KARACHI, Aug 3: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday that the Pakistan side which won the The Oval Test against England in 1954 will presented with special commemorative medals at Lahore on Aug 16.
Shaharyar M. Khan, the PCB chairman, said the eight surviving members of the Pakistan team will be honoured at a special ceremony to mark 50 years of that famous victory.
"We should not forget our heroes on the golden jubilee of a historic victory," he told reporters. "This will be an appropriate way to salute those unsung heroes of Pakistan cricket."
The team led by late Abdul Hafeez Kardar defeated England by 24 runs in the final Test to square the four-match series 1-1. In doing so, they became the first country to win a Test in their first rubber in England.
Fazal Mahmood, a great exponent of leg-cutters, was the star performer in The Oval Test with match figures of 12 for 99 - six for 53 and six for 46 - which remains the best haul by a Pakistani bowler on English soil.
Apart from Kardar, batsman Maqsood Ahmed and fast bowler Mahmood Hussain are no more alive. The surviving members of the playing XI who have been invited are the legendary Hanif Mohammad, Alimuddin, Waqar Hasan, Imtiaz Ahmed, Wazir Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood, Shujaddin (Butt) and Zulfiqar Ahmed.
The PCB chief also added that apart from the Pakistanis, several surviving members of the England side from that match, such as Tom Graveney, Frank Tyson and Reg Simpson, have also been extended invitations to attend the ceremony.
