Cricket; Wasim denies tampering claim
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Your support makes all the difference.WASIM AKRAM, the Pakistan captain, yesterday denied allegations of ball-tampering against his side. The Australian newspaper claimed that Pakistan faced a possible investigation after the Australian Cricket Board impounded a ball used during the tour match against Western Australia in Perth last week.
A spokesman for the Australian Cricket Board said he would not comment on the allegations. "Any match reports that are submitted to the ACB are confidential. The board is not prepared to comment on whether any ball was received from this particular match," he said, adding that any investigation, if there is one, would also be confidential.
"The Australian Cricket Board has taken possession of a ball used by Pakistan in the tour match which they drew against Western Australia in Perth," the Australian stated. "It is understood that one side of the ball shows signs of excessive scarring inconsistent with customary wear and tear."
Wasim, who did not play in the match, denied the allegations, blaming the wicket and the type of ball used. "This sort of thing can happen when the wicket is very barren, as it was in Perth," he said. "Those Kookaburra balls also tend to age very quickly and after 40 overs they look as if they are 100 overs old - we have no problem with this. The seam probably did lift but it was the wicket, not us."
But the newspaper said the match umpires had written a letter to the board expressing concern about possible ball- tampering. Television cameras were understood to have captured some of the alleged incidents, the report added.
Allegations against Pakistan's pace bowlers caused a furore during the 1992 tour of England, and further allegations by Allan Lamb against Pakistan's Sarfraz Nawaz ended in a libel case. The debate reopened last year when the former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan, resigned from the International Cricket Council after he had admitted once using a bottle top on a ball during a County Championship match.
Pakistan's tour of Australia is already embroiled in controversy over bribery allegations by three Australian players against Salim Malik. The spinners, Shane Warne and Tim May, and the batsman, Mark Waugh, accused Salim, the former Pakistan captain, of offering them money to throw a Test in Pakistan last year. Salim is at present facing May in the match against South Australia, though May bowled only after Salim had been dismissed.
Salim was sacked as captain by the Pakistan Cricket Board in March but was cleared of the allegations by an internal inquiry two weeks ago.
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