PCB rejects Gladiators’ concerns on ball-tampering

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cric­ket Board (PCB) has rejected Quetta Gladiators’ ball-tampering concerns against Peshawar Zalmi’s pacer Wahab Riaz on technical grounds, saying no proper procedure was adopted to register the case with the authorities.

A PCB official has confirmed to ‘The News’ that the matter had been closed as Quetta Gladiators did not follow proper procedure to register complaint against the bowler. “Quetta Gladiators have used umpires’ evaluation form to register concerns against Wahab for alleged ball-tampering during Saturday’s match against Zalmi. Since no proper procedure was adopted to register the complaint, we have decided not to move on the matter any further,” he said.

The complainant should have followed the proper procedure given and that is to intimate the concern in the PCB through a prescribed form and through an email.

“Our rules are very clear in this respect. Proper form should have been filled to register the ball-tampering complaint against Wahab or even the complaint should have been registered through an email within the prescribed form and match referee should have been informed about that. That was never the case and the PCB had no other option but to reject the ball-tampering concerns that was highlighted through umpires evaluation form. These forms are only meant for registering complaint against the umpires,” the official said.

It was Gladiators’ Jason Roy who accused Wahab Riaz of ball-tampering as two had a verbal clash during the match. It has been reported that Roy even had asked Wahab whether he had tampered the ball to gain reverse swing. His remarks angered Wahab who was seen getting engaged with batsman in lengthy arguments.

Gladiators captain Sarfraz Ahmad intervened to pacify both and avoided further arguments. A PCB hand out said match referee Roshan Mahanama has not received an official complaint from Quetta Gladiators against Peshawar Zalmi for changing the condition of the ball during their February 22 fixture in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 at the National Stadium on Saturday.

As per article 3.2, clause 3.2.2 of the PSL 2020 Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, official complaint has to be filed by the team manager and submitted to the match referee within 48 hours from the end of the match.

However, no complaint has been filed and the 48-hour window is now closed.PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “We are aware that a statement on changing the condition of the ball has been made without providing any concrete evidence or lodging a formal complaint through the correctly stated procedure.

“In this case, this should have been submitted to the match referee by 6pm on Monday, 24 February. Such irresponsible statements without formal follow-up will only affect the integrity of the event and cast doubts on international cricketers, and, as such, I request the players to use caution and show responsibility.

“We have an excellent panel of umpires who, as per the playing conditions, are carrying out due diligence during matches. If they will spot any artificial or unnatural interference with the ball, they will act as per the Code.

“I request all participants to uphold the spirit of the game and to focus solely on cricket. This is the first complete HBL PSL 2020 taking place in Pakistan and like every Pakistan cricket fan, we wish this to be a memorable 32 days for all the right reasons.”