Vaughan urges Eng, Pak to put ball-tampering furore behind

London, Aug 24 (UNI) Things could have been handled differently in the ball-tampering controversy, feels regular England captain Michael Vaughan who has advised his team and the Pakistanis to put the incident behind them and go ahead with the upcoming ODI series.

''In hindsight there are many things that could have been done differently, but then hindsight's a wonderful thing isn't it?'' Vaughan told 'The Sun'.

The regular captain, currently recuperating from a knee surgery, felt the issue should not be allowed to have any bearing on the upcoming ODI series.

''Looking forward, the one-day series must take place next week, no matter what happens. As players that's what we're paid to do, and both sets of players want to go out and entertain,'' he said.

''I think everyone would be upset if it didn't take place. But I can understand all parties concerned in what's happened,'' he added.

However, Vaughan said both the Pakistanis and umpire Darrell Hair had their reasons for acting in the manner they did but the matter should be setteled amicably for cricket's sake.

''Inzaman's team has been accused of cheating, but feel that they haven't. And Darrell Hair was just doing his job. He thought something had happened to the ball and he reacted within the letter of the law,'' Vaughan said when asked to react on the incident which has developed into a major furore with Inzamam facing an ICC inquiry for bringing the game into disrepute.

''It's difficult as it's never happened in the history of the game. Ball tampering is such a delicate issue. But as the cricket's gone on over the years, there's never been a team, player or incident bigger than the game itself and so it must go on,'' he added calling for a speedy settlement of the issue.

UNI XC PM PDS SSC1342