Pakistani Trio

Karachi: The ICC will hold a preliminary hearing into allegations of spot-fixing against the Pakistani trio in 40 days time, the legal adviser to the PCB said on Tuesday. Tafazzul Rizvi said that the players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer had exercised their right to a preliminary hearing against their suspension over the scandal and filed responses.

The players had filed for a hearing to convey their point of view, Rizvi said. The ICC will now convene a hearing in 40 days time. The 3 players were suspended on September 4th by the ICC for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the 4th Test against England at Lord’s a few weeks back.

The players responded to the ICC on Tuesday within the stated deadline. Rizvi said they replied to the charges through a lawyer 2 days before the deadline was to expire. They also met PCB chairman Ijaz Butt in Lahore on Tuesday. No details of the meeting were revealed.

Team manager Yawar Saeed said earlier English police had delayed until Wednesday the interrogation of a fourth player, fast bowler Wahab Riaz, over the scandal. Riaz was originally sent summons by Scotland Yard for Tuesday but Saeed said the questioning had been delayed by one day. “Wahab will be going on Wednesday as there was some prior commitment he had to deal with first,” Saeed said, without getting into much detail.

25 year old left armer Riaz, claimed five wickets in his debut match in the third Test against England and was also a squad member of Pakistan for the 5 match one day series, but did not play in the first two tests. London police have already interviewed Test skipper Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, who were suspended by the ICC over fixing allegations.

The trio has returned to Pakistan but on the condition that they would be available for the police interrogation whenever required. Rizvi told that the Tour selection committee unanimously took the decision not to select Riaz for the one-day matches, denying the rumours that it was a result of ICC or PCB pressure.”

Meanwhile, Aamer could become an informant for the ICC and reveal “dodgy betting identities that corrupted him” to escape a life ban, a media report said Tuesday. According to a report in an Australian daily, Aamer is ready for the “high-risk roll of the dice that could put his life in danger.”

‘Quoting Sources’, the newspaper which reported that the 18-year-old fast bowler is co-operating with police and the ICC’s investigations into the spot-fixing and match-fixing allegations that have followed a British tabloid’s sting operation on alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed.

“It is understood the 18-year-old wants to tell his story and possibly give evidence against Asif, Butt and other team members under investigation. Given his tender age, immatureness and potential co-operation with authorities, there is a high likelihood that Aamer could receive a smaller penalty compared to the life bans that could be given to some of the other alleged cheats,” the newspaper reported.

By: Devesh D. Bhuwad

Tags: Cricket, ICC, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Pakistan, Salman Butt