The fourth Test descended into chaos on Sunday after Pakistan failed to return to the field after tea on the fourth day against England [Images] after the touring side were accused of ball tampering.

Umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove walked out to the middle alone, then returned to the pavilion for further discussions.

They walked out again 15 minutes later, this time followed by England batsmen Paul Collingwood [Images] and Ian Bell [Images], but the fielders remained in their dressing room.

Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was clearly visible reading a newspaper without his pads on as the umpires left The Oval pitch.

The bails were then removed and the covers brought on as the confusion continued.

Top officials from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board then met to discuss the situation.

The fiasco continued around 45 minutes after the scheduled restart when Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq [Images] led Pakistan out, then straight back in as this time the umpires and batsmen failed to appear.

Umpires have the right to award a match to the opposition if they deem a side had refused to continue playing.

Earlier England, with an unassailable 2-0 series lead but battling to avoid an innings defeat in the final game, were earlier given an extra five runs after the umpires ruled that the ball had been tampered with by Pakistan. Batsman Alastair Cook [Images] had been bowled by a reverse-swinging yorker from pace bowler Umar Gul shortly before.

Inzamam became embroiled in a heated exchange with the umpires before the England batsmen at the crease, Kevin Pietersen [Images] and Paul Collingwood, were allowed to choose a replacement ball. Play had then continued without further incident until tea.

At tea the home side were on 298 for four in their second innings, still 33 runs short of making Pakistan bat again.

The incident cast a shadow over a game which Pakistan are desperate to win after England made sure of clinching the series with victories in the second and third Tests.

There had been no prior warning from the umpires over the state of the ball.

A spokesman for the International Cricket Council said he was not aware of the five-run penalty for ball tampering ever being applied during a Test before, although several individual players have been sanctioned for changing the state of the ball.

The home team, skittled for 173 in their first innings before Pakistan had amassed 504, had resumed on 78 for one.

They lost Andrew Strauss [Images] for 54 in the morning after the England captain had put on 107 with Alastair Cook for the second wicket.

Strauss played a string of fine cuts before he played at leg spinner Danish Kaneria and was given out lbw to a ball which appeared to have hit his pad outside off stump.

CHARMED LIFE

Fellow left-hander Cook led a charmed life -- he was given not out off the fourth ball of the day from Kaneria after a huge appeal for a catch off pad and bat, bowled by a no ball and then dropped on 47 -- before he was dismissed for 83 when Umar Gul sent down a perfect yorker.

He and Pietersen put on 103 together, taking the score to 218 for three. Pietersen then lit up the day with 96 runs flayed off 114 deliveries.

The ball tampering incident appeared to send him into overdrive. He slog-swept Kaneria for six and then smashed Mohammad Hafeez's [Images] first ball back over the bowler's head.

Needing a boundary to get to three figures, however, he slashed at a short, wide ball from Shahid Nazir and Kamran Akmal took a fine one-handed catch.

The ball was 56 overs old at the time of the controversy. Gul had bowled the previous over.

The laws of the game state that teams can be penalised five runs if a member of the fielding side is found to have changed the state of the ball unfairly. Playing regulations say the batsmen at the crease may then choose a replacement ball.

Test umpires make frequent inspections of the ball during matches to try and combat tampering.

Raising the seam of an old ball or gouging out parts of the leather surface can help it to seam and swing.

Ball tampering allegations have blighted England-Pakistan series before. In 1992 the English press raised questions over the ability of Pakistan pace bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to swing the old ball. Reverse swing, which allows the ball to swing in the opposite direction expected, has since become an accepted part of the game.

Players found guilty of ball tampering can be fined up to 50 percent of their match fees and also face a match ban.