The long awaited hearing following the controversial Oval Test match starts tomorrow and is due to last two days.

Inzamam-ul-Haq faces two seperate charges of ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. He could face a lengthy ban if found guilty.

The 4th Test between England and Pakistan was abandoned after the tourists forfeited the game when 5 penalty runs were awarded to England by Darrell Hair for alleged ball tampering.

Hair, of course, went on to offer his resignation for a nice little earner of $500,000 just to make it all a little bit more interesting.

I’d be very surprised if Inzy gets done for ball tampering. There’s been no evidence so far to suggest that the Pakistan team did anything to interfere with the condition of the ball. On the charge of bringing the game into disrepute, though, he’s guilty as charged.

It doesn’t matter whether or not the umpires were right or wrong, their decision should be accepted as final. The right way to have done things would have been to complete the days play and then protest to the match officials. Inzy is a popular figure in Pakistan cricket and the behaviour of his team sends out the wrong signals to the thousands of cricket mad kids who will have seen the incident on TV.

Tags : Cricket, England, Pakistan, Inzamam, Darrell Hair