PCB formally rejects England's compensation claim

Inzamam-ul-Haq leads his side back onto the field ... but too late to save the Test © Getty Images

As expected, the Pakistan Cricket Board has formally rejected a request for compensation lodged by their English counterparts following the abandonment of August's Oval Test.

The ECB had asked for around $1.3 million (£800,000) to cover its losses after Pakistan refused to resume playing on the fourth day of the match. The board refunded all fifth-day ticketholders and also gave a 40% reimbursement to the 23,000 in the ground on day of the abandonment.

While talks continue between the boards, there seems little chance of any progress. The PCB maintains that the actions of the umpires were to blame for the resulting refusal by Pakistan to resume the match, and as the employers of the officials, the ICC is responsible for the losses. "We have said in our letter that the Oval Test not being completed is a case of cause and effect," Saleem Altaf, the PCB's director of operations was quoted as saying. "The 'cause' was when umpire Darrell Hair accused our team of ball-tampering and the 'effect' was our team refusing to play the match.

"The ECB should realise that we have been vindicated in our stand on ball-tampering, which led to the effect. They should contact the person responsible for the effect." Altaf's comments did not take into account that Inzamam-ul-Haq was found guilty and punished for bringing the game into disrepute by refusing to play after tea.

If stalemate ensues, then the ECB can ask the ICC to intervene, and the matter is sure to be raised at the board of directors meeting in Mumbai next month.

The ECB would be within its rights to insist on consistency from the ICC. The English authorities had to pay £250,000 to the Zimbabwe board when an ODI in 2004-05 was cancelled because the Zimbabwe authorities refused to allow journalists into the country. It was also hit with a hefty fine when England refused to play in Harare during the 2003 World Cup.

If the ICC decided to pay then there may well be objections from other member countries as ultimately world cricket would be footing the bill for the Pakistan team's actions.