The International Cricket Council has criticised South Africa and India for going ahead with their match in Centurion without official ICC match referee Mike Denness.

The former England captain upset India's cricketing public when he penalised six players, including Sachin Tendulkar, for various offences during the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

As India threatened to pull out of the third and final Test should Denness officiate, the United Cricket Board of South Africa sided with the tourists, appointing a new referee in Denis Lindsay.

The ICC has refused to sanction the match as a Test, and awarded the series to South Africa.

"The ultimate response by the Indians would appear to be an over-reaction, while South Africa for their part did not act correctly," said ICC spokesman Jonathan Hemus.

"Our focus is on protecting the power of the referee and umpire - otherwise there would be anarchy in cricket.

"The ICC is deeply concerned with the integrity of the officials - they must be protected and if not it sets a very bad precedent."

Hemus refused to rule out the possibility that South Africa and India would face further punishment. But he said there was a possibility that the game might regain Test status in the future.

"This is a dynamic situation ... it is not a closed book. But while saying that, the ICC is determined to be resolute in its decision," said Hemus.

"Our chief purpose is to protect the rights of referees and umpires. In other sporting codes - for example soccer - the referee's decision is final and teams have to abide with his decision regardless of circumstances.

"In cricket the referee has hindsight and time for consideration increasing his perspective on the incident."

© CricInfo Ltd.