PCB Chairman criticises Lord MacLaurin

The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, General Tauqir Zia, has criticised his English counterpart, Lord MacLaurin.

MacLaurin recently angered many in Pakistan with his comments concerning those players crictised in the Qayyum report. He suggested that any player suspected of any wrongdoing should be suspended until their innocence is proven, and claimed that this would be the case if the players were English.

His words may come back to haunt him as the Alec Stewart drama unfolds, a point not missed by Zia. Stewart categorically denies the allegation from bookmaker Mukesh Kumar Gupta, included in the report by India's Central Bureau of Investigation, that he accepted £5,000 in exchange for information on pitch, weather conditions and team composition during a tour to India in 1993.

"They (The ECB) did not realise that if they throw stones at any country the same thing may come back on them," Zia retorted.

"I am shocked that so many foreign players are named in the report. Now it's up to the England and Wales Cricket Board and others to reach the truth."

Tauqir Zia was supportive of the ECB's call for the new ICC anti-corruption body to investigate the new developments.

He said: "It's a welcome sign and the matter must be investigated thoroughly. Pakistan took the lead and cleaned up the mess and we are ready to cooperate at any stage to have clean and fair cricket."