Legends Month: The best of Wasim Akram

Pakistan's 1992 tour of England, and Wasim Akram's role in it, is a microcosm of a spellbinding, exhilarating and controversial cricketing history between the two countries.

Spellbinding because of the skills of Wasim, whether it was hostility with the new ball or unpredictable swing with the old, that spurred his country to a famous 2-1 series win.

Exhilarating because of moments like the finish to the second Test at Lord's, when Wasim and his fast bowling partner Waqar Younis added an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership worth 46 valuable runs to their tally of 13 wickets, handing Pakistan a two-wicket victory as the shadows lengthened and the clock ticked past 6.40pm local time.

And controversial because of the reaction to Wasim and Waqar's bowling by sections of the English media, who concluded that something underhanded had to be behind the ability of the Pakistan duo to swing the ball at pace, apart from their exceptional ability.

It's these untested and ultimately unproven allegations of ball tampering that would be one of the lasting memories of the tour, so much so than when England similarly used reverse swing to their advantage in their 2005 Ashes victory, a chastened Wasim claimed that "England owe us an apology in a big way" for taking the gloss of their own fast-bowling triumph 13 years earlier.

But while some bitterness still lingers, the facts of the 1992 tour remain; across an exhaustive 29-match campaign that lasted almost four months, Wasim finished with 88 wickets at an average of 18 as the visitors lost just two of the 17 first-class games they played.

The only bowler who came close to matching Wasim's feats was Waqar, whose 22 wickets in the Test series was one more than his teammate's tally from one more match, affirming their status as one of the best new-ball pairs in the world.

Coming mere months after his match-winning performance in Pakistan's World Cup triumph against the same opponents at the MCG, the northern summer of 1992 was Wasim at his best.

From his vicious opening burst on a pacey surface at Old Trafford, which England opener Alec Stewart labelled "one of the quickest spells I faced", to his series-sealing six-wicket haul at The Oval, it remains one of his greatest performances.

Having missed the first Test due to injury, the 25-year-old picked up six wickets for the match at Lord's - including the final three of England's second innings in the space of just four deliveries - before sealing a nail-biting win with the bat.

Then came his exceptional showing in Manchester, when he roughed up Stewart and Graham Gooch with the new ball and swung the old as he took five wickets in a high-scoring and rain-affected draw that preserved Pakistan's 1-0 series lead.

"It was really good, torrid quick bowling," Stewart would recall. "He would rough you up and get you on the back foot - and then stick the yorker in. That was a standout spell."

Having been undone by a sluggish pitch and a superb century from Gooch in an ill-tempered fourth Test at Headingley, Wasim saved his best for the series decider in south London.

After winning a crucial toss and electing to bat first, England were well placed at 3-182 before they left the door ajar ... and Wasim barged his way in. 

The left-armer bagged six wickets for the innings as the hosts lost their last seven batsmen for just 25 runs. And when Pakistan responded with 380 to secure a 173-run lead, the match and the series was as good as over.

Wasim swung his way to another three wickets in the second innings as he and Waqar shared 15 for the match, bringing suspicions of ball tampering to boiling point after they'd simmered throughout the preceding four Tests.

Those suspicions turned into straight out allegations during a one-day game at Lord's that followed, when another Pakistan victory was overshadowed by claims, counter-claims and a botched investigation that neither cleared nor convicted the tourists and left players on both sides with a bitter taste in their mouth.

So much so that, in summing up the tour a year later, Martin Johnson would write in The Independent: "As far as Pakistan are concerned, cricket in England is run by arrogant racists. As far as England are concerned, Pakistan cheat".

It was a controversial end to a tour that, thanks to Pakistan's Sultan of Swing, was spellbinding and exhilarating as well.