The themes of redemption and rehabilitation had been a constant companion for Pakistan in the build-up to what proved to be an epic first Test, but it was only in that moment of victory that the true significance of their 75-run win could be understood
Andrew Miller at Lord's 18-Jul-2016Shortly after 6 pm on the fourth afternoon at Lord’s, Mohammad Amir burst through Jake Ball’s defences with a fast and fierce stump-rattler and took off on that trademark spread-eagle celebration. In that moment two of the most significant aspects of Pakistan’s post-2010 story were pulled as one to lower the blinds on arguably the darkest chapter of their sporting history.The themes of redemption and rehabilitation had been a constant companion for Pakistan in the build-up to what proved to be an epic first Test, but it was only in that moment of victory – and its immediate aftermath, as Younis Khan turned from senior pro to drill sergeant to lead his team in a set of five press-ups and a salute to the flag – that the true significance of their 75-run win could be understood.Of course, Amir’s moment of glory will capture the imagination – and doubtless the back pages too – for his joy and passion, and that final victorious release of emotion, harked back to his more innocent teenage life, when he was known simply for his searing genius and not for any nefarious agreements with shady agents and hangers-on.But to hear Misbah-ul-Haq talking, in quietly reverential terms, about the inspiration that he and his team-mates had drawn from their weeks of training with the Pakistan Army in Abbottabad, and how eagerly every member of the team had wanted to emulate the tribute that he himself had made after reaching his hundred on the first day, was an indication of a wider truth about the national team’s importance to their country.Suddenly, it made sense why the likes of Wahab Riaz had been talking of treating Amir like a “little brother”, and how the team’s doubters – most notably Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali, but even, for a time, the captain himself – had come to accept the need for a collective show of unity on a tour so significant that personal differences simply could not be allowed to fester.It is hard to fathom the disconnect that must have existed between Pakistan’s players and their people in the years after the spot-fixing saga, especially given that the team had been living as exiles for most of that decade already – and remain so to this day – driven from their homeland by geo-politics and the sinister creep of terrorism.Cricket, in that grim context, ought to have been on hand to offer light relief to a troubled nation. Instead, the events of Lord’s 2010 offered a betrayal that went beyond the identity of the three guilty players.Here then, in a quirk of fate too juicy to ignore, was an opportunity to apologise to the nation with the most grandiose gesture imaginable. And how staggeringly Misbah and his men have seized the moment.”The one thing that we learnt from [Abbottabad], the army people are not getting much salaries, but for this flag and for the Pakistani nation, they want to sacrifice their lives,” Misbah said. “That’s a big motivation for all of us. Everyone is really putting effort in for that flag and the nation. We are giving 100% to try to win all the games.”The team was really hoping that we would get a chance [to do some press-ups] because I got a chance after scoring a hundred. But after winning this game they got the chance to send this small tribute to all those army men who were working really hard with us there at the boot camp. It’s a good message to send.”For some, such militaristic overtones may have uncomfortable connotations in the current climate, not least in a week that has featured a failed coup in Turkey. And, where Abbottabad is concerned, it is hard to think of that city without thinking of its most famous former inhabitant, Osama bin Laden, and the violent end that he met at the hands of US Navy Seals in May 2011.But it is a message that will resonate back home nonetheless, for the overt show of patriotism on the one hand but also for the clear message that hard work and discipline can overcome all manner of hardships. From the boot camp in Abbottabad, through the focus on skills in Lahore and, finally, to a lengthy acclimatisation period at the Ageas Bowl, every step of Pakistan’s journey to this redemption has been well-documented. However, in the moment of victory, Misbah was finally able to join the dots together.”The first importance was for the team to get fit, because if you are not fit enough you cannot really perform and be competitive,” he said. “Everyone worked really hard throughout that camp, then it comes to skills and then it comes to preparation in similar conditions to where you have to play.”I think the [Pakistan Cricket] board did a really good job in getting us here for ten days’ camp and a couple of [warm-up] games. That gave us a proper chance to acclimatise and it was really good for us that our batsmen got some confidence. If we can get to good scores we can win again here because our bowling attack is really good.”Pakistan’s victory salute was a symbol of overcoming hardships•Getty ImagesThe appointment of Mickey Arthur, in that regard, has so far proven to be a masterstroke. He departed his last tour of England as a figure of fun, sacked on the eve of the 2013 Ashes as the events of “Homeworkgate” caught up with a truculent squad. But where a pernickety insistence on detail proved his downfall back then, now it has provided Misbah’s leadership with a vital show of back-room support.”Whatever we needed before going into a Test match, we did it,” Misbah said. “You could say that was really emphasised by the coach, he influenced the cricket board to do the right preparations and be disciplined, and that is going to help us in the future also.”When it comes to the future, that is something that Pakistan’s cricket team can now embrace with alacrity, and it is at this point that Amir’s personal tale swims so clearly into view. There remains a hard core of dissenters – former players for the most part – who still maintain that he should never have been allowed to darken the game again. Zero tolerance for corruption – be it fixing or doping – is advocated by those who believe that innocence in sport needs to be protected at all costs – forgetting, perhaps, that innocence isn’t necessarily granted to all countries and cultures equally.And for that reason, there was something irresistible about the sight of Amir soaring once again on that final evening – amid the joy of that final wicket, but also with the fizz of one of the overs of a pulsating match, in which he smashed Stuart Broad’s stumps and then briefly appeared to be on a hat-trick, only for DRS to show a splinter of inside-edge on Steven Finn’s lbw.This was Amir reborn – restored, in the game’s closing moments, to the towering magnificence with which he had launched his first tilt at a Lord’s Test six years ago – remember the irresistibility of his six-wicket onslaught in the opening overs of the 2010 Test, before his world caved in?He had taken his time to settle into his comeback, and two dropped catches on the second day had extended his purgatory for a few extra overs. But in the end, Amir seized that second chance, and how Pakistan – as a nation – needs to hear such a powerful message that better times can come again.”That was a special moment for him,” Misbah said. “That could be the start of a new life and I think and hope he will prove to everybody that he can really be a good man now. He’s a good cricketer now, a good human being, and that’s the only way he can go. He is so lucky to get another chance, but it’s a new life for him, a new start.”England, inevitably, will be stung by this defeat, and have already been piqued by the celebrations. Over on Twitter, Tim Bresnan, one of England’s Ashes-winners on the 2010-11 tour of Australia, warned that the press-ups might come back to “bite” Pakistan, just as England’s infamous “Sprinkler” dance riled the Aussies on that trip, and Alastair Cook was clearly struggling not to sound churlish as he reflected on the scenes in England’s moment of defeat.”I didn’t take any offence but certainly, at that emotive time, it’s not pleasant viewing,” he said. “They’re entitled to do what they want and obviously it’s united them and shown us what a challenge we’ve got.”But frankly, such scenes had next to nothing to do with Cook and his men. It was all about Pakistan’s journey back into the light, by whatever means could help them to atone for the sins of their recent past. And, for this redemptive contest at least, it could not have worked to more spectacular effect.
