Pakistan-england Flashpoints
One of the biggest fixing controversies in the history of the game was unearthed by the now defunct British tabloid the News of the World on August 28, 2010 when they revealed Pakistani pacemen Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamir contrived with captain Salman Butt and agent Mazhar Majeed to bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test.
The scandal rocked the game. All four accused were interrogated by Scotland Yard before an anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council (ICC) handed the three players lengthy bans. A British court then sent Majeed to jail for 32 months, Butt for 30 months, Asif for 12 months and Aamir for six.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt enraged the England team by alleging they'd been involved in fixing a one-day game at The Oval during the same series. Those allegations put the last two matches in doubt as England demanded an apology from Butt. He finally retracted and apologised.
2006: OVAL FIASCO
Australian umpire Darrell Hair and West Indian colleague Billy Doctrove penalised Pakistan five runs for ball-tampering on the fourth day of the fifth and final Test of the 2006 series against England at The Oval.
So incensed were Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq and his side they refused to take the field after tea and were thus deemed to have forfeited the match — the first time this had happened in Test cricket history.
After a hearing presided over by ICC chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, Pakistan were cleared of ball-tampering but Inzamam was banned for four one-day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute.
Under pressure, the ICC then declared the game a draw before reverting to their original decision of an England win.
2005: AFRIDI DAMAGES PITCH
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was caught on television scraping his boots on the surface when play was held up after a gas cylinder exploded during the Faisalabad Test of England's 2005 tour.
Umpire Hair and England batsman Marcus Trescothick noticed the difference in the pitch and the suspicions were confirmed by television footage. Afridi pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct and was handed a ban of one Test and two one-day internationals.
1992: ‘BALL-TAMPERING’ SAGA
Pakistan's fearsome pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis demolished England with unprecedented reverse swing but were labelled as ‘cheats’ by the English media on the 1992 tour. Pakistan won the fivematch Test series 2-1 with Waqar claiming 22 wickets and Wasim 21. Finally the saga took an ugly turn when the umpires had to change the ball during the Lord's one-dayer, suspecting ball-tampering.
Pakistan team manager Khalid Mahmood defended his bowlers but the allegations reverberated during the tour and the relationship between the two teams continued to remain bitter.
1987: GATTING-RANA ROW
Mike Gatting, England's captain on the 1987 tour of Pakistan, had a finger-wagging row with Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana which made worldwide headlines and almost led to the tour being called off.
After losing the first Test on a controversial note, Gatting got entangled in a row with Rana. The skipper was accused of moving a fielder during the bowler's run-up. Rana stopped the game and called Gatting a ' cheat' to which the England skipper prodded his finger at the Pakistani umpire.
Rana refused to stand again until he received a formal apology. The entire third day was lost and the tour was nearly called off before high-level government influence saw it continue. — AFP