Thaindian News

London, Sept 17 (ANI): Pakistan’s High Commissioner in London- Wajid Shamsul Hassan- has told President Asif Ali Zardari in a letter about the failure of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in effectively tackling the spot-fixing issue.

In his two-page letter, Hassan said that PCB failed to tackle the issue of alleged involvement of Pakistan cricket players in spot-fixing in an effective manner, The News reports.

Noting that the PCB administration failed to guide the High Commission on any point, he claimed that Pakistani diplomats were unaware of the regulations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) relating to match-fixing.

Hassan pointed out that though PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, Chief Operations Officer Wasim Bari and many other senior officials were present in UK with the national cricket team, they had failed to keep rules and regulations in place.

Pakistani cricketers- Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer- were left out of the squad for the two Twenty20 internationals at Cardiff and for the forthcoming five-match one-day series, prior to the ICC provisionally suspending them while their own investigation into the claims is ongoing.

British police, after interrogating them, levelled no charges and allowed the trio to return home, on an undertaking that they would return to Britain when required. The players will now go through an ICC hearing over the unspecified charges contained in the governing body’s code of conduct.

Fast bowler Wahab Riaz, the fourth Pakistani cricketer to be interrogated by Scotland Yard, was available to play in the remaining one-day internationals against England, Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis insisted.

While media reports suggest two other players Kamran Akmal and Salman were also notified by the ICC in a separate case of match-fixing, the Pakistan government has decided to conduct its own inquiry after receiving a report from Scotland Yard.

(ANI)