22nd August 2006
Hi friends !

Hasn't the last week been exciting with all the action at Oval, leading to the first forfeiture in the history of test cricket? With England winning the game that they would probably never have liked to win this way, Pakistan losing the game they might have won without all this controversy, the game of cricket is surely the biggest loser.

Inzamam Ul Haq Pakistan forfeited the fourth Test against England after the match descended into chaos when the tourists were penalized for ball-tampering. The row began when Hair and Doctrove stopped play to look at the condition of the ball after 56 overs with England on 230-3. It had begun to reverse-swing and they declared it had been altered artificially. Pakistan, penalised five runs by the umpires refused to take to the field after tea in protest. The tourists later made a U-turn, but umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove would not return to the field of play. Officials spent several hours trying to find a resolution but the match was eventually awarded to England. At the end of the match England was trailing to Pakistan by 33 runs at 298-4. After dismissing England within a mere score of 173 in the 1st innings Pakistan managed to amass 504 runs in their 1st innings with a brilliant ton by Mohammed Yousuf. This isn't, of course, the first time a ball tampering controversy has disrupted cricket contests between the two countries. Pakistan's victorious tour in 1992 was blighted by a stream of accusations and inferences that they tampered the ball to obtain the reverse swing which ultimately helped them clinch the series.If at all they were guilty is not still confirmed, still this has surely been a landmark event in the history of test cricket Read more...

On the other end in Colombo, there was an abrupt end to the one day matches in the tri series between Sri Lanka and India with only 22 balls played because of the incessant rain. With South Africa already withdrawing from the series earlier , the match has been rescheduled for a later date next year.
:: More News
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Experts back Sachin, Dravid as openers
:: Darell Hair hits controversy again against Pakistan
Darrell Bruce Hair Darrell Bruce Hair , the current Australian Test cricket match umpire, from New South Wales and also a member of the ICC Elite umpire panel in 2002-03 is caught up in yet another controversy. The action on the 4th day of the test between England & Pakistan came to an end as Hair accused Pakistan of ball tampering and awarded 5 penalty runs to England. In protest, Inzamam-ul-Haq kept his team off the field against England after tea which prompted the first forfeiture in Test history. Hair has a long relationship with controversies. In 1995 he called Muralitharan seven times in three over for throwing, which led to a walkout by the Sri Lankans. In November 2005, Darrell Hair surprised Pakistan by referring a run out decision concerning captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to the third umpire during the Faisalabad Test, though Inzamam appeared to be taking evasive action. Pakistan announced they would no longer accept Darrell Hair as an umpire for any cricket match.Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has accused Hair of acting like a " mini Hitler " and " fundamentalist " Pakistan has also threatened to withdraw from their forthcoming one-day series against England if captain Inzamam-ul-Haq receives a lengthy ban from Friday's disciplinary hearing with the International Cricket Council More...
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:: ScoreZone
Pakistan in England
PAK vs ENG, (4th Test), Oval
:: BattleNext
Pakistan in England
PAK vs ENG (1st ODI), Cardiff (D/N), 30th August t
PAK vs ENG ( 2nd ODI) , Lords, 2nd September
PAK vs ENG (3rd ODI), Rose Bowl, 5th September
Pak vs ENG (4th ODI), Trent Bridge, 8th September

Malaysia Tri-Series
AUS vs WI (1st ODI), Kinrara, 12th September
IND vs WI (2nd ODI), Kinrara, 14th September
:: Did you know ?
India refused to continue the match at Sahiwal(1978/79) against Pakistan when Sarfaraz Nawaz bowled four successive bumpers and the umpire took no action.
:: Cricket Poll
Q: Do you support Hair's decision to award the Test match to England after Pakistan refused to take the field ?
VOTE NOW
Well friends, perhaps the fiasco at The oval could be avoided if Pakistan had come out to play after tea. But as history shows, when England and Pakistan plays many a times its not just cricket. So, lets wait to hear the decisions taken & hope it leads to no more chaos and bring disrepute to such a wonderful sport. Don't forget to write to me at nik@corp.123india.com. Catch you later.
With Warm Regards,
Nik - Editor, 123India.com Cricket
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