The fact that 37 out of 40 wickets were taken and that the match had a result were among the "redeeming features", the ICC said.

In the match, England scored 657 in the first innings at a run rate of 6.50, before Pakistan fought back with a score of 579. In their second innings, England raced to 264 for 7 in even quicker time, striking at over 7 runs per over, before declaring and setting Pakistan a target of 343.

Pakistan nearly held on for a draw, but England managed to bowl them out late on the fifth day to win by 74 runs.

He told reporters then: "It is embarrassing for us, especially when you have a cricketer as chairman. This is not a good advert for cricket. We're a better cricketing nation than this."

Another demerit point would have resulted in the venue being suspended from hosting international cricket for 12 months, so the decision to rescind the one it got in December comes as a boost for Rawalpindi, as well as the PCB.