Defends action: Reid says everyone knows who is guilty

Karachi, July 13: New Zealand's match referee John Reid says that he doesn't regret penalizing Waqar Younis, Azhar Mahmood for ball tampering and reprimanding skipper Moin Khan.

In an interview to website , Reid said: "I'm a match referee, it's my job. I am not on holidays and the whole incident has to be looked at that way.

"I gave him and his captain Moin Khan a warning. But then he did it again, so I had to suspend him for a game and fine him 50 per cent of his match fees. Also, I saw Azhar Mahmood indulge in tampering and fined him 30 per cent of his match earnings. Moin Khan, being the captain, was heavily reprimanded."

Reid was quoted as saying that he acted in accordance with Laws 42.4 and 5 of the ICC Laws and Codes 1 and 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Code 1 puts the blame on the captain since he is in charge of all that his team does on the field and Code 2 deals with bringing the game into disrepute.

While Reid refused to accept the arguments of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia that he didn't follow the procedures.

"According to the rules, the umpires, chief executives, managers of teams and the match referee can all bring up the issue. And the match referee has a right to act independently. There is nothing in the rulebook about the umpire reporting the incident or such like," he was quoted as saying.

He refused to comment on PCB chairman's allegation that he was biased towards Pakistan. But he said: "Why should I react to those comments. I am not the guilty party - everybody knows who is."