PCB appoints retired judge to hear appeals

Irfan Qadir, a retired judge, has been appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board to hear the appeals against the bans and fines on six players following their poor conduct on the tour of Australia earlier this year.

"Through a resolution of the governing board, retired justice Irfan Qadir has been appointed as independent arbitrator to deal with players' appeals," the PCB's legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi told AFP. "To avoid conflicting judgements, all the appeals will go to one arbitrator, in this case Justice Qadir, and he may initiate the process as early as next week."

The PCB took drastic steps against seven players it believed were responsible for Pakistan's failure to win a single game in Australia. The captain Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were banned for a year while Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers were fined and placed on probation for six months.

Yousuf and Younis were accused of infighting and having a negative influence on the team. Yousuf announced his retirement from international cricket after the ban and is the only one among the punished players who didn't appeal.

The Akmal brothers and Naved lodged their appeals last week, followed by Afridi, Younis and then Malik.