The year was 1955-56; place Services Hotel opposite Services cricket ground on Fort road Peshawar, where the players of the visiting MCC cricket team were put up who were playing a test match in the Services cricket ground.
An umpire by the name of Idrees Baig was umpiring that match. The MCC Cricketers had let it be known that they were unhappy with his couple of decisions. Idrees Beg was also staying in the same hotel where the MCC players were staying. At midnight some of the estranged MCC players allegedly doused him with a bucket of water to express their annoyance over his alleged partisan decisions though Idrees Beg alleged he was manhandled too.
The episode was bound to touch off a diplomatic row between Pakistan and England but thanks to adept diplomatic handling the issue wasn’t allowed to snowball and the matter was solved without any fuss.
In those days there were complaints that the West Indian cricket umpires too were not giving correct decisions in test matches played in Carabean islands.
It was then that the then skipper of Pakistan cricket team Abdul Hafeez Kardar first mooted the idea of neutral umpires which was translated into a reality after a couple of years .
