ENGLAND v PAKISTAN 1992

Toss: Pakistan. Test debut: England - T.A.Munton.

This Test had moments of pure pleasure - Aamir Sohail's batting, Wasim Akram's bowling, David Gower's record aggregate - yet it will be remembered best for the incident between Aqib Javed, umpire Roy Palmer and Pakistan captain Javed Miandad that soiled the end of the England innings on the evening of the fourth day. Palmer warned Aqib for intimidatory bowling against Malcolm, and the situation became inflamed when Palmer returned Aqib's sweater with more emphasis than usual, probably because it was caught in his belt. That set off an exchange orchestrated by Miandad, as a Pakistan supporter ran on waving a rolled-up newspaper and chased by two security men. It was all too reminiscent of the confrontation between Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana at Faisalabad in 1987-88, except that Shakoor shouted back, while Palmer retained the dignity of a patient policeman watching a family squabble.

Conrad Hunte, deputising for match referee Clyde Walcott who had left early for an ICC meeting in London, fined Aqib half his match fee, approximately £300. He also severely reprimanded team manager Intikhab Alam for telling the press, while Hunte was holding his inquiry, that Palmer had insulted his players by throwing the sweater at Aqib. Hunte urged Miandad and Gooch to tell their men to play according to the spirit of the game, which infuriated Gooch, who had not been involved. Intikhab was censured again - this time by ICC - when he repeated his remarks, and declined to apologise, after the match. The Pakistan players were also fined 40 per cent of their match fees for their slow over-rate.

England had dropped Botham and Lamb, and Defreitas was declared unfit with a groin strain. Gower had been in such fine form with Hampshire that his much-criticised attitude, not to mention his unauthorised flight in Queensland 18 months earlier, was temporarily forgiven and he was recalled for his 115th Test, passing M. C. Cowdrey's England record. Atherton, batting fluently again after his back operation, also returned, and Warwickshire seamer Munton made his début at the third attempt. Pakistan were unchanged after their victory at Lord's, since when Ramiz Raja had made a trip home to have treatment for his back.

Once Miandad won the toss there was no question about who would bat on a fast and springy pitch built for the stroke-makers and an outfield quick enough to ensure they received full value for their shots. Sohail and Ramiz, two opening batsmen who had clearly attended the Gordon Greenidge school of controlled aggression, set off in a blaze of boundaries and by lunch 131 runs were on the board for the loss of Ramiz, given out off an inside edge discernible only to umpire Palmer - the starting point, so it was said, of the ill-feeling that grew afterwards. While Asif Mujtaba put down an anchor, Sohail assaulted any ball of less than perfect length and direction, so that he reached his first Test hundred from 127 balls in under three hours in only his fourth innings. He was 131 by tea and, after reaching his maiden double-hundred, went for 205, playing a tired shot to a searching ball from Lewis, 20 minutes before time. He hit 32 fours in 284 balls, most memorably through the covers. Mujtaba managed his second fifty of the series in less than two hours before he essayed his only rash stroke. Miandad was quiet save for an over from Salisbury in which he hit five boundaries, just to remind spectators who was master batsman in Test cricket now Viv Richards had gone. Each of the first three wickets put on more than a hundred runs.

The second day was washed out and after Miandad became Munton's first Test wicket on the third morning, within 12 runs of his 24th Test century, Pakistan looked unlikely to produce the really intimidating score that might yet have won the match. Gooch, who must have despaired of the quality produced by his senior bowlers, sent down 18 overs himself and claimed three wickets, as he recorded his best Test figures. When Pakistan declared in mid-afternoon on the third day, they were too short of time and runs to push hard for victory unless they instigated a rapid collapse. More bad light and rain hindered England's start, and Wasim's determination to make a showing on the ground where he had just signed to play four more years for Lancashire was illustrated both by his fire and by 32 no-balls in the innings. Most dramatically, in his eighth over he toppled both Stewart, playing at a wide ball, and Atherton, unable to deal with one swinging across him in the Bruce Reid manner. But Pakistan probably wrote off their chances of victory by dropping three catches before the close.

Gooch and Smith saw England to Monday morning (to avoid a clash with the men's final at Wimbledon, this Test was the only one of the summer which had a rest day) and, when Smith was lbw to a ball from Aqib that cut in, the crowd rose expectantly for Gower, who needed only 34 runs to overtake G. Boycott's record England aggregate of 8,114 Test runs. What followed was Gower in spades: a squeeze through slips, a superb cover drive, a delightful push through mid-wicket, a head-high chance to first slip and finally, only 31 minutes after he arrived at the crease, a cover-drive to the boundary, a fitting shot to make him England's most prolific scorer in his 200th Test innings. Both Gooch, who had battled for his 78, and Gower, out to a flash outside the off stump, were gone with 106 needed to save the follow-on. But Lewis, with his own mix of heavyweight drive and deliberate care, and Salisbury, with commendable spirit, both hit half-centuries to ensure Pakistan could not win. Wasim finished with five wickets, for the tenth time in Tests, and Aqib with four for 100, his best Test figures, including a nicely judged slow yorker to bowl Malcolm in his first over after the contretemps with Palmer. For once both outshone Waqar Younis. Guided by Miandad, Pakistan batted with scrupulous caution, but without difficulty throughout a final day made interesting by more overs from Gooch, who bowled Malik for the second time as he returned a match analysis of five for 69. England were without Russell, who had a stomach complaint, and Stewart kept wicket, a sign of things to come.

Man of the Match: Aamir Sohail.

Attendance: 44,891; receipts £618,204.

Close of play: First day, Pakistan 388-3 ( Javed Miandad 59*, Moin Khan 7*); Second day, No play; Third day, England 72-2 ( G. A. Gooch 39*, R. A. Smith 5*); Fourth day, England 390.