KARACHI, Oct 2: After the verdict in the much-awaited Inzamam-ul-Haq’s Ovalgate hearing last week, the question that needs an immediate answer from the Pakistan Cricket Board is who is going to pick up the tab?

The PCB engaged DLA Piper, a reputed English legal firm, to ensure Pakistan and Inzamam come out unscathed on the ball-tampering charge with their dignity and honour intact. According to sources, the PCB owes the legal company more than five million rupees for services rendered.

On top of that, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which had shrewdly waited until the hearing was over, is now demanding that it be compensated US$1.5 million for the losses incurred because of the abrupt cancellation of the final day of the Test series.

The PCB Chairman, Shaharyar M. Khan, said on Sunday that since it wasn’t Pakistan’s responsibility, they would not be paying anything to ECB. The question then arises who’s responsible for the payout; the PCB, or the International Cricket Council?

The PCB should not expect the ICC to foot the bills because the game’s governing body seldom believes in resolving crisis no matter how grave they are. One English writer aptly portrayed ICC as one sporting institution which consists of ostriches and which is why it moved its headquarters from Lord’s to Dubai where there is lot of sand for the ostriches to bury their heads in.

The 4047-word verdict, delivered by ICC’s chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, in hindsight offered PCB a golden opportunity not only to nail the obstinate Darrell Hair once and for all, but also ask the ICC to pay the expenses incurred throughout the sordid episode.

Soon after the Madugalle ruling was made public came the news that PCB was thinking on the lines of asking the ICC to charge Hair with bringing the game into disrepute. But instead of cashing in on the support and words of sympathy they got from various quarters, especially from the British media which is known for its notoriety, the PCB is now left to face the music.

Without realizing that whatever happened at The Oval can happen again if appropriate measures are not put into place, PCB chief said that Pakistan would have no objection if the ICC allows Hair to stand again in international games.

The man who proudly considers himself as ‘a bloody good umpire’ is not going to throw in the towel just yet. Hair still thinks that he has the ability to continue for a while yet on the world stage despite his offer to quit elite panel if the ICC paid him $500,000, the sum he would supposedly get if he were allowed to complete his term. Hair’s contract on the ICC elite panel of umpires still has 18 months left – it ends on March 31, 2008.

The PCB chief admits there was a technical fault that led to the first forfeiture in Test history. He reasoned that the Pakistan protest was supposed to last not more than five minutes after umpires Hair and Billy Doctrove docked the team with a five-run penalty, allegedly for ball-tampering.

To be honest no one seriously believed that the Pakistan team had doctored the ball. And yet, everyone expected Inzamam to get some kind of a ban from Madugalle who acted leniently and penalized the Pakistan captain with a four-match One-day International ban for bringing the game into disrepute.

The nation offered a prayer of gratitude in this holy month of Ramazan, for justice was done and the country’s honour restored after 40 agonizing days of waiting from the moment Hair accused Pakistan of cheating on that fateful Aug 20 afternoon.But now, the PCB chairman is talking about an internal inquiry to find out who was responsible for the fiasco in the Pakistan dressing-room.

The protest ultimately lasted over 40 minutes and later cost Zaheer Abbas his job because as team manager he was supposed to bring sanity to the team in that crucial phase and ensure the players took the field after the tea interval and let the board officials handle the ball-tampering issue.

In the days to come, the probability of PCB finding more scapegoats in the wake of The Oval fiasco won’t be forthcoming given that player-power still exists in Pakistan cricket.

After all, the cricketers protested right under the noses of PCB’s top hierarchy without realising that the very same players are virtual employees of the cricket board who pay them handsomely for representing their beloved country.