DUBAI: The chief executive of cricket’s governing body on Wednesday said an urgent solution would be sought in resolving the case of three Pakistani players who have been suspended for suspected spot-fixing.
Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month following spot-fixing allegations. The suspensions, handed down by the Pakistan Cricket Board, followed allegations in the British newspaper News of the World that the three players contrived to bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England in August.
It amounts to spot-fixing, which differs from outright match-fixing in that it relates to incidents which can be manipulated during the game for the benefit of punters.
Earlier this month Salman and Aamer had their appeals dismissed by the ICC code of conduct commissioner Michael Beloff – who will now form an independent anti-corruption tribunal that will look into the actual charges and give a verdict on whether the players are innocent or guilty.
Salman had accused the ICC of delaying the formation of the tribunal. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the counsels were meeting to finalise the dates.
“Various counsels were meeting to set up a date for the formation of the tribunal and for the hearing and at this point of time I cannot give an exact date, but rest assured we want to do it as soon as possible,” Lorgat told reporters at the ICC headquarters.
Decision review system bringing improvement
DUBAI: The recently adopted Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) has brought significant improvement in overcoming umpiring errors in international matches and will be used more when it gets cheaper, an official said Wednesday.
The review system was introduced on a trial basis in June 2008, allowing players to challenge on-field umpires’ decisions and refer them to the television official. Teams are given two opportunities per innings to contest an on-field decision, losing a challenge for an unsuccessful review, it said.
Cricket superpower India have been averse to the use of UDRS as the home boards have to pay for the necessary infra-structure supplied by the broadcasters, while some countries have not had access to certain technologies.
