The International Cricket Council (ICC) has made it clear that the hanging trio of Pakistan could make next month’s Cricket World Cup squad if given a clearance by its anti-corruption tribunal in Doha, Qatar.
All the three suspended players of Pakistan - Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir - are in Doha these days to appear in a six-day long, make or break hearing in connection with spot-fixing charges set against them by a British tabloid named News of the World.
An International Cricket Council official confirmed the start of hearing at the Qatar Financial Centre. "It has just started. All three players are here," said the official.
The three-member tribunal - headed by Michael Beloff, the head of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission – will hear the case from 6 to 11 January before delivering its final verdict over player’s future in the game. The other two members of the tribunal are South African Justice Albie Sachs and Kenyan Sharad Rao.
The hearing opened in Doha on Thursday, 6 January 2011 and with the start of the final hearing of the case, ICC made it clear that the three, if declared innocent by the Beloff-led tribunal, will be part of the Pakistan World Cup squad. It must be kept in mind that Pakistan has already announced its 30-member preliminary World Cup squad and all the three players were not considered for selection given the provisional suspensions imposed by the ICC on them.
The trio was suspended by the International Cricket Council under Article 2 of its Anti Corruption Code of Conduct after the British tabloid carried out a sting operation which revealed that the three players had taken money from an illegal bookmaker Mazhar Majeed to deliver some deliberate no balls in the last Test against England in Lord’s last year.
The news would be quite encouraging for the Pakistan side which is desperately missing the services of its double ‘As’ – Amir and Asif. The new-ball pair of ‘As’ was on its peak during this summer in England where the duo continued to demolish opposition batting line-up. The inclusion of both or either of Amir or Asif will undoubtedly lift the morale of the side struggling for victories since their suspension in September last year.
The make or break hearing is scheduled to run till the 11th of January 2011, although an early decision is also expected. The three if proven guilty can face heavy penalties, lengthy bans or both.
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