SO TO the Oval, which, unlike Headingley, is a favourite ground of mine. It has been transformed, through new stands and improved facilities, into one of the great arenas in world cricket.
For years, the pitches have been among the best in the game. Bill Gordon, the groundsman, has managed consistently to produce some of the best surfaces in that they have pace, bounce and turn. We have been preparing on our marble slab again to cope with the lifting ball.
We, too, have been affected in the past week by the foiling of the alleged terrorist plot. Some of the players’ wives and children, who had been visiting us, were unable to board a plane from Heathrow to Pakistan. If only people could be tolerant of each other throughout the world, as they are within cricket, which teaches tolerance, patience and good spirit. The players dismissed the baiting of Sajid Mahmood at Headingley from Pakistan supporters as banter. After all, he was born in England.
This is a tough time for touring teams as the final match in the series normally signals the departure of Test players and the arrival of the one-day players. It is always difficult to tell an individual that he has to go home but the good news is that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Malik are returning to full fitness and should figure in the limited-overs series at least.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have been involved with a winning team at Headingley, so, for me, the ground does not hold good memories. The 3½-hour bus journey south after the third Test was a time for reflection. We truly did believe we could win the match on the last day, but the turning point was the brilliant running out of Mohammad Yousuf by Paul Collingwood. It is frustrating when these errors occur , but part of our thinking was to push for every run and to try and pressure England into making mistakes.
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We lost as a result of the excellent bowling of Monty Panesar and I can concur with Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, that he is the best finger spinner in the world. Because of the pace at which he bowls, it is difficult for batsmen to come down the pitch and he has the ability to delay the release of the ball at the point of delivery when he sees this happening. We have to learn to be more patient when facing him.
There was a lot of fuss at Headingley about incorrect umpiring decisions, but they did not vex me. This has always been a part of the game. I thought about becoming an umpire when I retired as a player, so I sympathise with the officials. Increasingly there will be greater use of technology because machines are more consistent than human beings. I would have no objection to that but would be concerned that the ethics of the game would be severely tested.