Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan head coach, insists there has been no suggestion among his players that England’s display of reverse swing bowling on the final day at Edgbaston was a result of ball-tampering.
The Pakistan television channel PTV, in the aftermath of its national team’s 141-run defeat on Sunday, showed footage of Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson polishing the ball with the presenter, Dr Nauman Niaz, insinuating that their actions went beyond accepted practice.
England have opted not to give a response and Arthur, whose side lost six wickets during the afternoon session, believes it was simply good bowling on the part of the home side; were there a problem, he said, then the ICC’s match referee, Richie Richardson, would have got involved. “It certainly hasn’t been discussed by us,” said Arthur. “I thought they bowled it particularly well. It hasn’t been mentioned in our camp at all. There’s a match referee and if there’s anything of any concern, or any footage, then he would deal with it.
“England used reverse swing very well and it just shows the importance of being able to harness that skill. It was only about four or five overs where it went and it didn’t go massive – but it created a lot of doubt for the batsmen. England used it very, very well and got their rewards for it.”
The series, which England lead 2-1 going into the fourth and final fixture, resumes at The Oval on Thursday where 10 years ago Pakistan, led by Inzamam-ul-Haq, forfeited the fourth Test by refusing to take the field after tea on the fourth day.
It followed the award of five penalty runs to the home side by the umpires, Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove, who believed the condition of the ball had been altered. While the tourists were later cleared of any wrongdoing, the win was awarded to England in 2009, having been briefly recorded by the ICC as an abandoned match and a draw.
This summer Pakistan are on a mission to win over supporters in England following the acrimony that resulted from the 2010 spot-fixing scandal at Lord’s and while they are currently behind in the series, Arthur sees the tour as having been a success on that front.
“It will be mission accomplished if we can get out of this Test match at 2-2, that will be a hugely successful tour,” he said. “I certainly think off the field we have made a lot of friends. The way the boys have conducted themselves through these last two months has been exemplary. They’ve been a credit to Pakistan.”
Umar Gul has been recalled to the ODI squad to face Ireland and England from 18 August. The fast bowler has not played limited-overs cricket for his country for over a year and, alongside the uncapped Hasan Ali, is one of four seamers picked for the squad. Mohammad Irfan, though, has been left out. After his two impressive innings at Edgbaston, Sami Aslam has also been included.
