Declaration and Forfeiture - Forfeiture

Forfeiture

Under the current Laws, a captain may forfeit either of his side's innings. A forfeited innings shall be considered as a completed innings. Usually this happens in shorter competitive two-innings matches, where captains need to agree with each other how to set up the match so that there is a reasonable chance of a result. Winning a game gains a team considerably more points than drawing it, so captains are often willing to risk giving the opposition an opportunity to win that they otherwise would not have had as long as they are getting a similar opportunity in return.

Only one innings has been voluntarily forfeited in Test cricket. This was on 18 January 2000 at Centurion, South Africa in the fifth and final Test between South Africa and England. South Africa had already won the series, as they were 2–0 up after the first four matches. After South Africa scored 155 for 6 on the first day, rain washed out the next three days. With only one day remaining, the match was set for a certain draw.

That was until Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, entered into a deal with his English counterpart, Nasser Hussain, that South Africa would continue batting till they reached about 250 and then declare. England and then South Africa would then both forfeit an innings, leaving England approximately 250 to win (in the event the target was 249). At that time, the laws only permitted a side to forfeit its second innings, so England's first innings was treated as having been declared at 0 for 0 after 0 balls. England went on to score 251 for 8 and win by 2 wickets. Many of the South African team criticized Cronje at the time for setting too low a target.

It later emerged that Cronje had been approached by a bookmaker, and asked to ensure the game would end with a positive result. Nasser Hussain and the England team were not aware of this at the time, taking the South African request at face value.

The fourth test of the 2006 series between Pakistan and England was declared forfeited by Pakistan after they refused to take to the field as a protest of allegation of ball tampering. The umpires awarded the match to England. The match was involuntarily forfeited under Law 21 rather than being voluntarily forfeited under Law 14.