What a wonderful gift Pakistan cricket team has given to the nation on its Independence Day– a victory against England at the Oval that leveled the test series.
With the help of modern technology, we were able to see every ball being bowled– I could even hear Yasir Shah’s appeals to umpires thousands of miles away in the United States. This was not the case in 1954 when Pakistan scored its landmark victory at the Oval on it’s very first trip after obtaining test status.
There was no television then and Radio Pakistan relayed BBC commentaries for limited hours. John Arlott, the legendary BBC commentator, thus became a household name in Pakistan. Radio sets then were big, no transistors then. Reception was unsatisfactory. In the absence of satellites, commentaries were relayed on phone lines that often broke down!
Back then visuals came in 35 mm cinematographic film weeks after the event. Action highlights, lasting about two minutes, were included in “Pakistan ka Khabarnama” which was shown in cinema house around the country ahead a feature film.
The 10-minute “Khabana” was prepared by the Press Information Department and distributed nation-wide. When the word spread that the 1954 Oval victory’s highlights were being screened, large numbers of people crowded cinema halls to actually see what they had heard on the radio. Those two minutes attracted more viewers than the movie itself!
Posters and photographs of players like Fazal Mahmood, the Oval hero who took 12 wickets for 96 runs, the legendary Hanif Mohammad, Skipper Abdul Hafeez Kardar and pacer Mahmood Hussain became the best sellers. Newspapers started devoting more space to cricket– at that time– hockey was the national sport — and their sales went up.
And yet, for some reason, for some reason the 55-minute commentary on the final day of the 1954 test came loud and clear, without any interruption! Pakistan erupted in celebration and the victory inspired young people to take to cricket. In KP, we started started playing cricket in the aftermath of the Oval victory. After 62 years, Pakistan’s Cricket team today has 4 players from KP!
