Former West Indian Test captain and ICC match referee Clive Lloyd said on Monday that cricket's authorities could and should have found a way around the Mike Denness controversy, which would have allowed the final match in the South Africa-India series to be played as an official Test match.

Lloyd, who was at Centurion, told South African television: "It's unfortunate. There must have been ways they could have gotten around this controversy. They should have played the Test and had an inquiry after or even during the Test."

Lloyd said he hoped the row did not cause cricket too much damage.

"We've had the match-fixing scandal and we've just come back to normalcy," he said. "We could have done without this."

He said that it would have helped had more information been made available about the sentences imposed by Denness on six Indian players during the second Test at St George's Park.

"You've got to get information out to people," said Lloyd. "The match referee should speak to the teams individually - not just to the captains and coaches. Teams should know how far they can go."

Of Denness' decisions, Lloyd said: "You've got to look at these things carefully. They're not always black and white. Sometimes you have to make harsh decisions and sometimes you have to do things for the good of the game. You don't want to fine people, but when it comes to breaking the law, you want to be strong."