First ever test match finished by cheating ?

Top cricket officials were locked in talks to try to save the fourth Test between England and Pakistan after it descended into chaos on day four.

Pakistan initially refused to take to the field after tea in protest at being penalised for ball-tampering.

But after the tourists made a u-turn, umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove then threw the match into total confusion by staying in the pavilion.

There are hopes the match at The Oval in London will continue on Monday.But Mike Soper, the deputy chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, was not optimistic of a resumption.

"At the moment I'm not hopeful and I'm very sad for the people who came here," he said.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan told the BBC: "We simply said we would stay indoors for a few minutes then go out and play. We want to play but the umpires do not."

The row began when Hair and Doctrove stopped play to look at the condition of the ball after 56 overs with England on 230-3. It had begun to reverse-swing and they declared it had been altered artificially. They penalised Pakistan five runs and allowed England batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood to select another ball.

Pakistan captain Inzaman-ul-Haq was clearly upset and annoyed at the decision but play continued without further incident until tea. After the interval, however, Pakistan refused to come out and the umpires removed the bails after walking on to the pitch for a second time.

Thirty minutes later Pakistan emerged and walked on to the pitch but were told to head back to the dressing room because the umpires would not be coming out.

Khan said the team had been insulted by the accusation of cheating.