1988 Great Britain Lions tour he sustained while playing in this match. The Australian leg of the tour took place in the midst of the 1988 NSWRFL season as well as the 1988 State of Origin series. In 1988 Australia was also celebrating its national bicentenary. The tour's itinerary, which involved short periods between matches, making it tough for the visitors, was designed by the Australian Rugby League but agreed to by the British. The Ashes series attracted just 67,554 to the three tests, with the dead rubber third game attracting just 15,944 to the Sydney Football Stadium. The second Ashes test against Australia at
1988 Gilgit massacre of Parachinar, where an estimated over 200 died. The first major anti-Shia riots in Gilgit broke out in May 1988 over the sighting of the moon, which ushers the end of the holy month of Ramadan. When Shias in Gilgit celebrated Eid al-Fitr, a group of extremist Sunnis, still fasting as their religious leaders had not yet declared the sighting of the moon, attacked them. This resulted in violent clashes between Sunnis and Shias. Following a brief calm of about four days, the Pakistani military regime reportedly used a number of militants along with local Sunnis to ‘teach a lesson’