Strip umpires off power to forfeit matches, SLC asks ICC

London, Aug 30 (UNI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has demanded the ICC to strip the umpires off the power to forfeit a match, claiming the support of the Asian bloc and other Test playing nations for the change following the ball-tampering row, which led to the forfeiture of the Oval Test between England and Pakistan.

Quoting SLC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa, the Guardian reported that Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove's decision to forfeit the Test in England's favour at Oval after Inzamam-ul Haq's side allegedly tampered with the ball has raised concerns about the on-field umpire's role in such situations.

''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. 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,'' the SLC Chairman was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The newspaper reported that the money involved in organising test matches is so huge that forfeiture of matches will not be an affordable preposition for most of the Test playing nations.

The discussions on such a change would commence soon after Inzamam-ul Haq's hearing in the ball-tampering row and the daily reported that an English official has put the chances of umpires losing the authority to forfeit matches at ''40-60''.

UNI XC PM PDS PC1636