Mansoor Rana has made a name for himself internationally but he is still known as the son of a famous father. The coach, who took Pakistan to the 2006 under-19 World Cup title, regularly gets introduced as late umpire Shakoor Rana’s son. In these times of umpire-triggered cricket crisis, Mansoor recalls the famous confrontation between his father and England captain Mike Gatting at Faisalabad in 1987.

“I still have that apology letter that Gatting wrote to my father. My father was adamant on getting it. The only pressure he felt was that I and other family members might have had to bear the brunt of his strong stance,” says Mansoor of the incident where Shakoor Rana refused to take the field unless Gatting apologised for the previous day’s wagging-the-finger incident.

The 45-year-old Rana junior has no apprehensions to say that the word ‘neutral’ was added to international umpires courtesy the Faisalabad incident. And in a mocking tone adds, “Maybe, after Sydney there will be a call for neutral players!”

That in other words means if Faisalabad, 1987, convincingly proved that home umpires aren’t always gentlemen, Sydney, 2008 showed that the men in flannels too aren’t exactly lily white. Mutual respect, spirit of the game, healthy banter and, most importantly, pre-tour understanding became archaic concept. Cricket’s lazy stroll through the last century, all the time lugging the baggage of its amateur days, has been repeatedly exposed it in the modern era. The Oval fiasco, the dark end to the World Cup final and now Sydney — cricket hasn’t been able to keep pace with other sport and the journey in the new millennium has been tough. While six-pack cricketers aspire and even achieve the athletism, competitiveness and threadbare scientific know how of other ever-evolving sports, cricket’s underbelly betrays its bush league rules.

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