England demand Oval test compensation by month's end

KARACHI, Oct 19 (Reuters) The England and Wales Cricket Board has given the Pakistan Cricket Board until the end of the month to settle a compensation claim of over 800,000 pounds for lost revenues at August's Oval test, the PCB said today.

The Pakistan board has, however, reiterated it did not feel responsible for the lost revenues and would contest the claim in the disputes resolution committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) or event through the lawcourts.

''We have got a letter from the ECB. They want a settlement by October 31 after which they have said they would go to the ICC committee,'' PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf told reporters.

''We are contesting the claim. We hold umpire Darrell Hair responsible for the Oval fiasco,'' he added.

The ECB claims it lost over 800,000 pounds (1.49 million dollar) in refunding tickets and other costs after the fourth test against Pakistan was abandoned at tea on the fourth day.

Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove awarded the game to the home side after Pakistan refused to continue in protest over ball-tampering allegations.

The ICC later cleared Pakistan of the charges but banned captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for four matches for bringing the game into disrepute.

Ashraf said Pakistan was ready to contest the claim in the disputes resolution committee and the matter had also been passed on to PCB lawyers.

''This claim is a fall-out from the Oval incident for which Hair must shoulder the blame. We are still pursuing our case with the ICC against him,'' he said.

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