Umar Akmal 'regrets' media outburst against Mickey Arthur

While Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal stands by his words against head coach Mickey Arthur, he has admitted that he might have been wrong in approaching the matter in the manner he did - a public outburst in a fiery press conference last month. In his response to the second show-cause notice issued by a three-man PCB committee, Akmal said he wasn't aware his actions were a breach of the players' code.

The tone of Akmal's response was significantly more conciliatory than earlier statements he had made on the subject. In a vague explanation, Akmal wrote that he "unaware" about any breach of code, and did what he did "unintentionally in the heat of the moment". A source close to the player confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the batsman still held his ground about his claims about Arthur but "regretted" going to the media to talk about his fallout with the coach.

The committee was formed to probe Akmal's allegations that the head coach had used abusive language with him. The claims are yet to be verified, but the PCB found him to be in breach of its code of conduct despite being a non-contracted player. According to one of the committee members, Amjad Hussain - who is the PCB's media director - players who are not centrally contracted with the PCB but are part of the domestic circuit are still compelled to follow the players' code of conduct which is enforced at every level.

Akmal had promised to apologise to Arthur should the committee find him guilty, but also made it clear he expected the same from Arthur if the verdict was in his favour. Calling himself a national cricketer who had "produced excellent results for Pakistan", he said that the law did not allow any person to hurt the feelings and self-respect of another individual. He concluded by expressing full faith in the PCB to resolve the matter efficiently, as it was one "of respect, dignity and pride of Pakistan and its nation".