OWN CORRESPONDENT, Karachi | Wednesday 11.00am.
FORMER Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan and ex-captain Rashid Latif on Tuesday derided the International Cricket Council (ICC) for bailing out South Africa and Australia and singling out Pakistan in a match-fixing probe.
“Why has the ICC not touched the confession and match-fixing reports against Australian players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh?” Latif said.
“I believe the new ICC chief, Malcom Gray, being an Australian has saved the Aussies,” Latif said.
The ICC at its meeting in London on Monday appointed Sir Paul Condon as the chief of an anti-corruption unit to investigate two matches of the 1999 World Cup which Pakistan lost to Bangladesh and India.
Condon will also look into the claims that Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar was bribed in the 1998 England-South Africa Test match.
“The ICC did nothing against South African Cricket chief Ali Bacher who has made false allegations based on heresay,” former all-rounder Imran Khan said.
“I am disappointed,” over the outcome of the ICC meeting, he added.
“Pakistan should have been given credit for investigating allegations against their players,” Latif said.
“Pakistan imposed bans on two players, fined six others including former skipper Wasim Akram but the ICC still wants to probe further,” he added.
Arif Abbasi, former chief of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also lashed out at the ICC saying that it tried to save Australians, South African and Indians and singled out Pakistan.
“In the past also they have only attacked Pakistan. Instead of penalising Australians and South Africans for hiding facts they want to further probe into the Pakistan case which has made the investigation report public and did not hide anything,” Abbasi said.
In his testimony before the King Commission match-fixing allegations against disgraced South African captain Hansie Cronje, Bacher quoted former Pakistan skipper Majid Khan as telling him that Pakistan’s World Cup encounters with Bangladesh and India were fixed.
He also accused Pakistani umpire Javed Akhter’s involvement with bookmakers during South Africa vs England Test at Headingly in 1998.
Akhter has denied the charge and vowed he would sue the South African Cricket chief. — AFP