Pakistan Cricket Board Hits Back at former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur
The Pakistan Cricket Board has taken a strong note of the statement made by former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur, who has come out with an outrageous claim ahead of the publication of his autobiography.
Arthur, who was in-charge of the Proteas until recently, claims that the last ODI of the Pakistan-South Africa series played in Lahore was fixed as the hosts threw a match that they were in total control
of before collapsing dramatically to hand over the series to the Proteas.
PCB, perhaps going through the toughest phase of their existence, have been rocked by the match and spot-fixing scandal and the strong stance taken by the International Cricket Council on them since the news
of the storm was first broken in August this year.
Arthur made the following remarks during an interview (he was the coach of the team that won the match in question):
"There was a strong suspicion of match-fixing and it took some of the gloss off the series win, we did not have any proof, but when you have been involved in the game long enough, you know when something
is not right. How else do you explain a batting side needing only 40 runs with seven [sic] wickets in hand, and then losing?"
The match was played on 29th October 2007; the South Africans opted to bat first and helped by half centuries from Herschelle http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gibbs-c60021 and Jacques Kallis, they posted a total of 233/9 in the allotted 50 overs.
At one stage, the Proteas were set to post a really big total but they were pegged back by Shoaib Akhtar and Rao Iftikhar who claimed 7 wickets between themselves.
Pakistan in reply was in control of the game with the seasoned Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf adding 106 runs for their third wicket association that lasted 21 overs.
The two Ys scored a fifty each, yet were dismissed in quick succession; despite their demise, though, the hosts were well and truly in the game with Captain Shoaib Malik and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 guiding them towards
a win.
The 5th wicket, that of Shoaib, fell in the 41st over of the match with the hosts placed at 199.
From there on, they froze and collapsed in a heap to crash to 219 all out with 21 balls left in the match.
The dramatic defeat raised many eyebrows at the time; some of the cricketing pundits in Pakistan were dismayed with the meek capitulation, yet there was no report of anything sinister.
Reacting to the story, the governing body of the game in the country that is hard pressed to restore its damaged reputation has asked Arthur to back up his claims with ample proof or prepare himself for a
legal battle.
A press release by them issued earlier in the day states the following:
"PCB has noted with concern the statement of former South African Coach Mick[e]y Arthur insinuating that a one-day international match played at Lahore between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in 2007 was fixed,
PCB has decided to immediately serve a legal notice on Mick[e]y Arthur asking him to share with PCB any evidence in this regard. If the evidence is not provided PCB and Pakistani players reserve the right to initiate legal proceedings against Mick[e]y Arthur
including but not limited to seeking unqualified apology, retraction and damages, PCB reiterates that it has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption in cricket," continued the statement, "and will deal with any news concerning Pakistani players with utmost
importance and due care."
It remains to be seen if the PCB actually follows up and backs its claims of suing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mickey-Arthur-c1969 as thus far they have not taken any action against any person that has accused Pakistani players and officials
of match or spot-fixing.
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