It’s about respect – Inzamam

In an exclusive interview with Cricinfo, Inzaman-ul-Haq has been very vocal and to the point – stating that the issue of cheating is not about a game but more about the respect of an entire nation – How true….

Inzamam-ul-Haq has confirmed that the Pakistani stance on their forfeited Test at The Oval is a matter of honour, after the match ball was changed by Umpire Darrell Hair midway through the afternoon session.

“This game is about more than winning and losing,” he told Cricinfo, “it’s about respect and countries come first. If someone says to me you are a cheat and Pakistan is doing wrong things, my first priority is to my country.”

“It’s very simple,” he continued. “There are 26 cameras there [from Sky Sports] and nobody’s picked anything. This hearing will not take place in the [referee’s] room, it’s on the front of the media, everything is on the media.”

Inzamam ran through the chain of events in his on-pitch confrontation with the umpires. “They did not warn me,” he said, “and then they gave five [penalty] runs. [Hair] did not talk to me, he wasn’t telling me when he’s changed the ball, he didn’t ask me ‘can we change the ball?’”

The discussion continued when Hair went up to the Pakistan dressing-room to ask if they would be taking the field. “Personally I asked him: ‘why did you change the ball?’”, said Inzamam, adding that Hair responded that the ball had been tampered with, but then refused to show Inzamam the ball when he was asked, saying that it was in the referee’s room.

“I said it is in my rights to see the ball,” he added, “to show that the ball is doing nothing. I wanted to say it’s ok, the condition of the ball has not changed, but Hair says ‘It’s my decision.’” – Cricinfo

After all the fiasco yesterday, the match was forfeited by Pakistan and awarded to England, I suspect the umpires were stubborn yet again in this decision and continued to pick a battle more as a whim rather then seeking a compromise to solve the problem.

I continue to demand the PCB should expedite the ball tampering hearing and if Pakistan is not found guilty Umpire Darrell Hair should issue an unconditional public apology to the Pakistan team and also to the world media for taking this sport for a roller coaster of a ride. Pakistan should fight this issue to the nail and if no one buckles then boycott the series, I am sure if England were here in Pakistan they would have walked right off without a second thought.

I seriously hope the PCB Panel handling these affairs in England are not acting like slaves to the gora’s battering and have not succumbed to their demands with a statement like …. “You take care of my Booze and I’ll shut up and play” – I hope this does not happen but if it does I would not be surprised