Musharraf defends Inzy and his boys

Islamabad/Karachi: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had telephoned Pakistan's cricket team management in Britain and backed skipper Inzamamul Haq's decision to keep his team off the field in the chaos-hit fourth Test against England at The Oval.

According to the Pakistan cricket management, Musharraf said that umpire Darrell Hair "insulted Pakistan" and the Pakistani skipper's decision to stage a dressing room protest over ball tampering charges during the tea interval was right.

However, Musharraf was not quoted directly by The News daily or by anyone in the cricket management.

"We have indicated clearly that we were willing to go out and that we want the match to continue," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said.

"The team were deeply upset at the implication they had been cheating. They wanted to protest by just waiting a few minutes and then come out to play," he added.

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has accused Hair of acting like a "mini Hitler" and "fundamentalist" following his role in the fourth test debacle against England on Sunday.

Pakistan's forfeiture of the match after a ball tampering row dominated headlines in Pakistani newspapers on Monday.

The controversy erupted when Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove imposed a five-run penalty against Pakistan and changed the ball.

"Hair's brash and provocative manner makes him the main culprit in letting things go out of hand," Imran wrote in his column in the Daily Nation headlined "Hair the Hitler does it again."

"Inzi (captain Inzamam-ul-Haq) should have reacted far sooner than he did. Had I been in Inzi's place I would taken a stand right there and then when Hair decided to change the ball and accused the Pakistanis of ball tampering," Imran said.

"I would have insisted on the managers of both teams and match referee coming out to register my protest. I would never have meekly accepted Hair's judgement the way Inzamam did," Imran said.

"Hair is one of those characters when he wears the white umpire's coat, he metamorphoses into a mini Hitler.

"During my career I have seen such umpires who go out of their way to make their authority felt. They are umpiring fundamentalists. Such characters court controversy," Imran added.

The Daily Times front-page story carried the headline: "Hair's biased decision mars Oval test match." A lead story with a picture of Hair removing the bails in the conservative Daily Dawn said: "Hair-raising row turns Oval Test on its head"."

Nearly all the newspapers criticised Hair for accusing the Pakistan team of cheating, and former captain and coach Intikhab Alam said the umpire should have had proof to support his decision.

"I personally feel Inzamam should have taken the decision of leaving the ground at that very moment when the umpires decided to change the ball or he should have kept on playing as Pakistan were in a winning position," Intikhab said.

Another former captain, Rameez Raja, also said Hair was the villain of the piece.

"His arbitrary and insensitive judgement at the Oval sparked an absolutely needless controversy," Rameez said.

The widely circulated Urdu daily Jang said the Pakistan Cricket Board had decided not to accept Hair as an umpire for any of their future matches.

England was on Sunday awarded the Test after a controversy erupted over the allegation that Pakistani players had indulged in tampering the ball and the team refused to continue with the game.