England v Pakistan: Pakistan May Pull Out of Tour

Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, said last night that his team would consider pulling out of their tour of England if the captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is found guilty of ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute by an ICC hearing in London on Friday. If they do so, the Pakistan Cricket Board would risk a fine of $2m and a possible suspension by the International Cricket Council.

On another day of high drama following the abandonment of the fourth Test at The Oval on Sunday, the former England batsman Woolmer said: "I would think the one-day series may well be in serious jeopardy if he is found guilty and banned for eight games. If the punishment is postponed it may be different, but certainly after these events the players are right behind our captain. Much will depend on Friday's ruling, but if there is a ban there will be more problems."

But, under powers approved by the ICC Executive Board at a meeting in March 2004, Pakistan could find themselves facing financial ruin if the threat to head home is carried out. The case against Inzamam will be presided over by the ICC's most senior match referee, the Sri Lankan Ranjan Madugalle, who, crucially, has been approved by the Pakistan Cricket Board as well as by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Inzamam stands accused on two counts, both of them because of his role as the Pakistan captain.

The first is a breach at Level 2 of the Code of Conduct which relates to changing the condition of the ball, and carries a potential fine of 50-100% of his match fee and/or a ban of one Test or two one-day internationals.

The second is a breach at Level 3 which relates to conduct that brings the player or the game of cricket into disrepute, and could result in a ban of two to four Tests or four to eight one-day internationals.

An appeal would inevitably follow a guilty verdict and, assuming the Pakistan touring party has not left Britain, Inzamam could still play up until the moment the appeal is heard.

But there is a very real chance that he will miss some or all of the five-match one-day series which begins with a day-night match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff a week tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the PCB, Shahriyar Khan, yesterday threw down the gauntlet to the ICC by calling on the game's governing body to produce the ball at the centre of the cheating scandal which brought a premature and dramatic end to the fourth and final Test.

The Pakistan teamn continued to protest their innocence yesterday after they werepenalised five runs by the umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove. And, in a gesture that can be interpreted either as high-quality brinkmanship or a plausible declaration of innocence, Khan called on cricket's administrators to allow the public to make up their own minds about what took place two days ago.

"The ball is with the match referee [Mike Procter]a" he said. "But we have said that, please, display it to the television and to the public and the press."

He is unlikely to get his wish. During Pakistan's tour of England in 1992, the ball was changed during a one-day international at Lord's amid allegations that the change had taken place because of tampering by the Pakistani bowlers. But subsequent attempts to track down the ball proved fruitless and it is believed to have remained under lock and key until this day.

Even so, Khan's challenge reveals the depth of feeling within the Pakistan camp about an issue that has reopened old and painful scars. "My boys felt there had been a slur on the Pakistan team and a slur on Pakistan itself," said Khan. "We had worked very hard to get out of this syndrome of ball-tampering."

Pakistan have asked the ICC to prevent Hair from officiating in any more of their matches, and Khan spoke in passionate terms yesterday about the breakdown in relations between his team and one of the game's most experienced umpires.

"Our case is that it is not the fact that Darrell Hair is a bad umpire," he said. "Our team has a problem with his attitude on the field. That attitude has upset our team more than once. If ICC is sensitive to us, it will take due cognisance of what is said. We have not raised this issue with any other umpire."

As the pressure on Hair intensified, Khan revealed some of the details of the frantic meeting that had taken place on Sunday evening as officials from both sides tried to salvage a Test that both the umpires had already decided had been forfeited by Pakistan, who had already lost the series.

"The match referee Mike Procter spoke to Malcolm Speed [the ICC chief executive] twice on the phone to say that we had reached an impasse," he said. "Speed then spoke to the umpires but they remained intransigent. It was a grievous blow to the spirit of cricket."