Lahore: Shahryar Mohammad Khan, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has cautioned the ICC against overturning the result of the controversial England-Pakistan Test at The Oval in 2006, now a draw, back to a forfeit.
“The ICC will only make fun of itself and it will leave them in a very awkward position,” Shahryar told media on Thursday.
The PCB is currently awaiting the ICC’s reaction to the MCC’s recommendation that the result of the Oval Test be reversed and awarded to England, the Daily Times reported.
The match was initially forfeited by Pakistan, after they refused to take the field, but the ICC changed the result to a draw at an executive board meeting in July this year. The series result was hence changed from 3-0 to 2-0 in favour of England.
Following the MCC world cricket committee’s statement, ICC president David Morgan said it was a decision that he was not happy with and didn’t believe “it was appropriate to change the result.”
Tony Lewis, the chairman of the MCC committee, said the reversal had set a “dangerous precedent and cricket would only be worse off for this decision.”
Shahryar, who was the PCB chairman at the time of the Oval Test, however believed the decision to change the result was unanimous.
“It’’s not a matter that whether the changed decision was right or wrong. Maybe Morgan was not happy when the decision was changed from a forfeit to a draw at the ICC board’’s meeting, but then it was a unanimous decision and it should stay.”
He recommended the ICC should have a body in place to addresses such issues.
Shahryar, who was at The Oval for the match, said the on-field umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove made a mistake in awarding the Test to England. (ANI)
news by apakistannews.com
