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Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Heads roll in Pakistan Board

Karachi: Heads rolled in the Pakistan cricket establishment on Tuesday with Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and the entire selection committee resigning in the wake of the team's inglorious exit from the World Cup.

A day after captain Inzamam-ul-Haq announced his retirement from ODIs following the fiasco against Ireland and the death of coach Bob Woolmer, PCB Chairman Naseem Ashraf and all the selectors put in their papers accepting moral responsibility for the debacle.

According to PCB sources, Ashraf has submitted his resignation to President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the chief patron of the PCB.

Not yet decided

It was still not known whether the President had accepted his resignation yet.

Ashraf had taken over as the PCB Chairman last October after the resignation of Shaharyar Khan and the local media had launched a scathing attack on him, demanding his resignation for Pakistan's humiliating World Cup ouster.

Initially, Ashraf had said he would not resign as he had been in the Board only for six months and would announce a new action plan for the future.

But the PCB Chief on Tuesday told reporters in Mirpurkhas that he was disturbed with the team's performance and wanted to apologise to the nation for letting them down.

Hours after Ashraf's decision to quit, the national selection panel, headed by Wasim Bari, also tendered its resignation.

Bari said he had sent the resignations of the entire committee, which also included former Test players Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin, to the PCB.

Team not detained

Meanwhile in Kingston, the Pakistan team media manager, Pervez Mir, denied that the World Cup team had been ordered to stay in Jamaica until the investigation into coach Bob Woolmer's death was completed.

"We see that all the investigation is complete by Wednesday after getting the autopsy report. All such reports of detaining the team are baseless," he said.

"Any official can stay back until the process of taking the body to Cape Town in South Africa is completed. We are responsible people and will cooperate in the process," said Mir, a former international player.

Family unable to come

"Initially we thought a family member of Woolmer would come to take the body but none of them will be coming. So this is our responsibility to take the body to South Africa. Some of the players are also keen to attend the funeral," said Mir.

Mir added the various rumours over the causes of Woolmer's death have upset the team.

"There is some irresponsible speculation," said Mir. "We can't know the cause of death until and unless we get the autopsy report, so please don't speculate. We will let everyone know the result of the investigations." — Agencies

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