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Pakistan risk Test in ball-tampering row London, August 20 Pakistan’s players, on course for a face-saving win in the four-match series, had been stunned during the afternoon at The Oval when Darrell Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove imposed a five-run penalty for alleged ball tampering and changed the ball. 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. 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. Cricket's Law 21.3 states clearly states “that, in the opinion of the umpires, a team refuses to play, the umpires shall award the match to other side.” This was the first time such a five-run penalty for ball tampering had been imposed in Test cricket, an International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman said. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said at tea after seeing match referee Mike Procter: "I went to see him but I was told Procter wanted to discuss the incident with Hair first." Former Pakistan captain and board chief executive Rameez Raja, commentating for Sky Television, added: "The decision to award penalty runs came as a huge surprise because no player was warned and it looks a very subjective decision. "With so many cameras covering this Test match, nobody was caught and there seems to be no evidence. I think the Pakistan Cricket Board should tackle this aggressively because this could spoil a very good series." Cricket's Law 42.3 states that in "the event of any fielder changing the condition of the ball unfairly .. the umpires shall award five penalty runs to the batting side." The Law explains that it is "unfair for anyone to run the ball on the ground for any reason, interfere with any of the seams on the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball." Playing regulation 42.1.2 (b) for this series also says that the batsmen can choose a replacement ball from a selection of six in the event the match ball has been tampered with. Television pictures showed the ball was scuffed around the seam but there did not appear to have been any obvious sign of tampering by a member of the Pakistan fielding side. If found guilty of ball tampering, players can be fined 50 per cent of their match fee and be banned from international cricket. Pakistan's 1992 tour of England was blighted by allegations of ball-tampering with pace great Waqar Younis, now Pakistan's bowling coach, coming under intense scrutiny. And in 2000, Waqar himself received a one-match ban for ball tampering following a one-day international against South Africa in Sri Lanka while Azhar Mahmood was fined for "abetting" the infringment in the same match. Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, ruled out of the current series with England because of an ankle injury, received a reprimand in November 2002 for the same offence after a Test match against Zimbabwe in Harare. And the following year, in May, Shoaib was given a two-match ban for ball tampering after a one-day international against New Zealand in Dambulla. But high-profile players from other countries have been banned for similar offences with India batting great Sachin Tendulkar receiving a one-game ban in November 2001 after a Test match against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Tendulkar's fellow India batsman Rahul Dravid was fined 50 per cent of his match fee, after being found guilty of ball tampering during India's 24-run victory over Zimbabwe at Brisbane. Dravid was caught by the TV cameras rubbing a cough lozenge on the ball. Then England captain Mike Atherton also caused controversy back in 1994 when he was spotted rubbing dirt from his pocket into the ball during a Test match against South Africa at Lord's. Scoreboard England (1st innings) 173 Pakistan (1st innings) 504 England (2nd innings) Trescothick c Akmal b Asif 4 Strauss lbw Kaneria 54 Cook lbw Gul 83 Pietersen c Akmal b Nazir 96 Collingwood batting 26 Bell batting 9 Extras (b-8, lb-3, nb-10, p-5) 26 Total
(4 wkts, 72 overs) 298 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-115, 3-218, 4-277. Bowling:
Mohammad Asif 17-1-79-1, Umar Gul 14-1-70-1, Mohammad Hafeez 4-1-13-0, Danish Kaneria 29-6-94-1, Shahid Nazir 8-1-26-1.
— Reuters |
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