Pakistam team for Australia and NZ tour (23 Oct 95)
KARACHI, Pakistan (Oct 23, 1995 - 14:01 EDT) - Pakistani cricketers, who leave for Australia on Monday, start their tour in a swirl of controversy after the reinstatement of former test captain Salim Malik, cleared of bribery charges
23-Oct-1995
KARACHI, Pakistan (Oct 23, 1995 - 14:01 EDT) - Pakistani
cricketers, who leave for Australia on Monday, start their tour
in a swirl of controversy after the reinstatement of former test
captain Salim Malik, cleared of bribery charges by a Pakistani
judge.
Former Supreme Court judge Fakhruddin Ebrahim exonerated the
Pakistani batsman at the weekend, saying the sworn accusations of
three Australian players were "not worthy of credence."
Pakistan`s 17-man squad, under new captain Wasim Akram, will be
aiming to restore their battered fortunes in the three-test tour
of Australia and subsequent visit to New Zealand for a single
test and four one-day internationals.
The tours are Pakistan`s last major overseas fixtures before the
World Cup series they will co-host in February and March.
The Pakistanis are still smarting after going down at home to Sri
Lanka, losing both the test and one-day series 1-2.
They also failed to make the final of a three-nation limited
overs tournament in Sharjah, won by Sri Lanka who beat the West
Indies on Friday.
Left-arm fast bowler Akram, replacing Ramiz Raja as captain, will
be keen to erase memories of his last spell as skipper, which
ended after one year in a players` revolt and his replacement by
Malik in January 1994.
Malik, sacked as captain and dropped in March over the bribery
allegations made by Tim May, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, will
join the tourists in Australia later in the week.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had appointed Ebrahim to
investigate the allegations against Malik.
Spinners Warne and May and all-rounder Waugh had accused Malik in
sworn statements submitted to the International Cricket
Conference (ICC) through the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) of
offering them $200,000 to $400,000 to "throw" test and one-day
matches during the Australian tour of Pakistan in 1994.
Ebrahim said in a nine-page report released on Saturday the
statements "were not worthy of credence and must be rejected as
unfounded."
"The allegations made against Salim Malik cannot be believed and
appear to have been concocted for reasons best known to the
accusers," Ebrahim said.
He criticized the ACB for refusing to send the three Australians
to Pakistan for cross-examination and suggesting he go to
Australia to interview them instead.
"To my mind, with great respect, ACB`s response is not only
inadequate, but also quite irresponsible," Ebrahim said.
"In these circumstance the untested sworn statements of the three
Australian players, which are the only direct evidence, have to
be rejected and the allegations contained therein therefore
remain, at very least, unproved against Salim Malik."
"It is most significant, if not decisive, that none of the
Australian players in their sworn statements say that they had
reported the incident to either the team manager or the team
coach or the ICC referee or the ACB," Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim also faulted what he described as the inaction of
Australian coach Bob Simpson, whose report he said had failed to
state who had reported two incidents in which Malik was alleged
to have offered bribes or say when they were reported.
The PCB named Aamir Sohail as vice-captain for the Australian
tour and appointed former captain Intikhab Alam to replace
Mushtaq Mohammad as tour manager.
Squad: Wasim Akram (captain), Aamir Sohail, Salim Elahi, Saeed
Anwar, Ramiz Raja, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Basit Ali, Salim Malik, Moin
Khan, Rashid Latif, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis,
Mohammad Akram, Aamer Nazir, Aqib Javed, Ata-ur-Rehman.