well, the guy who upset a continent when he called shoaib & murali for chucking has accused pakistan of ball tampering & cheating. the rules were followed/ball changed but now the pakistan team are refusing to come out to play. the old boy's done it again

some updates...

5.32pm It gets more bizarre. Pakistan are now walking off as the umpires aren't coming out.

"It sums up the ICC for me," says Nasser Hussain on Sky. "They talk about irrelevant things. You've got a major sporting issue here at The Oval, surely Mike Procter sits down with the main people and says, "Right what's going on?" Do it behind the scenes and get a decision made and this would stop all these ridiculous scenes of players going up and down stairs."

There are press cameraman loitering at the bottom of the steps capturing these extraordinary scenes, and who can blame them. These photos will be making the backpages tomorrow for sure.

Some people aren't hanging around - fed up with the nonsense, spectators are starting to leave.

Andrew McGlashan has just had a call from a friend at the ground who confirms that none of the spectators has been told anything about what is going on.

5.30pm Boos from the crowd as Pakistan take to the field. The crowd haven't been kept informed of what's been happening, but it'sgood that Pakistan are on.

Darrell Hair is now saying that if Pakistan take the field, he won't.

It's all very sad, and very messy.

5.27pm A ha, the Pakistan team have spoken with Mike Procter, the match referee, and have apparently confirmed that they will take the field. But, oh dear, the light has deteriorated so the England batsmen could take the light if they go back on the field. This is a complete farce of Carry On proportions, but without the humour.

5.25pm In a further surprising twist, the covers are now coming off and that's greeted by a huge cheer. But the stumps have still not been replaced. Whatever it is, it's a mess.

5.20pm Here's what Andrew Miller has for us. "The issue would seem to boil down to evidence. Has Darrell Hair got any proof that the Pakistanis were tampering with the ball? Did he see a specific player scratch at the seam, or did he take a look at a ball that is 55 overs old and draw his own conclusions? As Ian Botham has just said on Sky Sports, it's a matter of honour to the Pakistanis. If Hair has no proof, then they are well within their rights to take this stance." Thanks for that update, Andrew.

5.15pmThe Pakistan officials and David Morgan are now going into the Pakistan dressing room for talks.




5.10pm Kamran Akmal has been called back into the dressing room, presumably for a team meeting, whereas Shoaib Akhtar has left. They're shaking hands on the balcony. David Morgan, the ECB chairman, has just shaken hands with Zaheer Abbas. Now Morgan and Sharayar Khan, the chairman of the PCB, are sitting around to have crisis talks. Stay with us.

5.05pm Still waiting for news, as is everyone else... so bear with us...

5.00pm The bails are coming off now - suggesting the game is over - and the umpires are roundly booed by the crowd. The umpires are walking off as are the batsmen. Have Pakistan forfeited the game? We'll let you know as soon as we've got anything on that. This is a hugely serious situation - and the crowds have no idea what's going on. Stay tuned and we'll bring you the news as it develops.

4.55pm The batsmen are coming out now, to great cheers, but there's no sign of the Pakistan team. Oh, there goes Kamran Akmal, on the balcony, but he just sits down and takes his gloves off. He's making a statement of intent here, picking up his paper and just reading it. Pakistan are clearly not going to take the field now. The only people out on the field are the two batsmen and two umpires. This is most peculiar.

4.50pm Jenny here, while Andrew goes to find out what's going on... nobody seems to know, though, as the Pakistan team have delayed their arrival on to the pitch. We will let you know as soon as we know what the latest situation is, but an extraordinary day is just getting more baffling. The crowd are entertaining themselves with a Mexican wave, in the absence of any entertainment out in the middle. Stay with us.

4.45pm Zaheer Abbas, Pakistan's manager, is talking on his mobile phone on the balcony, but no sign of Inzamam or Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, who was seen before tea striding towards the match referee's office with the rule book in hand.

No doubt about it, we've got a protest in progress here.

4.40pm Now then, this is interesting. The umpires are out there, but the Pakistanis are not coming out of the dressing-room. We could have a bit of an incident here.

The slow-hand claps start to ring out ... but there is nothing doing from the Pakistanis. The England batsmen are ready, and now the umpires are having to troop back indoors.

Inzy was threatening to come out, it would seem, but now they are going deeper back into the bowels of the pavilion. I sense a major incident is about to kick off here.


4.35pm The covers are coming off, and it's looking bright enough for a resumption. And here come the umpires

Last edited by Ian on Aug-20-2006 at 16:37

fucking Pakistan, they're a bunch of cry-babies. Too precious to be penalised in any way, Inzy having a sulk as usual.

The cheaters tampered with the ball and were penalised, thats why they refused to rejoin the field. Boo-fucking hoo, ban them from test cricket for 6 months, that'll teach them not to be such whinging little bastards.

Seriously, I've had it with the Pakistan team, ever notice how whenever theres drama it usually involves them? Nah, I've had it.

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**Man I'm Pretty**

^^^
Diplomacy Ben style

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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."

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gonna file this away into the massive \'things that i couldnt give a fuck about\' section of my brain.

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pakistan are cheaters, good call hair.

lol my boonie spoke again just as i read this...

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Who's that fluffy bundle of love???

apparently there were 24 tv cameras at the ground and not a single one of them has been able to pick up any ball tampering. now assuming you have 24 cameras you would assume at least a few of them would be on the ball at all times and nadda has come up.

it is sounding like hair has just made an assumption, based on simply what he has seen at the ball and without any evidence has penalised pakistan for it. don't blame them for being ropeable about it, hair is an absolute hack.

quote:

Originally posted by Biggo apparently there were 24 tv cameras at the ground and not a single one of them has been able to pick up any ball tampering. now assuming you have 24 cameras you would assume at least a few of them would be on the ball at all times and nadda has come up. it is sounding like hair has just made an assumption, based on simply what he has seen at the ball and without any evidence has penalised pakistan for it. don't blame them for being ropeable about it, hair is an absolute hack.

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.

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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.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN gonna file this away into the massive 'things that i couldnt give a fuck about' section of my brain.

I have to say i'm impressed, you're functioning fairly well on 15% brain capacity

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...