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Monday, October 4, 2010

Pakistan Assembly asks Ijaz Butt for explanation

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has been summoned by the Pakistan Assembly for a hearing on October 11 to explain the reasons for the controversy-ridden tour of England, as well as his allegations against Andrew Strauss's team and their subsequent withdrawal.
He will also be questioned regarding Younis Khan's continued absence from the Pakistan side.
Apart from Butt, the Assembly also summoned the board's legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi, former team manager Yawar Saeed, coaches Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Ijaz Ahmed and chief selector Mohsin Khan to the hearing.
"The hearing is being held to review the performance of the team in England, the controversies that took place in England and the way the Pakistan board has handled things so far," Iqbal Muhammad Ali, chairman of the committee, told PTI.
"The committee wants to know the reasons for the shoddy performances and also how the Pakistan team got entangled into such serious controversies.
We also want to know the reason for Butt's statement against the England board and his U-turn, and to review the selection process." The PCB will also have to explain why Younis Khan was being ignored for selection when all the other players punished after the 2009-10 tour of Australia, with the exception of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, had been pardoned and brought back to the team.
"We want to ask the chairman to explain what crime Younis has committed that he (Butt) is not willing to give clearance to the selectors to pick Younis," Ali said.
Former Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas had recently urged the PCB to reappoint Younis as captain to lead the side out of its current crisis.
Pakistan's tour of England was riven by controversy, with a News of the World expose alleging that fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and Test captain Salman Butt, had conspired to bowl no-balls on demand.
The ICC provisionally suspended the trio, leaving Pakistan without a Test captain.

Shoaib Akhtar to lead Islamabad in T20 Cup

Speedster Shoaib Akhtar will lead a 15-member Islamabad squad in the Faysal Bank T20 Cricket Championship starting at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore from October 10, said a news release of Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) issued on Saturday. The ICA team also includes Test all-rounder Azhar Mahmood and Test pacer Rao Iftikhar with the young lot of players. Taimoor Azam (Coach) and Nasir Iqbal (Manager) are officials of the team.

ICA squad: Shoaib Akhtar (Captain), Rao Iftikhar, Azhar Mehmood, Raheel Majeed, Umair Khan, Naeem Anjum (wicketkeeper), Immad Wasim Zohaib Ahmed, Fiaz Ahmed, Zeeshan Mushtaq, Fakhir Hussain, Faizan Riaz, Shahzad Azam Rana, Kamran Hussain Rauf Akbar, Sarmad Bhatti, Shah Laiq and Raja Mohammad Kashif.

Butt told to bring new team or leave post term end

Under-fire PCB chief Ijaz Butt has been asked by higher authorities to appoint new officials in the Pakistan Cricket Board or forget about getting an extension after his two-year term expires later this month. Well placed sources in the government have disclosed that the embattled Butt has been given until October 10 to take a decision on forming a new set up of administrators and cricket technocrats in the board.
"Butt has been told he can continue till the World Cup but only with a new team and the present set of officials should be changed," one source said.
"The orders have come from the top including the President who is also chief patron of the board and the Prime Minister," the source stated.
Butt who is currently in London has been told to take a decision on the new set up by October 10 or relinquish his charge.
Signs of impending changes in the board also came on Friday night when the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani gave a hearing to two former employees of the board, Zahid Bashir and Noman Niaz.
Bashir worked as director marketing during the tenure of Tauqir Zia and Shaharyar Khan between 2000 and 2004 while Noman worked in the media department and also remained an analyst with the team during Tauqir's time.
Sources said Bashir, who was also press secretary to the Prime Minister, had been pulling strings to get back into the board.
"During the meeting the Premier exchanged views on the cricket scenario with Bashir and Niaz and also offered them key positions in the new set up of the board," the source said.
"But the Premier made it clear that if Butt agreed to bring a new set up the two would have to work under his chairmanship," he added.
Another source said that former Test captain, Javed Miandad who has also met with President Asif Zardari to discuss cricket affairs is expected to get more authority and say in the cricket matters in the new set-up.
"Until now Butt has kept Miandad sidelined by making him director cricket but virtually giving him no authority or say in cricket matters at all," the source said.
"But the higher authorities now want Butt to bring about changes and try to put Pakistan cricket back on the right track," he added.

ICC hints at lesser penalty for Aamer

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has hinted that Mohammad Aamer, one of the three Pakistan players implicated in spot-fixing scandal, may draw the lowest charge and have the option of returning to cricket, if he is found guilty of spot-fixing. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat disclosed that the tainted trio was likely to be treated differently, as skipper Salman Butt would have far more influence than 18-year-old Aamer, Australian newspaper ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ reported. “Once we present the charges we will be asking for proportionate sanctions,” Lorgat was quoted as saying. “There is still some work to be done, on exactly (what penalties are appropriate) for bowling a no-ball, and instructing a no-ball. We said to Salman we have got evidence upon which we said we’re charging you, because we want to protect the integrity of the game. We believe there is a very strong case which justified our actions (to suspend him), and there is nothing we can do until he appeals.”
The alleged spot-fixers, Salman, Aamer and Mohammad Asif, are expected to make separate defences in their hearings, as they have hired different legal teams after lodging individual appeals against their provisional suspensions by the ICC. While Asif is likely to fall into the more serious charge category, given his long list of previous indiscretions, many have argued that teenage pacer Aamer should be allowed to return to the game, even if he is found guilty, keeping in view his naivety and youth. A few days back, a team source revealed: “Aamer told the team management that he wasn’t aware of the gravity of the situation and also claimed that he just followed Salman’s instructions. Aamer told Shahid Afridi as well as the team manager that he was completely unaware of what was going on. He asked them to help him get out of the mess.” However, according to the ICC rulebook, the lowest penalty for a player found guilty of being approached by a fixer and not reporting it is a six-month ban.
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