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Team management to be blamed for Oval Test fiasco: Butt
Ejaz Butt said the then team management in 2006 had not handled the Oval Test fiasco properly which led to the match being forfeited in favour of England.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: February 12, 2009 09:51 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Karachi:
Umpires Darrel Hair and Billy Doctrove declared the Test forfeited after Pakistan refused to take field after tea on the fourth day of the match, protesting against five-run penalty on charges of ball tampering.
It was only after much persuasion by the then PCB chief Shaharyar Khan that Pakistan players came out, but by that time the umpires had already made up their mind.
Butt felt the team management had acted in haste while deciding not to come out to play and they should have lodged a formal protest to Match Referee.
"We were in a winning position and could have won if we had not acted hastily no matter what the circumstances were at that time. We should have followed the rules," said Butt.
"When the problem erupted Pakistan team manager (Zaheer Abbas) should have lodged a formal complaint with the match referee who was authorised to take a final decision on the incident under the laws," he added.
Butt, who was criticised for not preventing ICC executive board from reversing the result of the Oval Test from a draw to an England win, defended himself saying there was nothing to do on his part.
"There was nothing we could do because the ICC and MCC had already taken their decision. It was just a formality to announce the decision at the board meeting," Butt said. Last year, then PCB chief Nasim Ashraf had played an important role in pressurising the ICC to change the Oval Test result to a draw.
Ranjan Madugalle, who was appointed by the ICC as the Special Adjudicator to look into the 2006 incident later cleared the Pakistan team of ball tampering charges but penalised then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for violating the spirit of the game.
Madugalle was also critical of the Australian umpire Hair's behaviour during the entire controversy.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ejaz Butt on Thursday said the then team management in 2006 had not handled the Oval Test fiasco properly which led to the match being forfeited in favour of England at the first place. International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier this month re-awarded the controversial Test to England after it had declared the match a draw last year.Umpires Darrel Hair and Billy Doctrove declared the Test forfeited after Pakistan refused to take field after tea on the fourth day of the match, protesting against five-run penalty on charges of ball tampering.
It was only after much persuasion by the then PCB chief Shaharyar Khan that Pakistan players came out, but by that time the umpires had already made up their mind.
Butt felt the team management had acted in haste while deciding not to come out to play and they should have lodged a formal protest to Match Referee.
"We were in a winning position and could have won if we had not acted hastily no matter what the circumstances were at that time. We should have followed the rules," said Butt.
"When the problem erupted Pakistan team manager (Zaheer Abbas) should have lodged a formal complaint with the match referee who was authorised to take a final decision on the incident under the laws," he added.
Butt, who was criticised for not preventing ICC executive board from reversing the result of the Oval Test from a draw to an England win, defended himself saying there was nothing to do on his part.
"There was nothing we could do because the ICC and MCC had already taken their decision. It was just a formality to announce the decision at the board meeting," Butt said. Last year, then PCB chief Nasim Ashraf had played an important role in pressurising the ICC to change the Oval Test result to a draw.
Ranjan Madugalle, who was appointed by the ICC as the Special Adjudicator to look into the 2006 incident later cleared the Pakistan team of ball tampering charges but penalised then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for violating the spirit of the game.
Madugalle was also critical of the Australian umpire Hair's behaviour during the entire controversy.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Stuart Broad Mohammad Asif Zaheer Abbas
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