Zaka appointed PCB chairman

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The government appointed on Tuesday Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The presidency was expected to issue a notification about the appointment, but no such document was released till late in the night.

Mr Ashraf is reputed to be a close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The contract of former PCB chief Ijaz Butt, which was extended by one year last year, expired on Oct 8. Initially, he was appointed for two years.

According to media reports, Zaka Ashraf met President Zardari, who is patron-in-chief of the PCB, but it was not confirmed by the presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Private TV channels ran the news regarding Mr Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chief throughout the day and that the contract of Ijaz Butt has not been extended.

Although there was no official word about Mr Ashraf’s appointment, he himself came to the media and claimed that he would run the PCB in a better way.

A private TV channel quoted Mr Ashraf as saying that his target was to restore international cricket in Pakistan by ensuring foolproof security arrangements, adding that all the decisions of the PCB would be taken by him.

He claimed that he would cleanse cricket of corruption, scandals and lobbying. He was quoted as saying: “The question is not of the players but to win. Only those who perform will play.”

Mr Ashraf, a former chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, is serving as chairman of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. Hailing from Nawabshah, he is a brother of PML-N leader Begum Ishrat Ashraf.

Local cricketers gave mixed reaction over the appointment of Mr Ashraf as PCB chairman.

However, ICC spokesman Samiul Hassan said if Mr Ashraf had been appointed for a period beyond 2013 his appointment was against a recent decision of the International Cricket Council. Under ICC rules, cricket board chiefs could only be appointed through elections and not through direct nomination, he added.

Talking to Dawn, he quoted the ICC decision as saying: “The ICC Annual Conference unanimously supported a proposal to amend the ICC Articles of Association to provide for the important principle of free elections and the independence of member boards.

“It was agreed that all member boards must implement the provisions before annual conference in June 2012 and a further 12 months (to June 2013) would be allowed before any sanctions would be considered. It was noted that it was a well-established principle of modern sporting governance that national federations should be autonomous and free from interference from government in the administration of their affairs.”

He also quoted ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat as saying “This is a significant step towards achieving best practice and, together with the independent governance review, I am excited by the commitment of the ICC to introduce best possible corporate governance.”

An associate member of the PCB governing board told Dawn that if Mr Ashraf had been appointed for an indefinite period (beyond 2013), the decision was against the ICC ruling.

“The ICC has barred countries from appointing politicians in national cricket boards, mainly to free the sport from undue government influence and pressures,” he said.

According to the ruling, the ICC can suspend membership of a board if there is government interference in running its affairs.

The ICC issued the same warning to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh recently.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/12/zaka-appointed-pcb-chairman.html

Cricket Australia slams “outlandish” match-fixing allegations

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland says claims made in a London court over Australian match-fixing are ”outlandish and made by a person of dubious repute.”

On Monday, the player agent at the centre of the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations, Mazhar Majeed, named in recordings played in court several high-profile ex-Pakistan internationals as well as unnamed Australians as being involved in corruption.

Sutherland said Tuesday that ”these sweeping statements unfairly malign Australian cricketers,” but if there was any evidence of wrongdoing, Australian officials would investigate.

”These would appear to be baseless allegations,” Sutherland added, saying that he would have been made aware by the International Cricket Council if Australians were involved in any match-fixing.

The recordings were made by the prosecution’s chief witness Mazhar Mahmood, the undercover journalist who was working for the now-defunct British tabloid The News of the World. The recordings were played at London’s Southwark crown court on the fourth day of the trial.

Majeed accused Australian players of being the ”biggest” match-fixers in world cricket, although he never backed his claim up with any evidence.

Majeed told Mahmood that Australian players would fix ”brackets,” a set period of a match on which gamblers bet, for example, on how many runs will be scored.

”The Australians, they are the biggest, they have 10 brackets a game,” Majeed said on the tape played to the court.

Sutherland said Tuesday that the ICC attends all international matches with its corruption unit and “there is nothing I have heard to suggest that there are Australian players who are of interest to them”.

“If there is any issue or there is any concern, we will investigate them”, Sutherland added. ”If we charge players and we find them guilty we will have no qualms about issuing a life sentence on players who are found guilty of match-fixing.”

Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh said Majeed was unreliable and his evidence should be considered in context.

”I don’t think he’s got a lot of credibility,” Marsh told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. ”I found it very interesting that he was prepared to name the names of some Pakistani players but no Australian players.

”Our players are paid very well, they’re educated very well, and I think our guys understand the consequences of getting involved here in this space. It’s just not in the Australian culture.”

In London, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammed Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.

Butt, Asif and Pakistan teammate Mohammed Amir are accused of conspiring with Majeed to bowl deliberate no-balls in the fourth test against England at Lord’s in August of last year.

Butt and Asif deny the charges. Majeed and Amir are not required to appear in court.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/11/cricket-australia-slams-%E2%80%9Coutlandish%E2%80%9D-match-fixing-allegations.html