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So what's going to happen? Will there be play tomorrow or once the bails come off then that's it? IF play doesn't continue will England be awarded a win or does it become a no result?

I was watching when the umpires changed the ball and was surprised when the wasn't a huge fuss made and play continued. All the fuss happened later when I was well asleep. Play stops for bad light. Pakistan don't come on after the stopage. England and the umpires do. Pakistan still don't come out. Bails removed.

I'd be a lot more comfortable in the umpires decision if it wasn't Darrell Hair doing it all. Don't like him at all.

Sigh.. Temperamental folk aren't we us cricketers. And Darrell Hair, well he's either a man of strong principles or an idiot.
However can we have him as third umpire keeping an eye on the English "lolly cheats" then we can see if he really is a man of principle.

Game has been awarded to England by match officials. Well played.

We used to polish the ball with lipstick of all things when I used to play. Didnt make any difference to my game I couldn't swing a ball regardless.

IN regards Darrell Hair, I think he just called their bluff - you can almost imagine the scramble in the Pakis dressing room when the bails went off. You can bet that teams won't try that one again.

Sorry, quogequox, can you explain what "lolly cheats" are ?

The practice of sucking lollies and using the product to put a sheen on the ball causing it to swing. I understand England cricket team tours with large quantities of a certain brand of mint.
I'm also curious as to why some players, Andrew Symonds springs to mind, find it necessary to wear large amounts of lip balm even when playing under lights.

According to the BBC TV news, Inzamam has now been formally charged with ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. The hearing is scheduled for Friday 25th.

I don't think the suggestion is that he personally "altered the condition of the ball": they seem to be holding him responsible as captain for the alleged actions of his team.

Aaah, right, thanks for explaining that to me (I thought it must be something like that but I'd just never heard the "lolly" reference before).

And, looking ahead to the forthcoming Ashes tour, I think England will need more than mints and lollies to beat you Aussies in your own back yard.

Regarding the Eng-Pak ball-tampering row, I've just watched ex-England captains such as Nasser Hussein and Mike Atherton criticise the umpire Darryl Hair for a mega-overreaction and said that , if the same thing had happened to an England team under their captaincy, they too would have refused to play on.

Copago, you'd be surprised at the tricks cricketers can get up to.
A daub of vaseline in the elbow joint is always a good one, with the ball being strategically rubbed there 'to get the sweat on it'. Another one is the bowler who brushes his hair back with his hand, and then rubs sweat into the ball. Totally legal, until you realise that he is using hair cream! The 'lolly' trick is an oldie, and I can still remember back in 1976-77 when England toured India, a new laft-arm swing bowler named John Lever took 10 wickets in his maiden Test. Straight away, there were cries from the Indian camp of 'ball-tampering', because very few people could swing a ball in India! Never mind about his talent!
I was watching an interview with Aussie bowling great Alan Davidson several years ago, and he was asked about the 'ball-tampering'. He said that the problem was that these guys didn't really know how to shine a ball anyway. Davidson did a stint in the army, and learned about the art of 'spit-and-polishing', as in boots etc. It stood him in good stead, because that's all he used to use when he bowled - a giant spit into the hand, and then polish the ball with that. All totally legal, and lethally effective, because Davidson was one of the greatest swing bowlers the game has ever seen.
Perhaps some people could learn from the old-timers....

Darrell Hair apparently played Sydney 'grade' cricket, not first class and certainly not test cricket. So unlike the best umpires, Bird, Sheppard etc. He wasn't good enough to play cricket, why should the 'powers that be' consider him umpire material, because he can read the laws, big deal, so can I. I don't think I should be an umpire because I haven't played first class cricket, let alone at test level. The minimum requirement for an umpire, or referee should be that they have actually played the game. Hair needs to be removed from the panel of umpires, I have emailed Geoffrey Boycott suggesting this, I also suggested an invitational limited overs match for the last day, so that the people that pay for this could see some cricket, but got no reply.

Regards,

Tin

Nah don't agree with you on that one - playing and umpiring are totally different and you shouldn't have to have done one to do the other. It would give you another point of view but I don't think it's necessary.

I think I was about twelve when I got my local umpires certificate - technically could have umpired local level games between teams of thirty year old men. Never did at that age but while in my teens I did some stints at square leg.

