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| August 30, 2006 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 5, 1427 |
ICC advice sought over Inzamam selection
KARACHI, Aug 29: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is to seek advice from the International Cricket Council (ICC) over whether to select captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for the Champions Trophy, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The ICC has directed all member countries to announce their final 14-man squads for the tournament by Sept 7.
Inzamam is due to appear before an ICC disciplinary hearing after the tour of England ends to face charges of ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. The charges followed the Oval Test fiasco and Inzamam's clash with Australian umpire Darrell Hair.
The 36-year-old Inzamam, who has played 113 Tests and 362 One-day Internationals, faces a ban of up to eight one-dayers and four Tests if found guilty of both charges, effectively ruling him out of the Champions Trophy which starts in India on Oct 7.
“This is a very pertinent issue for us. We want to know from ICC what happens if we pick him in our final Champions Trophy squad,” director of cricket operations, Saleem Altaf said. “Our selectors want to know if they are allowed to replace him if he is banned after being named in the squad,” Saleem said.
“Don't forget besides being captain he also a key player for us. He rates high in the planning for the tournament.”
The ICC postponed the Inzamam hearing due to be held on Aug 25 in London and on Monday it also cancelled a planned emergency meeting of the executive board which was expected to give a clear ruling on the Oval Test fiasco. “It is a problem for us. At this stage we don't even know when the ICC will schedule the hearing,” Saleem said.
Hair, who sparked a major incident when he penalised the Pakistan team five runs for alleged ball-tampering on the fourth day of the final Test against England is certain to stand in the Champions Trophy unless the ICC decides otherwise.—Reuters
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