Latif resigns as wicketkeeping coach

Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan captain, has resigned as wicketkeeping coach of Pakistan's National Cricket Academy, citing the appointment of Salim Malik as the academy's head coach as the reason for his decision.

Latif expressed his shock at Malik's appointment in a resignation letter to the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. "Since I was the main figure in the match-fixing inquiry after which Mr. Malik was awarded a life ban which was overturned last month therefore I have no other choice but to step down as the wicket-keeping coach," he said.

Latif began working as a wicketkeeper coach for the NCA in June this year, hired initially for three years to nurture and groom young talent in the country.

Latif was one of the first international cricketers to blow the whistle on match-fixing in cricket, temporarily 'retiring' after the 1994-95 tour to Zimbabwe, in which he claimed players were involved in fixing games. Eventually, in 2000, the Justice Qayyum report into matchfixing in Pakistan cricket found Malik guilty and banned him for life. After a long legal battle, a Pakistan court lifted the ban last month and Malik said yesterday he had been appointed as coach.