Umpires should be selected on their umpiring abilty, regardless on whether they have played the game at a high level or not. Having been a umpire and very ordinary cricketer myself I can tell you that playing ability has nothing to do with umpiring. What is required is empathy towards the players and a sensible approach. Take nothing persoanlly, you are there as a servant not a master. Ginally you should take the advice of an AFL coach who suggested umpires should check their egos at the door.
Given that the pay is token at most levels and you spend your weekends standing in the heat having people yell at you, if you aint doing it for the love of the game the wheels will eventually fall off.

Rest assured Peter Parker should be restricted to lower forms of cricket umpiring on ability alone. He is the consistently worst first class umpire I have seen.
The sooner Steve Bucknor retires the more we can remember him as a good umpire and not a blundering hack.
And dont get me started on that NZ clown!
Alas England do produce the best umpires.

Although he revoked it two days later Darrell Hair sent an email offering to quit from the elite panel in exchange for US$500,000. In a way I feel sorry for people who make personal emails and conversations and have them slapped in the media but geeeeez, what was he thinking?

BBC story
BBC email transcripts

Anyone remember when he was umpiring a test but was on stress leave from his normal job 7-8 years ago? Bet that was nothing compared to the stress he's been under these last days.

Yeah that was staggering, im sure his employer was thrilled to bits too. Still he got the call right.

Was it? Hmmm - brain failure!

Dalgleish I do know an awful lot about 'the vagaries' of cricket in the UK, and have played some league and village cricket. But I think, if you haven't played cricket at a reasonably high level, the best I managed was a trial in my late teens with a 'minor' county, you cannot understand the full implications of the game at the highest level. Steve Bucknor, Simon Taufel and Nigel Plews (an ex-policeman) may have become 'good' umpires but they weren't as good as Shep and 'Dickie'. Peter Willey and Jacky Hampshire had a better understanding - even if they weren't 'top' umpires. There must be quite a number of ex-test players who could make good umpires. I agree that it is not just cricketing ability, but a good umpire is one who doesn't just blindly follow the rules, but one who uses judgement as a great man once said 'rules are for the obedience of idiots and the guidance of wise men'.

Regards,

Tin

I think I have more of an understanding of it than you might realise.
In Australia, there is a bit of a push to get ex-players into the umpiring ranks. As you probably know, Paul Reiffel has been umpiring now for about 5 years, and is on the First Class panel (he was offered a big cash incentive to take up umpiring, btw). He will probably make it to Test level.
Rod Tucker is a former NSW and Tasmanian all-rounder who started umpiring the same time as Reiffel, but I don't believe he will make it to the upper echelon. There are a few technical flaws etc that need to be ironed out.
I believe the next Australian to go onto the Test panel will be Bruce Oxenford, former Queensland leg-spinner. He's been umpiring for nearly 10 years, and has been pushed up the ranks. He struggled in his first couple of years in First Class cricket, but is now a very good umpire (and a helluva nice bloke, btw).
The point is, even though these guys have played top-class cricket, they still have to work very hard at being on top of their game. Some can do it, others can't.

I was aware of some of what you said, but not all of it. Btw I was not dismissing 'grade cricket' as being low standard I know that the likes of the Waugh brothers have played it, and in the past 20 years the standard has improved greatly, do you support a grade team, Western Suburbs or University of Queensland, perhaps? I think that bringing in ex test players, after they have passed some umpiring qualifications, is a very good idea. However, they need to know when to be strict and when to have a bit of give and take, a sense of humour helps as well.

Regards,

Tin

Not allowed to support them when I umpire them! I'm umpiring Uni this Saturday, actually!

Do you have any Billy Bowden style quirks, Dalgleish? A bit of a kick when you signal six or the bent finger when giving out?

If an Australian umpire carried on the way Billy Bowden does, he wouldn't get any higher than 5th grade!
Australian umpires are the best trained in the world these days, from techniques to fitness. By this, I'm not necessarily saying that they are the best in the world, because, at the end of the day, they are judged by getting the 'ins and outs' right. But I've noticed in the last couple of years that the international umpires are starting to adopt some of the techniques that have been part of the Australian training for years and years.
When I'm training new umpires, I tell them to ignore anything they see on TV, because between 'hawkeye' and Billy Bowden et al, they'll see everything that shouldn't happen on a field!