tampering between England and Pakistan can perhaps be traced back to 1992, when Pakistan beat England 2-1 in a five-match Test series on English soil. Right through the series, the English batsmen were clueless against the prodigious reverse swing generated by the likes of
Wasim Akram and
Waqar Younis. Instead of doffing their hat to the skill sets of Wasim and Waqar, the English players moaned about the Pakistanis employing devious tactics to achieve success.
2006In one of the most controversial cases of ball-tampering till date, the Pakistanis - led by
Inzamam-ul-Haq - had to forfeit the match when they chose not to re-enter the field of play during the fourth day of the fourth Test against England at
The Oval
in 2006. Having been charged of ball-tampering by on-field umpires
Darrell Hair and
Billy Doctrove, Pakistan decided to take a firm stance. While Inzamam and the Pakistanis were later acquitted of the charge, he was banned for four ODIs for "bringing the game into disrepute".
2019Just three weeks ago, it was the England team that was on the wrong side of these charges. After the second ODI against Pakistan at Rose Bowl, Southampton, videos started swirling around on social media of England pacer
Liam Plunkett running his fingers over the ball in a seemingly suspect fashion. The ICC, though, cleared Plunkett of any wrongdoing.