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Trance Nutter
........... I got nothing

Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Pakistan forfeit Test amid farcical scenes
Andrew Miller and Osman Samiuddin
August 20, 2006
The umpires consult after the decision was made to change the ball © Getty Images
The fourth Test between England and Pakistan has been forfeited in favour of England, after an extraordinary day of rumour, speculation, and high farce that brought the game to the brink of arguably its biggest crisis since Bodyline. The decision was finally made at 10pm London time, in a makeshift press conference hall in the bowels of the Oval pavilion. It was the first such forfeiture in 129 years of Test cricket.
Four long hours after play was called off for the day, and after protracted negotiations between the ICC, the ECB and the PCB, it was left to David Collier, the ECB's chief executive, to read out a statement that will doubtless raise more questions than answers. Though both teams and their boards were keen for the match to continue, it was the umpires, Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove, who were not willing to budge from their original decision.
"It was concluded with regret that there will be no play on the fifth day," read the statement. "The fourth npower Test match between England and Pakistan has therefore been forfeited with the match being awarded to England. 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."
It may have been the correct application of the letter of the law, but the decision made a mockery of a match in which Pakistan had made all the running from the very first morning, and had been bubbling towards a thrilling conclusion on the final morning, as England looked set to put at least a token target on the board.
According to Surrey officials, 12,000 tickets had been sold in advance - all of which will now have to be refunded, along with 40% of today's takings - a combined loss of about £400,000. And Pakistan will certainly not be content to return home with a 3-0 defeat to their name, not to mention the further implications of the forfeiture. As Bob Woolmer announced at the close of play: "The team is upset by the inference they have been accused of tampering with the ball and therefore cheating." The ICC, in a separate statement, confirmed that Pakistan has been charged under Level two of the Code of Conduct, 2.10, which relates to changing the condition of the match ball.
The initial incident took place in the 56th over, when umpires Hair and Doctrove deemed that the quarter seam on the ball had been raised and would therefore have to be changed. But the situation only really kicked off after tea, as the Pakistanis remained in their dressing-room in protest at the decision.
After waiting in the middle of the pitch for twenty minutes, he umpires went to the Pakistan dressing-room to ask whether or not Inzamam-ul-Haq would lead out his team or not before they went out, took the bails off and left, thus awarding the Test to England.
Bob Woolmer told Cricinfo that after Pakistan refused to come out after the tea break, both umpires, after waiting on the field, went to the Pakistan dressing room to ask whether or not they would continue to play. Inzamam countered by asking the umpires why they had changed the ball, which led to the Pakistan team protesting.
"We are not here to answer that question," Hair was reported to have said, and when Inzamam didn't provide any reply to their initial query, they walked back out again. By the time Pakistan were eventually led out onto the field by Inzamam, the umpires had already walked on, knocked the bails off and gone back inside, refusing to come out again.
The decision was made according to Law 21, regarding the result of a match, which states, "A match shall be lost by a side which in the opinion of the umpires refuses to play." A further subsection adds, "If an umpire considers that an action by any player or players might constitute a refusal by either side to play then the umpires together shall ascertain the cause of the action. If they then decide together that this action does constitute a refusal to play by one side, they shall so inform the captain of that side. If the captain persists in the action the umpires shall award the match in accordance with above."
___________________
**Man I'm Pretty**
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Aug-21-2006 00:33
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Ian
Not dead yet.
Registered: Dec 2001
Location: UK
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| quote: | Originally posted by Trance Nutter
theres a difference between being ropable and acting like a spoilt 3 year old throwing a tantrum because their favourite toy was taken away.
And when you read the report the seam was lifted and ball out of shape, so it had to be replaced anyway. Now, the extent of the damage to the ball would be a pretty good indicator of tampering. And it was only 55 overs old, considering the lifespan of a ball is 80 overs if it is seriously damaged you would have to be very suspicious. |
heh looks like i opened a good can of worms! It's all a mess, not helped by the huge pakistani population in england. fortunately i think they realise that we didnt as a team complain, but this could be very messy still. the main reason they were pissed is cos umar gul was reversing it sharply & kaneria spinning it horizontally, and they were on top, by fair means or other.
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Aug-21-2006 05:21
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Biggo
Junior tranceaddict

Registered: May 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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very suspicious yes, but what right does hair have to just point the fingure and say it has been tampered with. a number of factors can effect and reduce the life of the ball. without proof of the tampering it is pretty slanderous to just look at a ball and say it has been tampered with. its a huge call to basically, accuse someone of cheating, which is what he has done, and if its the case that it was completly wrong, then by all means the pakistanis had to do something. their little sit in was probably a bit blunt, but then again, it has been the most effective way of bringing attention to whats happened, because we wouldn't be talking about it, if they had protested through the usual channels.
i am just so amused the hair's latest controversy is with another asian team...
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Aug-21-2006 05:25
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