Inzamam to face hearing
Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq will return to The Oval later this week to face disciplinary charges arising from his role in Pakistan’s sensational forfeit against England in the fourth Test at the London ground in August.
The visitors were furious when umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove choose to penalize them five runs for ball tampering and they refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day.
As a result of their protest it was deemed that Pakistan had forfeited the match, the first time this had happened in 129 years of Test cricket, and England were awarded the match to give them a 3-0 series victory.
Now ICC chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will preside over a two day hearing which begins on Wednesday that will see Inzamam having to answer charges relating to ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute.
If found guilty of the first charge, the Pakistan captain faces a fine between 50 and 100 percent of his match fee and/or a one Test or two one-day international ban.
Should the second charge be proven, the 36 tear old faces a ban of between two and four Test matches or four to eight ODI matches.
Also attending the hearing will be umpires Billy Doctrove and Darrell Hair as well as fourth Test match referee and legendary South Africa all-rounder Mike Procter.
As well as Inzamam, Pakistan’s representatives at the hearing are expected to include coach Bob Woolmer, the former England all-rounder, and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan.
Madugalle will be assisted by David Pannick QC, one of Britain’s leading sports lawyers.
Meanwhile Pakistan’s legal team will be led by Mark Gay of leading London law firm DLA Piper who previously represented the Football Association when it banned Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand for missing a drugs test in 2003.
Any ban for Inzamam could affect the batsman’s participation in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in India.
It will be the eleventh time he has been charged under the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct since its inception in 1992.