LONDON, 21 August 2006 — The fourth Test between England and Pakistan descended into total farce yesterday as first Pakistan, then the umpires, refused to return to the field after tea on the fourth day following a ball-tampering storm.
Play was called off for the day. ICC Match referee Mike Procter said in a statement: “Meetings will be held immediately after play to determine whether any further play will be scheduled for the rest of this match.”
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 subcontinent 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.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan said: “From our point of view the boys were extremely upset at the slur of what happened. They wanted to register a protest with the match officials. We were going to stay off for just a few minutes.
“Then we were ready to play but now it appears that the umpires are unwilling to go ahead. We find it extraordinary. It is very sad things have come to this pass.”
He said Pakistan’s players categorically denied they had tampered with the ball. “No one was consulted, no one was told... they felt deeply aggrieved. “We have very good relations with the England board. If this match is abandoned it will not be because of the England board but because of an incident brought to the fore by the umpires.”
Large sections of the crowd remained in the ground as the confusion continued, before play was called off. Khan said he did not know what would happen to the one-day series against England due to start after the Tests. Umpires have the right to award a match to the opposition if they deem a side had refused to continue playing. England have an unassailable 2-0 series lead but are battling to avoid an innings defeat.
Pakistan were aggrieved when the umpires ruled the ball had been tampered with during the afternoon session 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 1995-96.
Yesterday’s scenes are not unprecedented. English umpire Arthur Fagg refused to take the field at Edgbaston in 1973 after the West Indies disputed one of his decisions.
