ICC lashes at PCB for multiple violations: The ICC has came down hard on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for recording a video of the meeting between match referee Andy Pycroft and the Pakistan team officials on Wednesday prior of Pakistan’s Asia Cup group match against the UAE in Dubai.
The Pakistan vs UAE match was mired by a lot of tension and drama as the PCB threatened to pull out from the match after their demand of the removal of Pycroft was rejected twice by the ICC.
It looked like the PCB may really withdraw from the match as it asked its players to not leave the hotel for the ground at the designated time. Multiple calls and messages crossed between the PCB and ICC officials and eventually the match got underway with a delay of one hour.
However, ahead of the toss, the PCB released a statement saying Pycroft had “apologised” to the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha, and team manager Naveed Akram Cheema for his involvement in the no-handshake row during the India vs Pakistan fixture last Sunday.
The PCB also recorded and released a video of the meeting between Pycroft, Pakistan team officials – captain Agha, coach Mike Hesson, team manager Cheema, media manager Naeem Gillani – and ICC general manager of cricket Wasim Khan, and made it public, though the video has no audio.
All of this has landed Pakistan in more trouble with the ICC than they already would have with delaying the match by an hour and threatening to pull out.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, the ICC has now rebuked the PCB in a strongly worded letter from the ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta, who has reminded the PCB that recording the video of a meeting between the match referee and players was a breach of protocol.
“Use of a mobile phone to film the conversation was a breach of protocol in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA)” by the PCB, says the report.
In his email to the PCB, the ICC CEO informed that the PCB committed “multiple violations” of the PMOA protocol by filming the meeting between Andy Pycroft and other officials of the board and ICC.
The ICC also has slammed PCB’s statement of Pycroft making an apology. The governing council said that Pycroft “had expressed regret for the miscommunication”. In the meeting, Pycroft had reportedly told the Pakistani captain and the team manager that he was conveying the message about the no handshake decision and not instructing it.
Pycroft was reportedly told only “four minutes before the toss” by the venue manager that Suryakumar Yadav would not shake hands with Agha, and the match referee merely informed Agha of this to avoid him from embarrasement. The PCB, though, alleged Pycroft of breaching ICC codes as well as the spirit of cricket.
The ICC conducted inquiry into Pycroft’s actions and cleared him of PCB’s accusation. The match referee claimed he only had a few minutes to handle the situation.
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