LAHORE: In order to resolve the issue once and for all, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed a three-member committee to probe into the Oval Test debacle in the match played between Pakistan and England in 2006.

PCB Chief Operating Officer Saleem Altaf told Dawn that the three-member committee comprises NCA Director Aamir Sohail, Director Human Resources Wasim Bari and Director Domestic Cricket Sultan Rana.

‘The committee will determine whether Pakistan Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq or the then manager Zaheer Abbas or anyone else had been responsible for taking to the field,’ Saleem said.

The Oval Test case resurfaced after the International Cricket Council (ICC) reverted its earlier decision of declaring the Test abandoned, and awarding it to England.

The Pakistan team, led by Inzamam back then, had refused to resume play after tea on the fourth day of the Test as they were protesting against field umpire Darrell Hair’s decision of imposing a five-run penalty for ball tampering by the Pakistani bowlers.

Inzamam took a strict stance as he considered Hair’s decision a way to defame Pakistan cricket.

Though Hair even went to the Pakistan dressing room to call the team back to the field, warning them that failure in doing so would see him forfeiting the match in England’s favour, Inzamam was not ready to comply.

Shaharyar M. Khan, who was then the PCB chairman, also tried to convince Inzamam to play but the captain stood his ground.

Hair, meanwhile, after waiting for a scheduled time, drew the bails, declaring England as the winners. That was when Inzamam and the players walked back into the field but Hair refused to resume the match.

Though former PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf’s pleading the case in the 2007 ICC resulted in changing Hair’s decision, MCC and the ICC’s own cricketing committee had expressed their great concern over changing the umpire’s decision. It was due to their reservations that the ICC considered the case again. Besides, its chief executive committee meeting held in July, 2008, had also declared that no rule can change an umpire’s decision.

In the meeting, held at Perth, Australia last month, the ICC approved the recommendations forwarded by the MCC and its cricketing committee to declare Pakistan the losers.

Sources said that the federal government now is interested in finding out who was really at fault at the time.

The committee may also ask the then Chairman Shaharyar M. Khan and captain Inzamam to explain their sides.