ICC ruling shocking — Simpson

Akhtar boarded a plane in Perth at 5.45 am on Sunday and arrived in Brisbane a quarter of an hour after his captain Wasim Akram had won the toss and decided to bat to give his paceman time to recover from the flight. The crowd of 37,500 also gave Akhtar a rousing reception when he was introduced into the attack, although not everyone was happy.

Former Australian captain Bob Simpson, a member of the ICC panel that decided Akhtar’s action was unlawful, said he was astonished that ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya had cleared the Pakistani without consulting the whole panel.

Simpson said the panel had concluded that thebouncer was just one part of Akhtar’s action that worried them. “Myself and the other committees would like to see some answers coming through,” Simpson said. “The view of the panel was that it wasn’t just the bouncer, it was also his faster delivery and it was agreed that his action needed remedial work.” Akram said, “They (ICC) have to sit and make a proper clause about his action. You can’t decide somebody’s career on telephone. ICC has got plenty of money. They can organise something. And they should do it at the right time.”

Akram said the ICC officials could sit with the player or the team captain and when they take a decision, they should explain instead of merely conveying over telephone that “no, he can’t play”.