ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram failed to appear at the Lahore High Court Saturday for a judicial inquiry investigating alleged match-fixing by Pakistan cricketers at the 1999 World Cup.

But the seasoned Pakistan fast bowler told Reuters that neither he nor his legal adviser had received any summons, and insisted he had nothing to hide.

“I have nothing to hide from anyone on the match-fixing issue,” he said.

“If I or my legal adviser had received the summons from the commission for today, I would have made myself available.”

The inquiry, ordered by the Pakistan government to investigate allegations that two matches at the 1999 World Cup in Britain involving Pakistan were fixed, has scheduled its next hearing for December 1, Kazim Ali Malik, registrar of the inquiry commission, told Reuters from Lahore.

Pakistan lost both World Cup matches to Bangladesh and India.

Malik said a Karachi-based journalist had also failed to turn up to testify on Saturday.

“We will issue fresh summons to Wasim and the journalist for the December 1 hearing. Even if for some reason they could not appear before the commission, they should have informed us in advance about this situation,” Malik said.

Malik said the commission had also not received any response from former South African cricket head Ali Bacher, who is the executive director for the 2003 World Cup.—Reuters