STAFF REPORT
RAWALPINDI: Former England Captain Mike Atherton took 26 years 9 months and 6 days to say “sorry”. It was the 14th match of the 1996 Wills World Cup in Rawalpindi, which was played on 25 February 1996. In this important match, South Africa won by 78 runs.
Interestingly, this was South Africa’s 6th consecutive win against England. The South African captain won the toss and decided to bat first, South Africa scored 230 runs for 10 wickets in the limited 50 overs.
In reply, England were bowled out for 152 in 44.3 overs, as opener England captain Mike Atherton was caught behind the wickets by Paul Laframan off Shaun Pollock for a wicket.
Asghar Ali Mubarak, accredited journalist of Pakistan’s World Cup 1996 regarding the reasons for the defeat, asked the English captain about the reasons for the defeat, on which he would be confused and said that someone should take this “…” out of here.
Later on, sports journalist Asghar Ali and the rest of the journalist community demanded an apology
Sometime later, journalist Asghar Ali filed a defamation suit in the court of the Senior Civil Judge of Islamabad. The matter ended with an apology from the English Cricket Board and the player.
However, in a meeting at a local Hotel yesterday, the former English captain said “sorry” after 26 years, 9 months and six days. This apology took 26 years, 9 months and six days.
