FILE PHOTO

Ranjan Madugalle.

LONDON: The International Cricket Council (ICC) breathed a sigh of relief as the officials discovered that family illness would prevent chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle from presiding over the inquiry into the conduct of Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq during the fourth Test at the Oval, which was to have been held in London on Friday.

It seemed to halt the threat to the ODI series against England, which begins next week although Pakistan announced its willingness to continue. "There will be no problem. The ODI series will go ahead," tour manager Zaheer Abbas told newspersons on Wednesday.

A postponement of the series would have been damaging to the game's image and might have cost the England and Wales Cricket Board £10m in loss of revenue and refunds to radio and television companies.

I understand that Madugalle's mother has been in hospital and his sister is seriously ill and that no one can tell when he will be able to take charge of the hearing. It seems that attempts to find another referee to hear the evidence was unsuccessful.

Inzamam was charged because umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove claim his side tampered with the ball and for not continuing the match after the tea break. England was awarded the match and a huge media storm has blown up in both England and Pakistan.

Preferred choice

"The difficulty relates to the availability of Ranjan Madugalle to chair the hearing as he is dealing with a private matter. Pakistan and England have both expressed a preference for Ranjan to hear the case," said ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed.

"We have looked at potential alternatives but, as the ICC's Chief Referee and a person with immense credibility, Ranjan is the most appropriate person. The intense nature of the ODI series is likely to make it extremely difficult to fit in a hearing during that period. I should stress that the reason for the postponement is related solely to Ranjan's availability," he added.

Speed had already issued a statement backing the principle that on-field umpires were in sole charge and that ICC would continue to appoint umpires "without fear or favour." That remark was clearly aimed at Pakistan officials who told ICC in writing that they did not want Darrell Hair to stand in their matches.

"It is not the role of ICC to overturn the decisions of on-field umpires, the people who are enshrined in the Laws of Cricket as the sole judges of fair and unfair play, the ultimate arbiters. The decision made by them to award the match to England was the correct one under the Laws," Speed said.

No change in roles

"Since the Test, we have received a letter from the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman expressing his concerns about the appointment of Hair to matches involving Pakistan. The PCB has expressed those concerns verbally in the past but this is the first time they have put them in writing, even though they have previously been invited to do so. It remains the role of the ICC and not our members to appoint umpires. The appointments are made without fear or favour and are based on the performances of the umpires," he said.

"This process has been approved by the ICC's Executive Board, which includes representatives of all the Test-playing teams, and has proved successful. The Code of Conduct hearing is not a political, racial or religious matter but a cricketing one. We have no vested interest in the outcome of the hearing but what we expect is that it will be fair and will illustrate our processes are suitably robust," Speed added.

Other sticking points still abound. Pakistan has appointed famous sports lawyer Mark Gay to represent Inzamam, but he may not be allowed to appear until an appeal; that was the precedent set when Sourav Ganguly was captain of India, who took four hours to bowl 50 overs in an ODI. At least Gay has extra time to prepare his brief.

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