Some of the leading batsmen, apart from Zaheer Abbas, who surprisingly struck a lean patch, shone in the February setting of New Zealand, the fast stuff of Sarfraz Nawaz and Salim Altaf whizzed past the batsmen to cause worry to them. But it was the beauty and skill of the wrist spin of Intikhab Alam, the captain, which thrilled the cricket fans over after over.

The playing time of the first Test at Wellington was restricted by rain and an inexplicable precautionary measure due to threat of showers. The match did not provide any result but Sadiq hit his second Test hundred in a fighter's spirit. Majid Khan in both the innings and Asif Iqbal were aggressive and precise in strokeplay.

New Zealand required 323 in two hours on the last day, almost an impossibility, but when Salim Altaf sent three Kiwi batsmen back to the pavilion the Pakistanis hoped excitedly of a victory. Burgess and Turner dug in to foil any chance of a New Zealand defeat.

Jarvis got a pair in the match which was the third consecutive duck by him against Pakistan.

The visitors recorded victory by the huge margin of an innings and 166 runs in the second Test at Dunedin. Mushtaq and Asif Iqbal cut to ribbons the New Zealand attack to help Pakistan hit 507 for six in the first knock. Mushtaq moved his feet well to ruthlessly deal with the home bowlers, scoring 201, the first double century by a Pakistani in New Zealand and his highest in Tests. With Asif Iqbal, he set up the country's highest fourth wicket score of 350, which is still intact. The powerful thrust of Iqbal's bat was a delight to the spectators. The two centuries, hard-hitting knocks, took Pakistan's total to 507 for six declared.

The New Zealanders, try as they did, could not save defeat as Intikhab's cunning spinners proved too much for them. The captain's tally - 11 for 130 - was the best attained by him.

This was the Test that saw Richard Hadlie, one of the greatest all-rounders of cricket, making his Test debut.

The third Test at Auckland was drawn but the home batsmen played with assurance on an easy pitch to equalise Pakistan's first innings score of 402. Hastings and Collinge proved a stubborn pair to establish a world record 10th wicket stand of 151. Redmond scintillated with the bat to score a hundred on debut. Collinge's 68 not out was the highest by a batsman at the No. 11 position.

Pakistan never feared defeat as their batsmen did their job sensibly. Majid hit a century in the first innings, scoring all-round the wicket, treating all bowling on merit. The rubber went in favour of Pakistan by 1-0.

Just a week after the return of the national side from the Oceania they had to take on England in three Tests. England had just completed a full tour in India, though losing the five-Test series there after having upset the applecart of the hosts in the first Test and enjoyed a happy Christmas in New Delhi.

On docile tracks results were difficult to be achieved and as such the Test series ended stalemated. The officials had to take extra security steps due to a hand-written letter received by the British mission in Islamabad threatening the lives of the visiting players. The letter had demanded release of Pakistani youth held in London after the shooting incident before the India House. Thankfully there was no crowd trouble in Lahore and Hyderabad but Karachi had its spectator problem and the match had to be abandoned on the last day for reasons not related to the 'Black December' group, the alleged senders of the threatening message.

The two captains, Majid and Tony Lewis, being Cambridge Blues, had made the atmosphere during the Tests the most congenial and friendly.

The first Test at the Pakistan cricket headquarters turned out to be a drawn one, though in the last session of the fourth day and the morning of the final day when spinners Intikhab and Mushtaq, gave all sorts of trouble. England, it appeared, was slipping towards defeat. The wicket was amenable enough and Tony Lewis and Greig saved the situation.

When Lewis declared at 306 for seven Pakistan had been left to make 240 in rather a short time of 150 minutes which was beyond the capacity of the home side.

Sadiq Mohammad hit a painstaking century, though always confident and assured in facing the English bowlers. However, it was Asif Iqbal who was fascinating on the Lahore field. His century had powerful drives, cuts and hooks and he manfully faced the English attack which was cut to size before crowds who all through enjoyed Asif's batting.

Mushtaq in this Test reached an individual aggregate of 1039 against England overhauling and exceeding the efforts of his elder brother, Hanif.

