LONDON, Sept 28: Former Test umpire Dickie Bird of England believes that Thursday’s verdict on Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s will bring about a change in the laws on ball-tampering.

Currently an umpire can impose an on-the-spot penalty if he believes a ball has been unfairly altered but Inzamam was subsequently found not guilty because of insufficient evidence.

"Unless you see them actually tampering with the cricket ball I don't think there's a lot you can do about it," Bird told BBC News on Thursday. "I would bring that into that law.”

ICC chief referee Ranjan Madugalle on Wednesday made the not-guilty judgement on the charge laid against Inzamam during last month's fourth Test against England. At a subsequent news conference he was asked whether the law is now completely unenforceable without unambiguous video evidence. He replied: "At this moment I don't know whether I can really answer in a concrete fashion. My hunch is you need to have concrete evidence to substantiate serious allegations, definite proof."

Umpire Darrell Hair, who penalised Pakistan five runs at The Oval, provoking an international outcry, refused to comment on whether Law 42 was workable. – Agencies