PCB sets 30-day appeal period for punished players

The Pakistan Cricket Board has given the seven players, who were punished with bans and fines in the aftermath of the disastrous Australia tour, 30 days to appeal against the sanctions imposed on them.

"We have sent all the seven players letters in which we have mentioned the reasons for their punishments and the players can now appeal under the PCB constitution," Wasim Bari, the chief operating officer of the PCB, told AFP. "They can file appeals within 30 days."

Seven senior players were punished by the PCB last week following an inquiry committee report into the team's poor performance in Australia where they lost all their matches. Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were handed bans, while the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi were fined.

Bari had headed the six-member committee that investigated and recommended punishments to the players. "We held a thorough inquiry and took into consideration all the facts and background and made decisions to solve the problems in Pakistan cricket," Bari said.

The PCB has named three judges to hear the appeals. "The PCB governing board has appointed two retired Supreme court judges - Muneer Sheikh and Jamshed Ali Shah - and a former high court judge, Irfan Qadir, who will deal with appeals," said Taffazul Rizvi, PCB's legal advisor.

None of the players has spoken publicly about their punishment or indicated they will appeal.