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England were awarded the fourth and final test on Monday after
Pakistan forfeited the match on a day of high farce and bitter
recriminations following a ball-tampering storm.
Pakistan refused to return to the field after tea on day four at
The Oval after Darrell Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove had
earlier imposed a five-run penalty against them for ball-tampering
and changed the ball.
When Pakistan did later take to the field, the umpires did not
appear, leading to extensive negotiations that ended with the
abandonment almost six hours after the drama began.
England win the four-test series 3-0. Pakistan's forfeiture is
unprecedented in test history.
"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," read a statement on behalf of the
International Cricket Council, England and Wales Cricket Board and
the Pakistan Cricket Board.
"The Pakistan team was aggrieved by the award of five penalty runs
to England. The award of those penalty runs for alleged
interference with the ball is under review by the ICC match referee
Mike Procter, whose report will be considered in due
course."
Pakistan's players, on course for a face-saving win, had been
stunned during the afternoon session when the umpires took
action.
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.
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 head 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."
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."
Khan added 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.
Pakistan were aggrieved when the umpires ruled the ball had been
tampered 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
1995-6.
