Wednesday, November 28, 2001 I don't think there will be a split in world cricket. There is no future in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka playing each other week in, week out. Fans would get fed up of watching the same players, and sponsors would pull out. It would be no different outside Asia. I know Tauqir Zia and Jagmohan Dalmiya and I do not think that either of them wants to break away.

In fact the whole incident is not such a big deal and it should not have come to this. Players have always had to put up with decisions that they do not like. Michael Atherton and Waqar Younis were both publicly embarrassed over ball-tampering. Inzamam was banned for two one-day internationals, and Pakistan tried to stop the appointment of John Reid as a match referee. None of these verdicts was popular but they had to be tolerated. If anything, ICC must make the laws firmer so that players and boards have to accept official rulings.

My deepest sympathies go to Sachin Tendulkar and Mike Denness. Sachin is a gentleman cricketer and I am sure that he will not have wanted to be at the centre of this controversy. His name has been tarnished. I played against Mike Denness in county cricket and almost feel I should apologise to him as a fellow sportsman. He made decisions as he saw fit and he was not given any support by the South African authorities who were supposed to be his hosts. He must be devastated. That is an awful thing to happen to a player of his standing. He is not a schemer or a politician and I do not think he is the kind of man to get unnecessarily involved in controversy. He is a nice, quiet fellow and generally keeps himself to himself.

But that doesn't mean that ICC has no lessons to learn. There are two things that ICC can do. First, it should ensure that any decisions taken by officials are taken as a group. That means the referee and three umpires coming to a joint decision on any incident that happened during the game. It makes no sense to ban or fine players unless all four officials are in agreement and unless they understand why that decision has been made. The second action for ICC is to appoint an appeals panel, which would adjudicate in case of disagreement. Some decisions are wrong, and countries and players may not feel that they have had a fair hearing by match officials. It will also make officials realise that their decisions have to be justifiable.

What ICC must not do is reinstate the game at Centurion Park as a Test match. The match was not played in that spirit and ICC took the right decision to downgrade it. If India wanted to protest they should have played the Test and taken up the matter at the next ICC meeting. ICC has to show that it is in charge. The alternative is anarchy.

Javed Miandad, Pakistan's most prolific batsman, was talking to Kamran Abbasi.

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