ISLAMABAD (Reuters)
Pakistan's cricket chief warned that the sport would become a "joke" if the Mike Denness debacle was not swiftly resolved.

"Cricket is becoming a joke unless something is done quickly to set things right," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant-General Tauqir Zia told Reuters.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) defied the ICC on Thursday and replaced Denness, referee for Friday's third match with India, after he handed Sachin Tendulkar a fine and a suspended one-match ban for ball-tampering in the drawn second Test.

The ICC responded by stripping the third game between the two teams of official Test status.

Zia said: "We are distressed by the present crisis in world cricket but Pakistan still regards ICC as the supreme governing body of the game.

"But we feel it should also remain a neutral body, and all its rules and regulations and the code of conduct should be enforced with uniformity and consistency for all member countries and players."

Zia does not expect the crisis to cause a split in the ICC and the formation of a breakaway Asian cricket bloc. "I don't think this is going to happen. The present crisis is bad for the image of the game," he said. "But it is time the ICC also looked into the reasons for such a situation developing in the first place.

"The ICC and its officials do not have uniformity in implementing rules and regulations. I don't want to complain. But it is a fact that these have not been enforced with uniformity for all players.

"There have been several incidents where match referees or umpires have interpreted or enforced rules and sanctions differently for different players and teams. This needs to be corrected," Zia said.

He added that while Denness was within his rights to penalise Tendulkar after watching replays on television, this was something which should have been left up to the umpires. "They are the ones who watch everything on field. Which is why Pakistan is asking for more powers to be given to the umpires on and off the field."

India also won guarded support from PCB director Brigadier Munawwar Rana. "We believe that the Indians have not challenged the position of the match referee in the ICC, but some of his judgments in a particular match," he said. "We consider this a matter between India and the ICC and the UCBSA. Our feeling is the Indians are entitled to their point of view."

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