“Wooooaaaah … no ball!” As comebacks go, it is fair to say that Manchester is less collectively thrilled about Mohammad Amir’s than that of the Stone Roses and, as the alcohol levels among the Old Trafford crowd increased on a day that was largely baked in sunshine, so too did the jeers for the left-armer.
Amir’s welcome at Lord’s last week had, bar the odd wag, been largely a warm one, with the hive mind at the home of cricket – the scene of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal that saw Amir lose five years of his promising career – deciding that the best response to the return of a player who damaged the sport should be one of respectful applause.
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, made a point of thanking the spectators after his side’s 75-win victory too, although his hope that Amir, having taken the final wicket in poignant and stump-shattering fashion, could now move on and start a second life as an international cricketer was always going to be a touch optimistic.
Lord’s is, after all, as accurate a barometer of the cricket-watching public’s mood as social media is a tool for calling the result of referendums and the true test for the 24-year-old on this tour was always going to come at the livelier venues around the country. The first of these, Old Trafford, was not in a particularly forgive-and-forget mood on the first day.
It began in slightly subdued fashion first thing, with merely light boos greeting the first mention of Amir’s name over the public address system after Misbah, having seen his run of seven victories at the toss come to an end, threw his spearhead the new ball. The first delivery, defended stoutly by Alastair Cook, was then met with a smattering of no-ball calls.
But as the day rumbled on, and the effects of the drink started to kick in, this gentle introduction had been replaced by an increased hostility from certain sections of the crowd, with each of the 66 balls he sent down after lunch – none of which overstepped the mark – were given the caustic chorus.
Funny? Not particularly. Did it get to him? Hardly. Amir, who has prepared for this tour with the help of a psychologist, remains a thrilling talent and on a tough day for Pakistan – one that saw England’s four days of soul-searching result in a promising response from the batsmen – he shone brightest with the ball for figures of two for 63 from his 20 overs.
Amir’s first wicket, coming in the morning session while the lager still tasted of toothpaste and the jeers were quieter, was an exhibition of high-class swing bowling. Alex Hales may be an opener still searching for his groove at Test level and therefore ripe for the plucking but the set-up and sucker-punch that uprooted his off-stump on 10 would have accounted for many a more established player.
The second, which saw Cook’s stumps similarly explode on the stroke of tea after bringing up his 29th Test century, profited from some low bounce off the Old Trafford surface but, if this was good fortune on the part of the bowler, it was also reward for a nagging line amid the most heated reception he has faced since returning from suspension at the start of the year.
This all emanated, it must be said, from a vocal minority among the 16,000 present and there is every chance they will wake up in the morning with both vague recollections of watching a fine bowler in full flight and a tinge of regret about how they treated him.
It would be a shame if these cries continued throughout the summer; Amir, who has served his time for a mistake made as a teenager six years ago, is not made of stone.
