27 December 1998
New call for life bans on Warne and Waugh
By Matthew Hannah in Karachi
A CALL for life bans on Shane Warne and Mark Waugh is to be made
by Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka when the International Cricket
Council meet next month to discuss bribery and corruption in the
sport.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Khalid Mahmood said yesterday
that the three countries would be pushing for bans at the ICC
meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Jan 10-11.
Australian Test pair Warne and Waugh recently admitted taking
money from an Indian bookmaker for information on pitch and
weather conditions during a one-day tournament in Sri Lanka in
1994.
Mahmood said: "The subcontinent was unanimous that the guilty
players should be banned for life when we met at New Delhi 10
days ago. At least three countries will be pressing the ICC to
step in, investigate the charges and clamp life bans on those
found guilty."
He said any ban would have to be approved by a majority of the
nine ICC executive board members. "Let's see if the majority
favours life bans," he added.
Former Australian Test batsman Neil Harvey is among others who
have called for two-year bans on Waugh and Warne.
Two days before the ICC meeting, Waugh and Warne are to appear
before a Pakistani inquiry which will sit in Australia to take
testimony from the pair as part of an investigation into bribery
and match-fixing in Pakistan.
Pakistan Cricket Board legal adviser Ali Sibtain Fazli and Lahore
High Court Registrar Abdus Salam Khawar will travel to Australia
to hear the testimony because Waugh and Warne were reluctant to
travel to Pakistan and attempts to set up a live video link
failed.
The pair have accused former Pakistan captain Salim Malik of
offering them bribes to play poorly during Australia's tour of
Pakistan in 1994.
Waugh testified before the inquiry in October, when Australia
were touring Pakistan, but investigating judge Malik Qayyum said
he needed to be interviewed again following his admission about
accepting money from a bookmaker.
Warne has made similar allegations but did not testify as he
missed the recent tour of Pakistan because he was recovering from
shoulder surgery.
Malik has denied the charges and says that Warne's and Waugh's
admission over the Indian bookmaker proves his innocence.
Waugh and Warne were fined secretly by the Australian Cricket
Board (ACB) in early 1995 but the incident was covered up until
an Australian newspaper broke the story earlier this month,
causing the ACB to be accused of double standards.
PCB chief executive Majid Khan criticised the ACB yesterday,
saying: "It is very unfortunate the way ACB covered up the issue
and only fined the two cricketers. Had the ACB informed us at
that time, a joint probe by the two boards could have been
conducted to resolve the issue."
The ACB has announced that its own investigation into cricket and
betting would begin on Jan 12 and last about three weeks.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)