Pakistan Cricket Board Sets the Record Straight

Khalid Mehmood, chair of the Pakistani Cricket Board, scotched rumours surrounding the release of the interim report from the proof committee headed by Justice Chaudhary investigating allegations of Pakistani players' involvement in matchfixing.

The jurisdiction and terms of reference of the proof committee are limited to returning a verdict of guilty or non-guilty," Mehmood said yesterday. The question of penalty or punishment, if any, would be left to the cricket board, he added.

Mehmood was responding to media reports that claimed that the interim report had recommended that Saleem Malik and Ijaz Ahmed not be included in any Pakistani team in order to stop them from being a bad influence on younger players. Saleem Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, two of the four players named as culprits in media reports, are in the Pakistani squad to Toronto.

"The interim report is limited to providing a summary of accusations," Mehmood explained.

Mehmood confirmed that bench warrants had been issued for some parties. He hoped that the investigation would be expedited. He felt that cricket authorities in Pakistan had taken a courageous step in launching this investigation.

He also said that the board earlier had no option but to exonerate Salim Malik of all the charges levied by three Australian test cricketers when they refused to testify in Pakistan. "It was a case of one cricketer's word against another," Mehmood explained.

In another unconfirmed report, former Pakistani captain Wasim Akram, who was named in media reports for his alleged involvement in matchfixing, said that he was retiring from international cricket. Earlier the same day, in an interview with BBC World Service, Akram had said that he would be flying back to Pakistan to clear his name.