Cricket: The International Cricket Council are expected to pass further judgment on the unprecedented final Test controversy today.
England were handed the match at the Brit Oval, and a 3-0 npower series victory, late last night after Pakistan failed to take the field in the evening session, having been accused of ball-tampering by the match umpires earlier in the day.
Although the ICC offices in Dubai are officially closed today due to the Ascension of the Prophet, a public holiday, match referee Mike Procter is composing a report on the incident which sparked the first forfeit in 1,814 Tests.
Umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove decided that the state of the match ball had been altered by someone on the fielding side, at 2.30pm, and awarded England five penalty runs to their score of 230 for three - Pakistan have subsequently been charged under the ICC code of conduct.
"The Pakistan team was aggrieved by the award of five penalty runs to England," read a joint statement from the ICC, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board.
"The award of those penalty runs for alleged interference with the ball is under review by the ICC match referee Mike Procter, whose report will be considered in due course. ICC will be issuing a separate report concerning action which may be taken in relation to the forfeiture of the match by Pakistan."
That ICC statement said: "The issue of a charge or charges to be laid against Pakistan under the ICC's code of conduct will now be dealt with at the earliest possible opportunity.
"Pakistan has been charged under level two of the code of conduct, 2.10, which relates to changing the condition of the match ball."
When Pakistan did not appear back on the field at 4.40pm, following a stoppage for bad light, Hair is understood to have gone into the dressing room and asked captain Inzamam-ul-Haq whether they were coming out and was answered by a query as to why the ball had been changed.
Although television pictures showed the ball had been scuffed, there had been no evidence of any of the Pakistanis altering its state and they remained behind closed doors temporarily by way of protest.
England were 33 runs adrift with six second-innings wickets intact when, with Collingwood and Ian Bell waiting at the crease, the bails were removed for a final time.
"From our point of view the boys were extremely upset at the slur of ball-tampering and as a result they wanted to register a protest with the match referee," explained PCB chairman Shahriyar Khan.
"We said we would stay in the dressing room for a few minutes and then go out and play, but the umpires came and warned the boys what would happen if certain things continued and we would forfeit the match."
Shahriyar continued: "The umpires are convinced the ball has been scuffed up and we are absolutely sure that was not the case."
During the four hours of talks that followed it is understood Pakistan requested an apology from Hair, that the Australian should be replaced by another on-field umpire for the final day and that if the match did not continue it should be expunged from the official Test match records.
Doctrove and Hair, who spoke to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed by phone during the evening, were given the full backing of the world governing body after they confirmed that, having made the decision to award the match to England, to change it would not be in keeping with the laws of cricket.
The joint release from both countries and the ICC confirmed: "In accordance with the laws of cricket it was noted that the umpires had correctly deemed that Pakistan had forfeited the match and awarded the Test to England.
"At a meeting between the captains, ECB, PCB and ICC match referee, the players, ICC match referee and boards indicated that they would offer to resume play if at all possible on day five.
"The umpires having awarded the match to England and having consulted with the Pakistan captain reconfirmed their decision to award the match to England."
The decision to halt the contest prematurely on day four will cost the ECB more than £250,000 with further revenue lost from fifth-day ticket sales.
ECB chief executive David Collier said: "The ECB expresses great regret that the actions taken resulted in spectators, television viewers and radio listeners being deprived of play.
"In light of the reduction in play on day four ECB has determined that all spectators who purchased tickets should be eligible to a 40% refund on their fourth-day ticket and a full refund will be paid to all spectators who purchased tickets for day five."