The International Cricket Council (ICC) should never have changed the result of the controversial 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan to a draw, the custodians of the game's laws said on Sunday.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) called for the ICC to reinstate the original result that Pakistan had forfeited the Test and said it had set a dangerous precedent by altering the result.
England were originally declared winners after Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq refused to lead his team back on to the field after tea on day four in protest after being docked five runs for alleged ball tampering by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove.
After an investigation into the incident that resulted in the first forfeited result in Tests, the ICC executive board altered the result to a draw in July this year.
"The ICC's decision [altering the win to a draw] is wrong and sets a very dangerous precedent. Cricket is the worse for this decision," MCC world cricket committee chairman Tony Lewis told a news conference after its two-day meeting in New Delhi.
The Lord's-based committee said the ICC executive board's decision, which overrode the ICC cricket committee's unanimous recommendation that the forfeited result should stand, ran contrary to the Laws of Cricket.
"The ICC has no power, under the Laws of Cricket, to decide that results should be altered, whether it feels them to be 'inappropriate' or otherwise," the MCC panel said in a statement.
"The committee urges the ICC to revoke its decision ... and to confirm that the original result of the match still stands."
POOR OVER-RATES
In other issues discussed at the meeting, the MCC committee criticised continued poor over-rates in Tests and recommended that the ICC fine all players, not just the captain, if teams do not bowl at least 15 overs per hour.
The MCC would work with the ICC to formulate a run penalty if the situation did not improve in six months, it said.
"The committee feels that test umpires, captains, managers and players need to understand better and buy into the concept of playing the game at an acceptable tempo," the MCC panel statement said.
"'Ready cricket' should be the mantra for players, where time-consuming activities such as team huddles and excessive delays while setting fields are eliminated from the game."
The panel said umpires should not give the option for players to leave the field for bad light, adding that halting play when the light is only marginally poor short-changed spectators.
A popular trial in English county cricket this year, whereby umpires would only take the players off the field when they felt that the conditions were dangerous, should be included in international cricket's playing regulations, it said.
The panel also discussed the merits of a possible move to make Twenty20 cricket feature in future Olympic Games, saying that should only happen if the Olympics were to become the pinnacle of that format of the game.
If the Olympic competition was played in addition to biennial World Twenty20 tournaments, players would not give it the attention it deserved, it said.
