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PCB wants Oval result altered

11/01/2008

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to change the result of the disputed Test against England in 2006.

The match in question, at the Oval in London, was awarded to the home side after Pakistan refused to re-emerge from the pavilion after the tea break.

Led by then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, the tourists staged a protest after standing umpire Darrell Hair ruled the team would be penalised five penalty runs for alleged ball tampering.

These charges were later dropped but at the time Pakistan's players felt they needed to lodge some form of protest in order to "protect their dignity".

And as a result of their delayed emergence on to the field of play, the umpires declared the match as forfeit and awarded England the third Test - ensuring a 3-0 series win.

It was the first time in the history of Test cricket that a match had been forfeited.

However, in light of the developments since - which include the ICC's decision to axe Hair from the international umpires list as well as the dropping of the ball-tampering charges - the PCB has requested that the match be deemed a draw.

"We have moved the application on the basis of the ICC dropping the ball-tampering charges against our team," an unnamed PCB official is quoted as saying.

"The good thing is that England supported our plea and the matter was discussed at the executive board meeting of the ICC and than referred to the cricket committee for discussion."