My report should have been fully implemented - Qayyum

The current controversy involving Pakistan players in England could have been averted had the recommendations made by the Qayyum Commission been fully implemented, the retired High Court judge, who investigated the findings into match-fixing more than a decade ago, has said. The latest crisis was sparked by the arrest of a 35-year-old man Mazher Majeed, who was allegedly caught claiming to have bribed Pakistan's bowlers to bowl no-balls during the fourth Test at Lord's.

Malik Mohammad Qayyum was appointed by the PCB in 1998 to examine allegations of match-fixing against suspected players. While many of his recommendations were upheld - two players were banned and several were fined - Qayyum claimed the PCB was not "strong enough" to implement others.

"I suggested the Pakistan Cricket Board keep a tight vigil on the players and recommended some of the players should not be given any responsibility in team matters, but some of them are still involved in the team's coaching," Qayyum told AFP. Among his recommendations was that players' assets must be examined annually, though this too remained unimplemented.

"It took me two long years and I summoned some 52 players and officials, who all accepted match-fixing existed in cricket."

However, in an interview with Cricinfo in January 2006, Qayyum admitted he been lenient in his verdict on a couple of players, including Wasim Akram. "The quantum of punishment is more of one's subjective decision, and I was lenient towards one or two of them," he had said. "I had some soft corner for him [Wasim]. He was a very great player, a very great bowler and I was his fan, and therefore that thing did weigh with me."