Cricket's rulers effectively wrote a cheats charter yesterday when they wiped out England's controversial 2006 victory over Pakistan at The Oval and redesignated it as a draw. On a day when the International Cricket Council board were due to address the pressing Zimbabwe issue at their annual conference, they instead spent several hours debating a Test that ended in farce when Pakistan, outraged at being docked penalty runs for ball-tampering, refused to play on and were deemed to have forfeited the match. The upshot is that a 3-0 series win for England is to be downgraded to 2-0 and a dangerous precedent will be set. Forfeit: umpire Hair removes the bails to end The Oval Test After emerging from eight hours of talks, ICC delegates refused to explain the decision. However, their silence was damaging, as the rationale appears...
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