Date-stamped : 18 Nov96 - 10:11 15 November 1996 Doig Forces Ruling To Be Revoked SHARJAH -- New Zealand cricket chief Chris Doig yesterday forced the International Cricket Council to reverse a controversial de- cision which threatened to cost New Zealand a place in the Cham- pions Trophy one-day series final in Sharjah. Doig prompted a flurry of activity at ICC headquarters in London where he challenged a decision made by ICC match referee Mike Smith, during New Zealand`s game against Pakistan yesterday. The furore centred on a piece of ICC legislation in its one-day rules which Smith interpreted as meaning the nett run rates of Sri Lanka and New Zealand would decide who played Pakistan in the final at Sharjah Stadium tonight. Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand completed the preliminary stage of the tri-nations tournament on three points, with a win each and a tied result from their match on Monday. The ICC`s rule 11.1 appeared to clearly spell out that New Zea- land would advance to the final irrespective of yesterday`s match, which the Kiwis subsequently lost by four wickets. It boiled down to an understanding of basic English, which Doig impressed on ICC chief executive David Richards, who is Australi- an. Right to play in final The rule states that in the event of teams finishing on equal points, the right to play in the final match will be decided by the most wins in the preliminary matches, or "when teams have both equal wins and equal points, the team which was the winner of all the preliminary matches as played between them." Should no winner be found then nett run rates would decide the issue. Having met Sri Lanka in Sharjah for a win and a tie, the rule dictated that New Zealand would be promoted to the final. After consulting with Richards, Smith announced that the second finalist would be decided by which of Sri Lanka and New Zealand had the superior nett run rate, a complicated equation based on the runs scored, wickets taken and overs batted in the prelim- inary games. Doig was called at his Christchurch home by New Zealand manager Earle Cooper, who wanted the situation clarified. Doig contacted Richards, which prompted the ICC boss to talk to colleagues in South Africa and the West Indies before reversing his earlier decision. "I felt very strongly about it and I was not prepared to accept anything other than what I believed was the right interpretation of the rule," Doig said. "I didn`t believe the original decision was based either on the letter or the spirit of the law as it was intended." Doig said the ICC needed to address the ambiguity in the rule, and Smith said this would be followed up. --NZPA Source :: The Christchurch Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)