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| August 26, 2006 | Saturday | Sha'aban 1, 1427 |
Tour to continue, says Shaharyar Khan: Inzamam hearing put off until mid-September
LONDON, Aug 25: Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, on Friday gave his strongest assurance yet that Monday's Twenty20 international between England and Pakistan and the five one-day matches that follow will go ahead as planned.
But with uncertainty still surrounding the date of Inzamam-ul-Haq's rescheduled disciplinary hearing, the England and Wales Cricket Board has prepared a contingency plan in which a World XI would play England instead in Monday night's game at Bristol.
"I've held meetings with the Pakistan players and captain," said Shaharyar.
"I've told them we don't have any problems with the ECB so we must continue with the tour. We want the inquiry to be held as soon as possible and we hope it's done fairly. The players did not want to play the one-day series with the sword of the hearing hanging over them but now they have realised the importance of playing. Our focus is now on cricket."
It now seems likely the hearing will be held after the one-day series finishes on September 10, which is exactly the scenario Speed, Shaharyar Khan and Pakistan's legal representatives, DLA Piper, were hoping for, even if the Pakistan players — and in particular Inzamam — were not.
By that time Ranjan Madugalle, who is the Pakistanis' preferred candidate and has been looking after his sick sister in Colombo, should be available.
According to an ECB statement, its chairman David Morgan decided to put the contingency plan in place when it became clear that "the concerns of the Pakistan touring party have not been fully allayed" with regards to Inzamam's hearing, which is now unlikely to take place before the NatWest Series ends on September 10.
The ECB chief executive, David Collier, said: "We are pleased that discussions strongly indicate the England v Pakistan Twenty20 international and the subsequent NatWest Series will proceed as planned.
However given the current uncertainty concerning the scheduling of the Code of Conduct hearing and imminence of the Twenty20 international it is prudent to examine all options to provide spectators with guaranteed play on Monday.—Agencies
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