Wasim Akram: 'My reputation is more important than glory' (14 Sep 1998)

14 September 1998

Wasim Akram: 'My reputation is more important than glory'

Mihir Bose

WASIM AKRAM has played his last match for Pakistan. He is giving up Test cricket to return home to clear his name of allegations of match-fixing, writes Mihir Bose.

His decision comes after days of agonised reflection following last week's report from the Pakistan Cricket Board which once again linked his name to match-fixing allegations and recommended to the selectors that he not be chosen. Wasim said yesterday: "I am fed up with the allegations. I have never been charged, never had an opportunity to answer the allegations, never been shown any proof. When I met the members of the board in January, they made no charges against me and it hurts me to give up cricket but my reputation is more important than glory."

The possible glory that Wasim is abandoning is the chance to become Test cricket's highest wicket-taker - he is 90 wickets short of Kapil Dev's record of 431. Wasim said: "I am 32 and could go on for another three or four years. Last year I took 17 wickets in three Tests against the West Indies and with Australia coming I look forward to more, but I have to give up that dream because I am totally disgusted by the way the Pakistan board have handled the whole issue."

Along with the anger there was a sense of utter bewilderment. Just days before the report Wasim received a letter from Khalid Mahmood, chairman of the selectors, asking him if he would be fit for selection for the team playing a series of one-day matches against India in Toronto this week.

Wasim said: "I think it has a lot to do with the jealousies and rivalries in the Pakistan Cricket Board."

Wasim attributes much of this to Majid Khan, the chief executive. "When Majid took over we all felt that as a great cricketer he would be able to put things right in Pakistan cricket. But it hasn't worked out that way. Before I took the team to Australia at the end of 1996 he told me 'with this team you will get hammered' and we went on to beat Australia and the West Indies and win the B & H Cup. He does not like me and I don't quite know why, perhaps because he feels I am close to Imran [Khan]. They are cousins but haven't spoken to each other for years and it all reflects the petty jealousies and rivalries that is regrettably part of Pakistan cricket."

He added: "In our country people are very passionate about the game and can sometimes bet on it. A taxi driver might bet his taxi on the game and if we lose he does not know enough about the game to understand why we lost and feels the players have thrown the match.

"The fact is I have a friend, a childhood friend, who bets on the game, but I have never bet on it or gone to a bookie. In any case you could not fix a match with the help of one player you would require at least six or seven."

Wasim will return to Pakistan later this month and consult a retired judge of the Pakistan Supreme Court.

The judge investigating the allegations of match-fixing has issued warrants for the arrest of former Test player Intikhab Alam, former captain and opening bat Ramiz Raja, former Test batsman Basit Ali and former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Javed Burki. All have denied any involvement in match-fixing.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)