It's not often even in England that cricket makes the front pages. The reason is best summed up in the Guardian or cricinfo report on the test match between Pakistan and England which was meant to finish today but finished yesterday when Pakistan were deemed to have forfeited the game.

For the many people who are uninterested in cricket or don't understand it the essence is that an Australian (and thus apparently neutral) umpire penalised Pakistan for cheating by tampering with the ball illegally. Pakistan were definitely ahead in the match and more likely to win. The Pakistan team then staged a protest by refusing to play and the umpires then declared England the winners. After negotiation the Pakistan team then agreed to play but the umpires 'spat the dummy' and refused to have their prior decision overturned and would not restart the game.

All very silly. But there were (and are) two really unpleasant undertones or suspicions.

The first, I hope, is highly unlikely. Before the cheating penalty England were huge outsiders to win the match with the bookmakers (and a lot of money is gambled on cricket worldwide). Immediately afterwards the odds shortened dramatically. Anyone who bet on England to win on Sunday morning stood to make a large amount of money - which always raises eyebrows in sport.

The second relates to bias. Asian cricket teams have been known to suspect that the umpire in question, Darrell Hair, did them no favours. This particular penalty has never been applied before in international cricket. And so on. The bit that really worries me is that this has happened at a time of acute tension between the West and the Islamic world. Cricket is only a sport but in Pakistan and India it is an obsession. To accuse their players of cheating is a grave insult.

God knows where this will all lead but I think that even non-cricket lovers whould follow the story.

PS An excellent piece on the affair by Andrew Miller.