Match referee could rule on forfeits in future

As a direct fallout of the controversy surrounding the ball-tampering incident and the subsequent forfeiture of the Oval Test between Pakistan and England, the International Cricket Council could decide to take the power of awarding a forfeiture away from the umpire and put that decision in the hands of the match referee.

Sri Lanka have been at the forefront of moving the ICC to make the change, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper, which quotes Jayantha Dharmadasa, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket, as saying, "I think the ICC should discuss whether some decisions, such as ruling that a match had been forfeited, would be better left to match referees than umpires."

Dharmadasa also suggested that there was widespread agreement on this, and that it would not cause a divide in the cricket world. "This should be settled quickly for the good of the game. There will be no split between Asia and the other Test countries on this. I am confident that a settlement will be reached."

Although Darrel Hair, the standing umpire in the centre of the furore, followed the letter of the law, a Test match was forfeited for the first time in the history of cricket. It's widely perceived that this could have been avoided had the match referee stepped in and brokered a compromise.

A standing umpire - involved as closely in the action as he is, with tempers sometimes fraying - needn't always be in the best position to make a decision on a forfeiture. With so much riding on each day's play in this day and age where television revenues dominate cricket as much as they do this raises the stakes even more.