Controversy over a ball change delayed the start of the third day's play in St Lucia by two hours, as Sri Lanka's players refused to take the field, protesting a charge of altering the ball's condition.

Play eventually began at 11.30am local time, with the umpires changing the ball and awarding West Indies five penalty runs, but Sri Lanka are not entirely mollified, and are understood to be contesting the charge. "SLC is reviewing the situation," a board statement said. "The sports minister, SLC CEO and the government-appointed Competent Authority (which is currently administering the SLC's day-to-day affairs pending fresh elections) are in situ at the SLC offices."

At close of play on day two, West Indies were 118 for 2 in reply to Sri Lanka's first-innings score of 253. Day three was due to start at 9.30am local time, half-an-hour early to make up for time lost to rain delays on day two.

Even as the umpires made their way out to the middle, however, none of the Sri Lanka players joined them. Broadcaster visuals of the the Sri Lanka dressing room showed coach Chandika Hathurusingha, captain Dinesh Chandimal and team manager Asanka Gurusinha in discussion with match referee Javagal Srinath.

When the players eventually came onto the field at 10.50am, umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar decided to award West Indies five penalty runs and change the ball - with the two West Indies batsmen at the crease given the right to choose the replacement - which is the protocol under ICC Law 41.3 ("The match ball - changing its condition") of the game.

Before the first ball could be bowled, though, the Sri Lanka players left the middle of the ground and made its way to its periphery, which became the site of further discussions among players, team management, and match officials.

Eventually, the first ball was bowled at 11.30 am.

According to an official present at the ground the umpires "suspected" a case of ball tampering: "The umpires are suspecting that there has been a ball-tampering situation. They wanted to change the ball, but without actually pointing a finger to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan team management is protesting against that."

It is understood one of the main reasons Sri Lanka did not take the field was because they were informed about the ball change and the reason for it only 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play. "The umpires informed Sri Lanka about the ball change just 10 minutes before the start today without evidence of any footage," the official said. (Cricinfo)

It is also understood that the umpires were concerned about the condition of the ball at the end of the second day's play. "We did see the umpires looking at the ball a few times yesterday, but there was no statement made at the end of the day," the official said. "It all happened this morning."

A previous instance of a team refusing to take the field after a ball-change came at The Oval in 2006, when Pakistan did not take the field after tea on day four, after umpire Darrell Hair changed the ball and awarded five penalty runs to England. Pakistan eventually forfeited the Test.