The second Test at the Niaz Stadium of Hyderabad, the first representative match at the venue, was indecisive on a grassless pitch. Pakistan's score of 569 for nine was the highest by the home side against any country on a Pakistani venue. Mushtaq and Intikhab both centurions, set up a a record sixth wicket stand of 145 against England. Mushtaq's 157 was the highest by a Pakistani against England in this Test.

For England Amiss contributed a second hundred in the series.

Intikhab's first century in Test was notable for its power and belligerence, his driving on both sides of the wicket was lusty and free.

No result could have been possible in the third Test in Karachi due to trouble off the field. In all 100 minutes were lost on the last day; also as a dust-storm hit the ground, play was impossible and it was given up 45 minutes earlier.

The match saw the oddity of three batsman viz Majid, Mushtaq and Amiss being dismissed at 99.

Pakistan had the threat of defeat on the last day with the batsmen in trouble against the English spinners, Gifford and Birkenshaw. However, later Wasim Bari and Sarfraz Nawaz played well enough to take the match to a draw.

Pakistan's 199 in the second knock was their lowest on the home soil against England.

After exactly an year of England's visit to the subcontinent, which included Test schedules in Pakistan, the latter had to share the summer with India.

Intikhab Alam's capabilities as a captain were duly recognised and he regained the helmsmanship of the touring party. Even when Majid had been assigned the responsibilities of captain, Intikhab had been in the fulness of form both as a leg-breaker with variations and a batsman of natural and hard strokes.

The 1974 tour was an overwhelming success with no loss against the counties and England in Tests. Some critics compared it with Bradman's conquering side of 1948. But Bradman was matchless as a captain and batsman and he inspired the players to snatch the series by 4-0. On the contrary Intikhab, even though leading the squad creditably, could only return with the series drawn.

The first Test at Leeds was delayed by a bomb hoax; the pitch had the appearance of a batsman's paradise yet it gave plenty of aid to the swingers with the dense atmosphere at Headingley. The England pacers - Arnold, Old and Hendrick - had ideal conditions for their bowling. Similarly Pakistan's Asif Masood, Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran (released by the Oxford University), the tall trio of speedsters, had the magnificent setting to put the English batsmen in distress. Yet on the final day England needed only 44 runs with four wickets in hand for victory. Only Fletcher was left to help the cause of England; Pakistan too were optimistic about their success. At last the rain came to close the match and shatter the teams' hopes of victory.Zaheer (48) and Majid (75) delighted the crowds with strokes towards cover and leg. However, Sarfraz and Masood dug in to score 62, a record against England for the tenth wicket. For England John Edrich played a careful knock of 70 in the second knock.

Over 13 hours of playing time were lost due to rain-storm and stoppage as water leaked through the covers in the second Test at Lord's. This led to an official protest by the Pakistani manager, Omar Kureishi, noted commentator, who accused the MCC authorities of negligence and incompetence. The MCC, through its secretary, regretted the inadequate covering of the strip after the intermittent rain.

Rain interfered on the first, third and fourth days and no play was possible on the last day when England had only to race to 60 for victory with all their wickets intact.

When cricket was possible in the limited time Derek Underwood, with his mixture of slow-to-medium spin, exploited well the damp patch and took 13 wickets in the match for 71, a splendid bowling exhibition and a record on sticky dog since Hedley Verity claimed 15 Australian wickets in the 1934 Lord's Test.

Mushtaq and Wasim Raja struggled hard to save Pakistan from the dire situation. Sadiq too played well enough in both the innings.

Pakistan's total of 130 for nine was their lowest declared score in Tests.

In the third Test at The Oval any decision was ruled out once it was found that the pitch was too slow for stroke-making. The Pakistanis surprisingly occupied nearly two days for a score of 600, in which Zaheer hit 240, a unique feat in Tests in which he had two double hundreds in England to his credit like Kanhai of the West Indies and Walter Hammond of England.

Majid too earned the appreciation of the crowds for his 98 which had variegated shots. Then Mushtaq, with style and nicety of touch, made 76.

England saved the follow-on, and thus the match. The series ended in a draw.

For England Amiss hit a century (183), as also Fletcher (122) who was too defensive all through.

Intikhab took his 100th wicket when he bowled Knott to attain the double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs, the first Pakistani to get the honour in Tests.

The record for the third wicket of 172 between Zaheer and Mushtaq remained as a landmark against England for three years.

