“I was three years old! What happened? Oh right – hopefully we can reverse that, fingers crossed.”
Alex Hales’ ignorance of the last time England met Pakistan in a global tournament final at the MCG was neither unexpected nor unreasonable.
Like a tiger: Imran Khan, centre, celebrates with teammates after winning the 1992 World Cup.Credit:Craig Golding
Thirty years ago, played on a Wednesday afternoon in March and broadcast outside of Australia on what was then a nascent international network of sport on cable television, the 1992 50-over World Cup finale was something like the start of the era in which Hales and others have defined themselves.
For viewers from many nations it was the first time to see white-ball matches played under lights, as this was the first edition of the world cup to do so.
There were also the first sprouts of tactical innovation in the causes of aggression, for what had up to that point been a game defined by limiting (read defensive) tactics. Australia’s win in the 1987 edition in India and Pakistan had been characterised by physical fitness, discipline with the bat, the ball and in the field, and a regimented structure.
The England squad that Graham Gooch led to the 1992 final was in many ways the last of those such teams to dominate. They had advantage of the fact that between the 1960s and the 1990s, English county competitions were the equivalent of the IPL in terms of the volume of white-ball cricket played, if not the financial returns for players.
Much has been made of how, before the 2019 ODI World Cup in the UK, England had never won the trophy. But they made the 1979, 1987 and 1992 finals, enjoyed a handsome record in the Texaco Trophy one day series at home, and scooped the World Series Cup and the Perth Challenge in 1986-87 in Australia.
It was with that disciplined brand of play that Gooch’s England dominated for most of the 1992 event, only to gradually run out of steam towards the back end of the round-robin phase, and trip into the final when South Africa’s SCG chase was summarily ended by a simplistic rain rule.
Pakistan, by contrast, had timed a run so perfect that Imran Khan’s team eliminated Australia on the last playing day before the semi-finals by thrashing New Zealand, to that point unbeaten, and then did the trick again against Martin Crowe’s side in the semi-final at Auckland’s Eden Park.
Partly by design, partly by happenstance of the players available, Pakistan’s victory was made memorable by the attacking flair of a youthful trio of major talents: Wasim Akram’s speed and swing with the ball, Mushtaq Ahmed’s whirling leggies and wrong’uns, and the immense power of a young and lithe Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Balanced with the canny experience of Imran and Javed Miandad, Pakistan’s youth and unbridled licence to hunt boundaries and wickets, rather than pushing singles with the bat or trying to contain with the ball, steadily broke England down across the final.
Thirty years on, and Pakistan have again eluded early misadventures to squeeze into the semis and then charge into the final. But aside from that detail, the roles of the two sides are neatly reversed.
At their best, the team of Babar Azam plays a suffocating but not particularly high-scoring style of T20, relying on consistent excellence and discipline with the ball to keep targets within the reach of a batting lineup that, after Babar and Mohammed Rizwan, is neither the deepest nor the swiftest.
Babar’s indifferent displays at this tournament so far have, at least, afforded more opportunities for that middle order to show its wares.
The Pakistanis, led by Imran Khan, celebrate their triumph. Credit:Craig Golding
England, meanwhile, took all of 23 years to fully escape the conventions of percentage limited overs cricket. Eoin Morgan, having led his side to ignominious elimination from the 2015 50-over Cup, remodelled the team in a much more fearless image, seeking a deep batting lineup to attack in the manner of Hales and Jos Buttler against India in Adelaide on Thursday night.
So in the re-match of 1992, not only is the format different but also the way the two sides play. This time it will be Pakistan hoping to contain England’s more outlandish talents, and England seeking to overwhelm Pakistan with sheer belligerent intent.
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