Pakistani cricketers fined for participating in 'disapproved cricket'

FILE PHOTO: Danish Kaneria

Pakistan Cricket Board has fined five of its players- Wahab Riaz, Nasir Jamshed, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq and Shahzaib Hasan for playing ‘disapproved cricket’ in the United States. The 5 players have been found to play alongside the banned Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in exhibition T20 matches without a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the PCB.

“They [players] had participated in an event that under the ICC Regulations is considered Disapproved Cricket, their contention of not being aware of the NOC requirement was not accepted by the Committee, which recommended that each of them should be fined Rs. 500,000,” a PCB release said.

PCB’s director of marketing, Badar Refaie was also admonished as he was seen being photographed with Kaneria during the proceedings of the game. However, Badar’s participation was noted as a case of poor judgement.

“As for the Director Marketing, the Committee concluded that he was neither involved in the organisation nor inviting players for the event. He just briefly attended one match only on invitation of the organisers and while his subsequent photograph with Danish Kaneria was a case of poor judgement, there was nothing to suggest that he conducted himself in any inappropriate manner. However, in the Committee’s opinion, he should have shown better judgement and avoided being photographed with a banned player. Hence, an official reprimand is recommended.” PCB stated.

Kaneria, who is undergoing a life ban for getting involved in spot fixing in the year 2012 has been asked for a reply by the PCB. “As Danish Kaneria is serving a life ban and also did not appear at the hearing, nor did he respond to notice in writing, the committee referred his case to the Integrity Committee for further suitable action against him,” PCB said.

Despite the ban of playing matches under ECB’s control, Kaneria has been seen to participate in exhibition T20 matches, April’s Friendship Cup matches in Texas and T20s in Florida. The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) did not organize the T20 exhibition matches and warned its players to not participate in any unsanctioned tournament as it may comprise of players who have been banned by various cricket boards. However, two USA players were seen to play alongside Dinesh Kaneria. Apart from the Pakistan players, there were 11 Canadian players and 8 West Indies’ players including Jermaine Lawson who played in the Texas event.

“All USACA regions, leagues, clubs and players are advised to be careful participating and playing in tournaments involving international players,” a USACA statement said.

“In a recent incident an ICC and PCB banned player participated in an unsanctioned tournament in the USA. USACA is a strong supporter of the ICC’s policies in this area and we are obligated to support and help enforce these policies as part of our ongoing membership,” it added.

“Any tournament involving USACA members with international and national US players must be sanctioned by USACA. In tournaments involving international players, those players participate under the control of their national country boards and the ICC, and various rules and regulations have to be followed per a formal event sanctioning agreement.

“All USACA regions, leagues, clubs and players should take great care to be assured that any tournament they participate in with international players have the correct sanctions. US national players should be aware that the ICC can impose penalties and prohibit them playing in ICC tournaments if they are found playing in unsanctioned tournaments involving international players.”