PCB gears up for strict measures to shun 2010 like incident

By Muhammad Asif Khan

KARACH: The Pakistan Cricket team with embark on a trip to London to participate in the prestigious Champions Trophy with two worries. This time around, along with tackling with the tough oppositions, avoiding 2010 kind of incidents would also be in the back of everybody’s mind.

The trio banned, for spot-fixing in England, in 2010

Pakistan, in 2010, went to England to play a series against the home team but three of the players – Captain Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Amir – were caught and later sent to jail for their involvement in the notorious spot-fixing episode.

  

Almost after three years of that unpleasant event, the new management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), under Chairman Zaka Ashraf, is upbeat and hopeful that, with adequate mechanism in place, the 2010 like incident would be averted.

“We are taking strict measures on our team's visit to the UK after the 2010 incident”, a PCB source revealed to this correspondent.

On a question the source further said that, in line with the ICC directives, the players as well as the officials were duly briefed on relevant precautions.

“The players are well aware of this problem, and to make it more secure, the security department as well as a vigilance team would monitor the players etc”, concludes the PCB source.

After the spot-fixing episode, the ICC imposed ban on all the players, but Muhammad Asif and Salman Butt later appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), on which the verdict is expected anytime soon.

The writer is a Pakistani sports journalist, heads the sports department at News One TV & tweets @mak_asif