The West Indies came to Pakistan 16 years after their last tour under the leadership of the celebrated Clive Lloyd, a noted tactician and a hard-hitting batsman. Only two Tests were arranged and both proved indecisive.Though the pitch was easy at Lahore's Qadhafi Stadium pacer Andy Roberts, in particular, Boyce, another speedster, and Gibbs gave considerable trouble to the Pakistani batsmen, who could not go beyond 199 in the first innings. The West Indies too replied moderately to take a slim lead in the first knock.

With Mushtaq's century (123) and Asif Iqbal (52), Wasim Raja (35) and Aftab Baloch (60 not out) giving him able support, Pakistan declared at what was a safe total of 373 for 7.

Any result was out of question when Len Baichan batted quite slowly for the whole day, the ninth West Indian to knock up a century on debut.

Crowd disturbance on the second day of the second Test at the National Stadium, Karachi, and tall scoring disallowed any result, so the series, a shortened one, ended in a draw. Both sides crossed 400 in their first knock with the aggregate coming to 1156 for 28 wickets.

Majid, as an opener, scored an elegant century, though later Wasim Raja gave pleasure to the spectators when he flicked the West Indians with a hundred that made the fans rush to the field to congratulate the batsman. As Police intervened a riotous situation developed and play remained halted for two-and-a-half hours. Still Pakistan were in a tight spot in the second knock and only a courageous 98 by Sadiq, in dire pain, could avert disaster.

West Indies had to hit up 170 in 25 minutes, an impossibility, so the visitors preferred to leave the match and the series as drawn.

The stand of 128 for the 8th wicket between Raja and Bari remained a record for the series.

For West Indies Julien and Kallicharan reached three-figure scores.

The first Test against the visiting New Zealanders at Lahore's Qadhafi Stadium in October 1976 was marked by the debut of Javed Minadad, one of the most illustrious batsmen that Pakistan has produced. His batting was usually finely controlled, throbbing with power and chivalrous in character. In the first innings Pakistan were in trouble against the fire of Hadlee at 55 for four. Javed came and immediately mastered the New Zealand attack with splendid defiance and aggression, runs coming through quick footwork and wristwork. There were pedigreed strokes, the bat flashing in the sunny setting of Lahore. At the age of 19 years and 119 days he was the youngest ever debutant to score a century and turn the match towards Pakistan's way. His fifth wicket partnership of 281 with Asif Iqbal (166) set up a new record for all Tests.

For New Zealand their off-spinner Petherick performed a hat-trick in his maiden appearance in a Test match.New Zealand could not properly deal with the swinging deliveries of Sarfraz and Imran and latterly with the shrewd spin of Intikhab and lost the match by six wickets.

Pakistan were in control of the second Test at Hyderabad, which later went in their favour by 10 wickets.

Majid struck a pleasing 98, only two short of century. When both Sadiq and Mushtaq hit hundreds they emulated the feats of Chappells, brothers scoring centuries in the same match. Asif Iqbal too contributed a stylish 73 to help Pakistan declare at a high total of 473 for 8.

With Sarfraz and Imran in hostile mood the New Zealanders followed on 254 runs behind. Their score in the second innings plus the first knock could only draw level with Pakistan's batting effort.

Pakistan won the match with a day to spare.

The third Test in Karachi was enjoyed by the crowds for high class batting and bowling. Perhaps some catching errors by keeper Shahid Israr, tactical mistake by acting captain Asif Iqbal when Mushtaq was taken ill not to use spinners and the absence of Sarfraz, a key bowler, deprived Pakistan of victory.

For Pakistan Majid Khan batted fluently and briskly to hit a century before lunch, only the fourth instance in Test history. He was preceded in this rare feat by Victor Trumper, Charlie Macartney and Sir Donald Bradman, all Australians.

Javed Miandad majestically batted to become the youngest player to hit a double hundred (206). Perhaps he may have set a record of being the youngest double centurion and centurion in the same match for in the second knock he missed three figures by just 15 runs. Both Majid and Miandad were brilliant in their stroke-making.

When New Zealand replied with a sore of 468 to Pakistan's first innings effort of 565 a result was ruled out.

The match saw an aggregate of 1,585 runs.

The Lee-Hadlee stand saved New Zealand from a total whitewash.

(To be continued)