November 29, 2002	Friday	Ramazan 23, 1423

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LAHORE, Nov 28: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief is not afraid of international media and took the right decision in imposing fine on six cricketers found guilty of ball tampering in the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup which ended Thursday.

PCB chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, admitted that the international media was keeping an eye on Pakistani bowlers but it does not mean the board should defend the wrong acts of its bowlers by covering up such misdeeds.

Pakistan cricket was brought into disrepute by paceman Shoaib Akhtar in Zimbabwe earlier this month. Shoaib was found guilty of defacing the ball and was severely reprimanded by the Match Referee Clive Lloyd.

Unfortunately Pakistan has the dubious distinction of being the only country whose two strike bowlers have been caught cheating and fined. Ironically both the incidents have been under the present PCB setup. First one found guilty was skipper Waqar Younis in Sri Lanka during a triangular series.

The board imposed a cash fine of Rs 3,000 each on Naved Latif, Qaiser Abbas, Zahid Saeed, Yasir Arafat, Rao Iftikhar and Sajid Shah for ball tampering in the Super League contest reported  by the Match Referee Anwar Khan.

PCB chief said that he examined a ball which showed it was tampered with. The shape of the ball had been damaged considerably even though only two overs had been bowled with it.

He warned that more fines would be imposed without any fear of cricketers involved in such dirty practices.

Tauqir pointed out that PCB had never announced that performance in the Super League would be the sole criteria for selecting probables for next year’s World Cup. He said that the boys who performed well in the Super League were  future assets and needed more exposure.

The PCB chief said that the selectors included wicketkeeper Rashid Latif and pacer Azhar Mahmood after the panel of  doctors declared  them fit for the game. Rashid and Azhar appeared  unfit after reaching Zimbabwe where Pakistan.

He praised the team’s performance in Zimbabwe but warned the real test before it was the South African tour starting from Dec 2. Pakistan will play five ODIs and two Test against South Africa.