da dobrowin： Shakoor Rana, the umpire involved in the infamous Test matchdispute with Mike Gatting, could be umpiring an England A matchon the current tour of Pakistan
23-Nov-2005Paul Newman in Lahore talks to the scourge of FaisalabadShakoor Rana, the umpire involved in the infamous Test match dispute with Mike Gatting, could be umpiring an England A match on the current tour of Pakistan. The very suggestion brings both enthusiasm and excitement to his voice.”I would love to umpire an England A match,” he says. “That would prove the previous chapter is closed.” The ghost of one of English cricket`s darkest hours may be about to materialise.Shakoor is looking forward to watching England A take on a Pakistan Cricket Board XI in his native Lahore next Saturday when he will “say hello to my good friend John Emburey”. The tourists may then make a much closer acquaintance with the man who brought aTest to a standstill and began Gatting`s demise as England captain.A campaign to ensure Shakoor stands in at least one match of thefirst major English tour of Pakistan since the infamous Faisalabad affair of 1987 is gaining momentum here. “I`m talking to people about this to see what I can do,” said Omar Kureishi, vicechairman of the Pakistan World Cup committee. “Shakoor`s standing would be the perfect bridge-building exercise between thecountries. Even if the umpires for the tour have been appointedby the PCB, they can be changed.”Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Telegraph, Shakoor welcomedthe development and talked openly about his feelings towards Gatting and his contented family life in Old Anarkali, a prosperousdistrict of Lahore. Time appears to have mellowed him but thereare still flashes of the stubborness which saw unprecedentedscenes of conflict between an umpire and an England captain on acricket field.”Gatting did the wrong thing when he started abusing me and therewere a lot of words exchanged. But I would handle it differentlyif it happened again,” said Shakoor, now 58 and still working forPakistan railways in Lahore as an assistant sports officer,coaching cricket and lecturing on umpiring.”I didn`t like what happened and would be much more calm now.But I have no regrets. Everybody in Pakistan knows Shakoor Ranaand it has had no bad effect on my life.”It did not do much for his umpiring career, however. Since thefinger-pointing episode at Faisalabad, when a day`s play was lostwhile he insisted on an apology from Gatting which finally cameunder protest when the TCCB insisted the England captain did so,Shakoor has been restricted to just two Tests and Pakistanidomestic cricket.He will not stand on England`s tour if Arif Abbasi, chief executive of the PCB, has his way. “I am on record as saying that manwill never stand in another Test,” said Abbasi. “If I can helpit, that will remain the case. What he did was wrong.”Not according to Shakoor, even now. A popular theory afterFaisalabad was that the umpire was poised to apologise along withGatting in a compromise to ensure the Test continued but, withPakistan struggling to stay in the game, captain Javed Miandadtalked Shakoor out of it. Not so, he says.”I was never going to apologise,” said Shakoor. “I`d done nothingwrong. I`m still very proud of Mike Gatting`s written apology. Ikeep it under my pillow and read it from time to time.”He has twice visited England since 1987, once on holiday and oncethanks to a #7,000 cheque from a tabloid newspaper for an interview, but his efforts to talk to the Middlesex captain were rebuffed.”I went to watch him play and said `Hello Mike, how are you?` “said Shakoor. “He said: `Oh God, not you again.` He was upset butI just wanted to bury the hatchet.”I would have just told him to forget Faisalabad and let us befriends. But I would not have said sorry.”