PCB await ICC's reaction on Oval Test result

The PCB will wait on an ICC reaction to the MCC's recommendation that the game's governing body reverse the result of the controversial Oval Test of 2006 between England and Pakistan.

The Test was initially forfeited by Pakistan but the ICC changed the result to a draw at an executive board meeting in July following pressure from the PCB. The series result was hence changed from 3-0 to 2-0 in favour of England.

"It is an issue between the ICC and the MCC and we are not a direct party in this case," Saleem Altaf, the PCB's director-general, told the News. "We will see how the ICC reacts to the MCC ruling and then decide our course of action."

Earlier, Tony Lewis, the chairman of the MCC's cricket committee, said the ICC's decision to alter the result of the game would set a "dangerous precedent and cricket would only be worse off for this decision". He challenged the ruling, claiming the ICC had "no power under the laws of cricket to decide that results should be altered, whether it feels it's 'inappropriate' or otherwise."

Pakistan were accused of ball-tampering by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove, leading then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to stage a protest and refusing to play after tea on the fourth day. Hair and Doctrove, under the laws, correctly ruled the no-show as a forfeit. Inzamam was later cleared of the ball-tampering charges but was banned for four matches for bringing the game into disrepute.

Hair was voted off the ICC's elite panel of umpires in November 2006 and tried to subsequently sue the ICC for racial discrimination. He eventually dropped the charge and was reinstated to top-level umpiring earlier this year. However, soon after, he resigned from the ICC's elite panel.