Procter hails Bangladesh and Pakistan players' generosity

ICC Emirates Elite Panel Match Referee Mike Procter has praised the Bangladesh and Pakistan playing squads for donating US$5,500 to Ugandan cricket during their recent quadrangular series in Nairobi, Kenya.

Procter, who officiated in the series that acted as a warm-up for the two teams and Kenya ahead of the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa said: "When you talk about the Spirit of Cricket, well, the players from Bangladesh and Pakistan really displayed it with their gesture as far as I am concerned.

"It is about respect for your opponents and that is exactly what the players of these two sides showed with their generosity. They are among the big boys of world cricket and to help out a country that is still developing in the game is a superb effort.

"Uganda is moving forward with its cricket, as it showed during the series when it beat Kenya, and the generosity of the players of Bangladesh and Pakistan will be a huge help in that regard. It is something that deserves to be talked about and recognized," he added.

The cash was made up of five man of the man awards - US$500 each - as well as the player of the series prize, a total of US$3000 that was shared by the two captains, Mohammad Ashraful of Bangladesh and Pakistan's Shoaib Malik.

The gesture originated when Pakistan's Shahid Afridi was named man of the match in the first game of the series, against Uganda, and it was then continued by players from both line-ups through the six-match series that took place in the first week of September.

One of the man of the match award winners, Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza, explained why the players acted in the way they did.

"We donated the money to help Uganda's cricket development," he said. "They are trying hard to improve their game and so far the signs have been encouraging.

"In a small way we wanted to be a part of the effort to take cricket forward in Uganda. As a Full Member of the ICC I feel we have a responsibility to try and help Associate countries in any way we can."

The man of the match award recipients from the two sides during the quadrangular tournament played in Nairobi were Afridi, Nazimuddin, Imran Nazir, Mortaza and Younus Khan.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh remain in contention in the ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007.

Pakistan is well-placed to reach the semi-final after winning its opening match in the Super Eight stage on Monday evening, a 33-run success against Sri Lanka in Johannesburg.

Bangladesh lost its opening Super Eight match to Australia by nine wickets in Cape Town but still has matches against both Sri Lanka and Pakistan to come, with victories in both of those encounters offering a strong chance of a semi-final place.

Pakistan faces Australia on Tuesday in Johannesburg with Bangladesh following it onto the field against Sri Lanka as part of a double-header. Pakistan and Bangladesh then contest the final match in their Super Eight group in Cape Town on Thursday.

Uganda has only been an Associate Member of the ICC since 1998 but is making rapid strides, playing in its first ICC Trophy (the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying event) in Ireland in 2005 and taking part in last year's ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Its development programme has earned widespread praise and earlier this year it won ICC World Cricket League (ICC WCL) Division 3 in Darwin, Australia, beating Argentina in the final.

That success earned Uganda promotion to the Division 2 event in Windhoek, Namibia in November where it will face the hosts, as well as Argentina, Denmark, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the latter side having played in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996.

The idea of the ICC WCL is to give each of the 91 Associate and Affiliate Members a clearly defined pathway to progress and develop in world cricket, something illustrated by the fact the top four sides from ICC WCL Div. 2 go forward to the ICC CWC Qualifier in the UAE in 2009. . The ICC World Twenty20 involves 27 matches at three venues - Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg - over 14 days with the final set to take place in Johannesburg on 24 September.