England vs Pakistan: From Mike Gatting to Wahab Riaz, five biggest fracas

London: Cricket matches between England and Pakistan have often been a fraught affair, with rows over umpiring, ball-tampering, abandoned fixtures and a spot-fixing row all contributing to a tense relationship which is set to be renewed when the teams meet for the first Test at Lord’s on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_2892736” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Alastair Cook and Misbah-ul-Haq during the press conference. Reuters[/caption] Here’s a look back at five of the biggest rows: 1956: Idrees Baig and the bucket of water Idrees Baig, a Pakistani umpire, was “kidnapped” by England players, taken to the team hotel in Peshawar and doused with two buckets of water. As captain of the touring MCC side, the late Donald Carr dismissed the incident as a prank after some questionable decisions against MCC. What was intended as a joke has often been cited as the root cause of many subsequent England-Pakistan rows. 1987: Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana [caption id=“attachment_2892702” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  File photo of Mike Gatting . Getty[/caption] The Faisalabad Test of 1987 became infamous for perhaps the most heated of all on-field arguments when Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana accused England captain Mike Gatting of illegally moving a fielder late on the second day. Gatting, who was adamant he had done nothing wrong, responded to being a called a “cheat” by Rana by confronting the square-leg umpire and the two men were soon pointing fingers at each other’s chests. Rana refused to stand on the third day, meaning there was no play, but after a rest day and shortly ahead of the fourth day’s play, Gatting presented the umpire with a scribbled apology. 1992: Swing suspicions [caption id=“attachment_2892704” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The umpires and the Pakistan team discuss the condition of the ball during the Third Test match against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Getty[/caption] Reverse swing was still a relatively new concept in English cricket at this time but it was used to great effect by touring Pakistani pacemen Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. But their success, which the England bowlers couldn’t match, attracted suspicions of illegal ball-tampering and matters came to a head during a one-day international at Lord’s. Bad weather meant the game went into a second day when a trio of English officials — on-field umpires Ken Palmer and John Hampshire together with third umpire Don Oslear — ordered the ball be changed under Law 42, which deals with the condition of the ball. Administrators, horrified by a possible scandal, refused to announce publicly why the ball had been changed — something that angered Pakistan, who then had to confront numerous allegations. Meanwhile England batsman Allan Lamb gave an interview to the Daily Mirror headlined “How Pakistan Cheat at Cricket”. 2006: Forfeit at The Oval [caption id=“attachment_2892718” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Supporters hold up a flag referring to the Oval Test match during the Natwest Twenty20 International between England and Pakistan. Getty[/caption] England were bystanders as Pakistan became the first team in 129 years and 1,814 fixtures to forfeit a Test match. The incident began on the fourth afternoon at The Oval when experienced Australian umpire Darrell Hair tapped his shoulder to indicate five penalty runs, signalling he had found the Pakistanis guilty of ball-tampering. The angry tourists refused to take the field after tea and Hair, together with West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove took that to mean they had forfeited the match which, after hours of confusion, was awarded to England. This match marked the beginning of the end of Hair’s time as a top umpire after it later emerged he had offered to resign in exchange for $500,000. 2010: Trott and Riaz clash at Lord’s [caption id=“attachment_2892724” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Wahab Riaz hits out watched by wicketkeeper Matt Prior as Jonathan Trott takes evasive action during Test Match in 2010. Getty[/caption] Pakistan’s tour was already mired in controversy following the spot-fixing scandal in that year’s Lord’s Test and when the teams returned to the “home of cricket” for a one-day international, England batsman Jonathan Trott and Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz had to be separated in the nets after exchanging angry words.