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March 11, 2010
A day after carrying out the most comprehensive player cull in Pakistan cricket in recent memory, the PCB remains tight-lipped about the nature of charges laid against senior players and the procedure followed in punishing them.
Seven senior players were punished by the board following an inquiry committee report into a disastrous tour of Australia. Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were handed bans, while the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi were handed fines.
But concerns have been raised about the legal process followed in handing out the punishments and the lack of information on the charges. Calls have been made to make the complete report of the inquiry committee public but the board is unwilling to do so.
Ijaz Butt, speaking to the BBC |
"It is a confidential report and not one for public consumption," Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told Cricinfo. "If a certain level of people ask we will give them, but essentially this is a confidential report."
Butt insisted, however, that the committee - the composition of which has also been criticised - had carried out its objectives fairly. "We have given everyone a fair hearing," he said. "The committee has spoken to many people, almost all of those concerned, we have collected evidence, everything has been done properly and all of it is documented and is available. It was a very thorough and comprehensive report. We have given details in the press release."
Butt was unwilling to comment on individual charges, such as the one-year ban on Naved, who had no previous disciplinary transgressions, or the nature of charges against Younis, Yousuf and Malik. Because of the lack of details, there remain concerns that the punishments are of an arbitrary and inconsistent nature. But the board says the players were punished not under the code of conduct that governs central contracts, but under the "inherent powers" of the board.
"The punishments are not given under the central contracts code of conduct," Taffazul Rizvi, the board's legal advisor and a member of the six-man inquiry committee, told Cricinfo. "These are under the inherent powers of the PCB. The disciplinary policy of the board applies to all players who play for Pakistan, not just those on central contracts and that's what has taken effect here."
The players can appeal against the punishments, Rizvi confirmed, though he clarified that is not a right the board gives, but an intrinsic right of the punished in any matter. "That is their fundamental right, it isn't the board's to give." None of the players has yet issued a public response.
Those who have criticised the PCB have also asked why no action has been taken against the board hierarchy or whether any will. Butt's response was only that "some action has already been taken."
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Pakistan editor Osman spent the first half of his life pretending he discovered reverse swing with a tennis ball half-covered with electrical tape. The second half of his life was spent trying, and failing, to find spiritual fulfillment in the world of Pakistani advertising and marketing. The third half of his life will be devoted to convincing people that he did discover reverse swing. And occasionally writing about cricket. And learning mathematics.
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PCB has done nothing else then adding insult to the injury, the recent humiliation at ipl BIDDING DRAMA , tour of australia then this ban thing, first of all who on the earth are these gentlemen who impose life ban to the country's assets like younis and yousaf, this act of the board clearly reflects the unprofessionalism on the behalf of pcb and their beaurcrates , i think pakistani players has to knock the high court door and they have to get that decision nulled by someone who is the authority of law rather then wasting their time with the bunch of misfits .GOODLUCK TO YOUNIS , YOUSAF AND NAVED
Posted by Mosh-U on (March 13 2010, 19:28 PM GMT)The ICC rule book says you can't punish a player twice for the same offence.ICC has already punished Afridi by handing him a two match ban which he has already served.This effectively means that PCB has violated ICC's rules by fining Afridi and putting him under a probation period.Afridi has also lost his captaincy as a result of that ball biting incident.Although i truly believe what he did was truly humiliating for all Pakistanis but he has publicly apologized and after all we all make mistakes. Cricket experts like Harsha Bhogle and Ramiz Raja have also tried to come to Afridi's rescue and tried to convince cricket lovers that the ball biting incident may not be as severe as they think.Afridi should be our T20 captain.PCB's latest list of blunders also includes dropping Imran Nazir from T20 squad and taking openers like Salman Butt and Khalid Latif who are yet to prove themselves in the T20 format!
Posted by irfanzulfiqar786 on (March 13 2010, 16:41 PM GMT)PCB has done nothing else then adding insult to the injury, the recent humiliation at ipl BIDDING DRAMA , tour of australia then this ban thing, first of all who on the earth are these gentlemen who impose life ban to the country's assets like younis and yousaf, this act of the board clearly reflects the unprofessionalism on the behalf of pcb and their beaurcrates , i think pakistani players has to knock the high court door and they have to get that decision nulled by someone who is the authority of law rather then wasting their time with the bunch of misfits .GOODLUCK TO YOUNIS , YOUSAF AND NAVED
Posted by chokkashokka on (March 13 2010, 10:24 AM GMT)Never a dull moment at the PCB...always in the new for non-cricketing reasons...its like a soap opera...very entertaining over the years....some recent episodes that come to mind...abdul razzaq's getting sick over the spinach diet, woolmer's death, inzimam's ill-timed retirement press conference after woolmer's death, captaincy offered to Younis, Younis rejecting the captaincy, shoaib akhtar and mohd. asif nandralone conviction and later reversal on comical grounds, mohd. asif getting convicted of possesion (contraband) at the Dubai airport, shoaib akhtar's genital warts fiasco, shoaib mailk sacked as captain and Younis made captain, Sri-lankan team gets assaulted by terrorists in Lahore, match-fixing allegations by Pak minister, Younis resigns from captaincy and makes himself unavailable for cricket, in-fighting within the team during the NZ-Aus tour and now this. All this in the past 3 years - wow. Is the PCB actually working on anything constructive? I feel sorry for players & fans.
Posted by aksh143 on (March 13 2010, 04:48 AM GMT)I just heard on a TV Show that Yousuf and Younis are charged with loosing the ODIs in australia on purpose. If that is true then they have been rightfully punished. I am only surprised why the Akmal brothers have not been punished further.
Posted by Jarr30 on (March 12 2010, 20:15 PM GMT)PCB is full of DRAMA...Mark my words..these same players will be back in 2 months time to play cricket. PCB is not an cricket organisation but a "CIRCUS" and is filled with JOKERS and it's players are INDISIPLINED ANIMALS who needs strict disipline. Other thing which amazes me is if Malik & Rana were banned for match-fixing then why not life-ban. I doubt if anything will change in future.
Posted by Jhammatian on (March 12 2010, 13:00 PM GMT)"Inquiry report confidential, says PCB" because it is not an inquiry report its just a fraud and nothing else. If report is confidential , then who leaked out the report. They themselves leaked out. They all including Ijaz Butt, Zakir Khan, Intikhab Alam, Wasim Bari are fraud and they should be kicked out of PCB. These persons gave the bans only to save their places and ranks.
Posted by Jhammatian on (March 12 2010, 12:52 PM GMT)"Inquiry report confidential, says PCB" because it is not an inquiry report its just a fraud and nothing else. If report is confidential , then who leaked out the report. They themselves leaked out. They all including Ijaz Butt, Zakir Khan, Intikhab Alam, Wasim Bari are fraud and they should be kicked out of PCB. These persons gave the bans only to save their places and ranks.
Posted by Itchy on (March 12 2010, 11:43 AM GMT)Accountability of team and Board management would appear to be lacking - if you don't release the report, nobody can scrutinise your screw-ups!
Posted by K.A.Virk on (March 12 2010, 10:47 AM GMT)"If we don't ban/Eject these players,will find it very difficult to accomodate our buddies" This is the mystery they are not publishing it,another attempt to hide their non administrative skills & will be evidenced by the team for T-20 as Imran Nazir,shahzaib,kamran younas,shoaib,rana, etc r creating vacancies for the likes of Salman Butt,who is a better player but not for this format.Yawar saeed have prompted players against younas khan first as he was selecting players on merit i.e khurram manzoor for test opening,,so these conspiracies will propagate further until and unless patron intervenes & sakes these administrators for the best interests of the nation,