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| November 05, 2006 | Sunday | Shawwal 12, 1427 |
ICC revokes Ata’s life ban
MUMBAI, Nov 4: The International Cricket Council on Saturday revoked the life ban placed on Pakistan Test cricketer Ata-ur-Rehman for his involvement in match-fixing, allowing him to play English club cricket.
Pace bowler Ata, 31, and former Pakistan skipper Saleem Malik were banned in 1999 by the Pakistan Cricket Board after an inquiry implicated them of involvement with illegal bookmakers in fixing international matches and performances.
“Ata’s application for reinstatement was accepted by the ICC's executive board today,” said ICC president Percy Sonn.
“Ata made an application to the ICC that he wanted to play league cricket in England,” Sonn said, indicating that at 31 he already seemed past his prime as a Test cricketer.
“He has been allowed to play from May 2007,” Sonn said. “Ata will be very pleased that the life ban has been lifted after seven years.”Ata played 13 Tests and 30 One-day Internationals for Pakistan, the last of which was in August 1996.
Playing with modest success, he claimed 31 wickets in Tests and 27 in one-dayers.
Ata was among those who gave evidence about the prevalence of match-fixing by his Pakistan team-mates, but later retracted his comments, prompting the PCB inquiry judge to warn him against committing perjury.Under the ICC's procedure for revoking a ban on any player, the application is first put to the world body's chief executive.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Saturday he wasn't prepared to recommend that Ata be reinstated.
“I considered the application in detail and wasn't prepared to recommend Ata’s reinstatement,” Speed told reporters. “The process then goes upstairs to the code of conduct commission.”
The code of conduct commission's chairman appointed a special inquiry panel that prepared a detailed report for the ICC executive board, which ‘focused on the penalty aspect of the ban.’
Speed said the report didn't ‘look at the factual matters that were put forward by the Pakistan inquiry but just looked to see if it was appropriate to lift the life ban.’—AP
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