Fletcher calls for life ban on tainted Pak players
London | Thursday, Sep 2 2010 IST
 

Former English coach Duncan Fletcher today said treating cricket with disrespect is not a frivolous matter and any player involved in Pakistan's alleged match fixing should be banned for life if the allegations are proved.

Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif have been summoned to London to meet Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain.

It's unclear if they'll be available for forthcoming matches but Ijaz Butt says he'll fight calls for the trio to be barred from appearing while the allegations are still being probed.

The trio were implicated after an investigation by the News of the World newspaper exposed an alleged middle man who reportedly, for payment of 150,000 pounds, provided information on when Asif and Amir would bowl no balls in last week's test match against England at the Lord's. Fletcher said if the Pakistani cricketers are found guilty, it would do irreparable damage to the game and the cricketing ties between England and Pakistan. ''We must remember that allegations of malpractice made against some of Pakistan's players remain unproven. ''But if the allegations are true then Pakistan are guilty of a terrible lack of respect to the game and to English cricket,'' Fletcher wrote in his column for 'The Guardian'.

''England have gone out of their way to help Pakistan cricket at a difficult time in their history. They have recognised the huge problems Pakistan cricket faces while they cannot stage matches in their own country because of the threat of terrorism. ''You would not think it was possible to squeeze any more cricket into an English summer, but somehow they did it. To read the allegations that are now being made is pretty hurtful,'' he added.

-- (UNI) -- 02SPD7.xml

 

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