ICC '"impressed" with PCB's anti-corruption measures

The ICC has praised the PCB for the measures the board has implemented to curb corruption in the aftermath of the spot-fixing controversy. In what is the second update on the progress made by the PCB since it was issued an ultimatum by the ICC to take initiatives to sort out the game's administration in the country, the ICC said it was "impressed" with the developments.

The ultimatum - which included a set of recommendations - was issued on October 13 and the PCB was told to clean up its act or face the consequences, possibly in the form of sanctions. Since then, the board, which was given a 30-day period to conduct a thorough and far-reaching review of "player integrity issues", has revised its code of conduct for players with a special emphasis on anti-corruption, made it mandatory for players to have their agents approved by the PCB, implemented education programmers for cricketers to create awareness about match-fixing and set up an Integrity Committee to look into issues of corruption and doping.

The update was provided at a meeting, by teleconference, of the Pakistan task force, a group headed by ECB chairman Giles Clarke that is aiming to bring back international cricket to Pakistan. "PCB has clearly recognized that it is imperative to protect the integrity of cricket and we are indeed impressed by the progress reported," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC CEO and a member of the Pakistan task force, said. "Their willingness to play such an active role on the integrity issue is vital to the future of international cricket. They have shown a clear determination to tackle their challenges.

"The ICC Task Team is mindful of those challenges and is committed to supporting the PCB."

Clarke said: "The PCB chairman and his team must be congratulated for the speed with which they have adopted the recommendations of the ICC Board. Everyone is encouraged by the statements and actions of the PCB and we must hope that they continue."

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman who has faced much criticism for his handling of the administration during his tenure, said his board adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. "The PCB is determined to implement the recommendations provided by the ICC. We at the PCB, like the ICC, are committed to a zero-tolerance approach to any form of corruption."

Most recently, the PCB revoked the central contracts of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif - the three players provisionally suspended by the ICC for their alleged involvement in the spot-fixing controversy. And in the ongoing tour of the UAE where Pakistan are taking on South Africa in an ODI series, the PCB fined three players for breaking curfew as per the revised code of conduct.

The Best I've Watched

second-closest Test win ever - it was enough to make a man turn against his friend

The morning of Sunday, August 7, 2005. The scene is an increasingly noisy living room in Cardiff, Wales. And the noise is not coming from the children of the house.

"Daddy, what are you doing? Why are you shouting at the TV?" says the little girl. "That's Michael, isn't' it? He's your friend. Why are you shouting at him and saying nasty things?"

My daughter Bethan was just seven then. How could she understand that I was screaming at my mate Michael Kasprowicz - and he is one of the finest men with whom I have ever shared a cricket field - because he was inching Australia ever nearer a second Test win, which would surely have killed the series stone dead?

It truly was a remarkable morning. Australia began the bright, sunny day requiring 107 more to win, but with just two wickets remaining. It appeared a formality for England. But it soon became a cliffhanger. The session only lasted 100 minutes, but there was enough action to last a lifetime. It is a session I will never forget.

Shane Warne scythed a few and then trod on his stumps. And so Kasprowicz joined Brett Lee. It was a partnership that touched extremes of emotion that few others have managed. And its ultimate failure presaged an unforgettable summer of English success.

This was cricket in the raw. Lee took blows to various parts of his body. Kasprowicz was plumb lbw - not given - and then dropped at third man by former Glamorgan team-mate Simon Jones. All the while boundaries flowed, from a bewildering assortment of edges, byes and meaty blows.

The tension was unbearable. And I wasn't even there. Just three were needed to win - and I admit I'd given up hope of an England win - when Steve Harmison ran in to Kasprowicz. A short ball aimed at the batsman's body - England's unsuccessful tactic all morning - was gloved to wicketkeeper Geraint Jones. No matter that Kasprowicz's right-hand glove was actually off the bat handle at the moment of contact. It was over and England had won.