NEIL MANTHORP, Cape Town | Friday 12.15pm.
WASIM Akram, the beleagured and currently suspended captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, has received a timely – and probably unexpected show of confidence from the man who played a significant role in helping the side reach the world cup final in June.
Richard Pybus, 35, the England-born but South Africa-based coach who was given a short term contract as assistant to Mushtaq Mohammed, has lashed out against suggestions that Pakistan ‘threw’ some matches, including the final.
“I can only speak with certainty about the world cup, but during the two months that I was with the team I had, and still have, absolutely no doubt whatsoever that everything was above board and beyond reproach,” Pybus told the Daily Mail & Guardian.
“The team were completely focussed throughout the tournament. The schedule was tight – travel, practise, play, sleep and move on. If there had been the slightest suggestion of anything unusual then I am certain I would have become suspicious. It just never happened,” Pybus said.
“There were no shadowy figures lurking around the team, and no shady phone calls from the back of the dressing room. Anybody who has experienced an international cricket tour will know how close the squad is, and how close they live together. Even as an ‘outsider’ I don’t think it would have been possible to hide things from me.”
Suspicions were first aroused about the legitimacy of Pakistan’s performances when they were soundly beaten by 63 runs by minnows Bangladesh in one of the biggest upsets in world cup history.