UNITED KINGDOM / DUBAI: CRICKET - Pakistan lodge appeal with ICC over the ball-tampering charge and forfeiture of the fourth Test with England

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said on Monday (August 21) they had lodged a protest to the governing body, the ICC, over the ball-tampering charge and forfeiture of the fourth Test at the Oval against England. "The PCB has lodged a protest with the ICC on two counts, these are two perhaps separate but inter-linked issues. First the ball-tampering, and as I said I'm not going to discuss this any further, but we have given our side of the picture and we have protested that this was extremely unfortunately handled, and we protest. The second part of this protest is the issue of forfeiture, on that also we have lodged a protest," he said. He also called for an independent inquiry into Sunday's affair but pledged that Pakistan wanted to complete the England tour which included five one-day international matches and one Twenty/20 game starting next week. Shaharyar said a meeting including the match referee Mike Procter and the two boards had resolved to resume the test on Monday but the umpires had remained "intransigent" leading to an unprecedented forfeiture. "We feel that the spirit of the game was harmed and that with a little bit of flexibility we could have overcome this hitch that led to the forfeiture," he told a news conference. "The Pakistan team, were deeply indignant at the manner in which the ball-tampering issue was brought to them, they didn't react on the ground but when they came back for bad light at tea I went into the dressing room and they were deeply, deeply indignant at the manner in which it had been done. They felt that there had been a slur to the reputation of the Pakistan team, and a slur to Pakistan itself," said Khan. He continued that Pakistan had worked hard to remove the stigma of previous ball-tampering allegations but one of the umpires, Darrell Hair, had "trained his guns at the team". The chairman added that the team had assured him that no one had tampered with the ball and he said he was "absolutely convinced" that was the case. The ICC have charged Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq with bringing the game into disrepute after his team forfeited the match. "The charge that was laid yesterday was a level two charge under the ICC code of conduct, of changing the condition of the ball. The charge that was laid today, by all four umpires, was for bringing the game of cricket into disrepute, this is a charge under level three of the code of conduct and is a more serious one," ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said from Dubai. Both charges were brought against Inzamam for his role as captain of Pakistan. The hearing will take place on Friday. Pakistan refused to take the field following tea on the fourth day of the final test on Sunday after they were docked five runs for ball-tampering by the umpires. They again remained in the changing room when the umpires went out a second time 15 minutes later. The team belatedly took to the field but the umpires ruled that the match was already abandoned and after a lengthy meeting it was awarded to England. The charge for bringing the game into disrepute is a level three offence. The penalty, if found guilty, would be a ban between two to four tests or four to eight one-dayers. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer apologised to the public after the match was forfeited due to the ball-tampering storm, while expressing his frustration with the way the incident was handled. "The team feel that the whole incident could have been handled better from the word go. We are sorry that there's no cricket, we apologise to the British public, we wanted to play unfortunately that hasn't taken place," he said. Woolmer said that the Pakistan side were aware of the consequences of their decision not to return to the field, but felt they had to make a statement. "We had a test match to win but we also feel we had the right to do what we did because of the circumstances that occurred yesterday." Speaking in Pakistan, former test captain Imran Khan criticised Hair's behaviour. "I thought it was very unfair the way the umpire dealt with the Pakistan team," Khan told reporters in Islamabad. "Its a very sensitive subject about ball tampering; Pakistan has faced this before. The team has been accused of cheating in the past because no one understood reverse swing. "And so for Darrel Hair, the way he changed the ball and obviously accused Pakistan of cheating, I thought the Pakistan team should have protested right at the time when the ball was being changed. I disagreed with the way they protested; I think there was a much better way of protesting rather than staying in the dressing room and then coming out once the umpires were back in the pavilion. I didn't understand who advised them to protest in that way. But I certainly agreed with the Pakistan captain that there should have been a very strong protest in the way Darrel Hair treated the team," he added. Pakistan refused to return to the field after tea on day four at the Oval after Darrell Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove had earlier imposed a five-run penalty against them for ball-tampering and changed the ball. When Pakistan did later take to the field, the umpires did not appear, leading to extensive negotiations that ended with the abandonment almost six hours after the drama began. England win the four-test series 3-0. Pakistan's forfeiture is unprecedented in test history. "In accordance with the laws of cricket it was noted that the umpires had correctly deemed that Pakistan had forfeited the match and awarded the test to England," read a statement on behalf of the International Cricket Council, England and Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board. "The Pakistan team was aggrieved by the award of five penalty runs to England. The award of those penalty runs for alleged interference with the ball is under review by the ICC match referee Mike Procter, whose report will be considered in due course." Pakistan's players, on course for a face-saving win, had been stunned during the afternoon session when the umpires took action. They continued playing until tea, with England on 298 for four in their second innings and still 33 runs shy of making Pakistan bat again, when the fiasco exploded. Hair, who has been involved in several controversies with teams from the sub-continent in the past, and Doctrove walked out to the middle alone, then returned to the pavilion as Pakistan's players staged a protest by remaining in the dressing room. The umpires walked out again 15 minutes later, this time followed by England batsmen Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell, but Pakistan again failed to show. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was clearly visible reading a newspaper without his pads on. The situation took a new turn around 45 minutes after the scheduled restart when Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq led his side out, then straight back in as the umpires this time stayed away. Umpires have the right to award a match to the opposition if they deem a side had refused to continue playing. Pakistan were aggrieved when the umpires ruled the ball had been tampered after Alastair Cook had been bowled by a reverse-swinging yorker from pace bowler Umar Gul. Inzamam became embroiled in a heated exchange with the umpires before the England batsmen at the crease, Kevin Pietersen and Collingwood, were allowed to choose a replacement ball. Hair first hit the headlines when he called Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in Australia in 1995-6.

ITN Source | August 22, 2006

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