|
Pakistan forfeits
the Oval Test after being accused of ball
tampering |
August 20, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
 England
has won the fourth and final Test Match after
the ICC has decided to abandon the Test Match
and award the homeside a win due to Pakistan's
refusal to take the field in the final session.
The fourth day's play of this Test Match at the
Brit Oval would go down in the history books as
one of the most controversial ever in the
history of Test Cricket. Pakistan team was
accused indirectly of ball tampering by Umpire
Darrell Hair during the post lunch session which
had triggered off into a huge row holding up
play for more than one and a half hours after
the Tea Break. Pakistan cricket team which was
aggrieved, hurt and insulted decided to close
the door of their dressing room and refused to
come out on the field after the resumption of
play. In fact, the entire last session was
abandoned with all the people in the stadium
left to speculating on what would happen next.
The ICC and the two Boards of England and
Pakistan sat down in a meeting later to decide
to call off the Test Match awarding England a
win as Pakistan had forfeited it according to
the rules.
Just after the Tea Break had got over, the two
Umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove walked
into the centre and the two English batsmen -
Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood too walked in but
the fielding team was not there at all. The two
Umpires had taken the bails off which means that
the Test Match was over for them with Pakistan
forfeiting the match. However with the presence
of the higher authorities of both Pakistan and
England Cricket, the Pakistani players finally
got onto the ground amidst the crowd booing but
this time the Umpires did not bother to come
down. According to the PCB Chairman, Shaharyar
Khan who was interviewed by Sky Sports made it
clear that it was not just the Pakistan Cricket
Team but the entire Pakistan nation that has
been hurt after being tainted as cheats. Mr.Khan
also stated that his team was willing to play
and that they had gone onto the field but it was
the Umpires who were stubborn and did not agree
for the match to continue. In the end an
announcement was made that there would be no
play for the day. It was mutually agreed by all
the parties that the status of this Test Match
would be discussed in the meeting of the ICC
Officials along with the two Boards and the team
management of either side.
Umpire Darrell Hair who is popular because of
his on field controversies like the infamous
Muralitharan chucking episode was the man who
had the guts to pinpoint that the ball's natural
condition was altered by the Pakistan team. It
was the end of the 56th over, Hair had gone
towards his partner Billy Doctrove to show what
looked like 'deliberate scuffing' on one side of
the ball. The fourth umpire was called onto the
ground to get a box of six balls for the two
batsmen then Kevin Pietersen and Paul
Collingwood to select. According to the law,
those six balls have to be of the same brand
ranging from old to semi new to brand new and
it's the choice of the batsmen and he can select
any one of them. Not only that, Darrell Hair had
gone on to signal five penalty runs to the
English total. Play continued though till bad
light had forced the players for an early Tea
Break with England in trouble at 298 for 4. That
was also the end of today's play with Inzy and
his boys deciding to stage their protest.
England trail by 33 runs and it would still be a
tough task for them to save this match. Of
course the weather will do its bit, but for even
that to happen, the outcome of the meeting
between the concerned authorities tonight is
crucial on whether this Test match will continue
tomorrow or not.
Earlier in the day, England resumed its fight at
an overnight total of 78 for 1. Andrew Strauss
and Alastair Cook put on 107 runs for the 2nd
wicket before Strauss was given out lbw by Billy
Doctrove although the left hander was struck
outside the line of the offstump by a big leg
break from Danish Kaneria. Strauss had made a
delightful 54 which contained 9 hits to the
fence. Pakistan weren't allowed to take their
next wicket quickly as Cook and Pietersen got
into a terrific partnership which took England
safely at lunch on 183 for 2. They brought the
hundred runs for the partnership after the break
and it was a yorker from Umar Gul that had got
the breakthrough for Pakistan. Cook was out once
again lbw to a reverse swinging yorker from Umar
Gul and he missed out on a century by 17 runs.
Cook was patient in his knock of 83 which took
him 146 balls with 11 fours. Paul Collingwood
then teamed up with the attacking Pietersen and
the pair added up useful runs before Pietersen
had got himself out playing a wild shot outside
his off. Shahid Nazir was the luckly bowler to
have been rewarded with this big wicket of
Pietersen's which could be the turning point of
this Test. Pietersen missed out a century by
just 4 runs and he had faced just 114 balls to
reach there and his innings had consisted of 13
fours and 2 sixes. Paul Collingwood (26*) and
Ian Bell (9*) then fought through the nervous
period before the Tea to take England to 298 for
4.
For all the drama that had taken place at the
Brit Oval today, the TV Broadcasters - Sky
Sports who use more than 20 cameras to capture
the live pictures did not find any footage
showing a Pakistan fielder tampering with the
ball. Now that leaves to the question whether
Umpire Hair was making his accusations without
any proof and on his own assumptions? All Sky
Sports could come close in picking up on what
had happened was a clip showing Mohammad Asif
rigorously rubbing the ball onto his trousers
which was being closely watched by Hair. That is
of course within the rules and that leaves the
concerned authorities with absolutely no proof
that the ball was indeed tampered by Pakistan.
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