The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday delayed the start of a crucial Asia Cup match involving Pakistan and UAE in Dubai hoping for a positive outcome of its talks with the ICC regarding the removal of Andy Pycroft as match referee from the tournament. The Group A match finally got underway after being delayed by an hour.
PCB then claimed that Pycroft has apologised for miscommunication during the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan last Sunday. The board alleges that the former Zimbabwean cricketer told the two captains during the toss to avoid handshakes.
PCB alleges Pycroft’s conduct is in violation of MCC rules.
Several media outlets reported that Pakistan may pull out of its third and final group match of Asia Cup. However, the
team eventually arrived at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to face UAE.
The PCB also says that the ICC has “expressed its readiness to investigate” the match referee’s conduct during the Indo-Pak match.
Now, quoting sources, news agency PTI is reporting that ICC has only agreed to investigate if PCB can furnish further evidence backing its claim.
“The apology has only been tendered for the miscommunication and ICC will only conduct its investigation only when PCB furnish further evidence as to what went wrong during the game,” said a source privy to the development.
PCB Claims Pycroft Apologised
In a statement on social media, PCB said the match referee has apologised to the manager and Pakistan captain.
“ICC’s controversial match referee Andy Pycroft has apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistani cricket team. Andy Pycroft had prohibited the captains of both teams from shaking hands during the India-Pakistan match,” the PCB said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
“The Pakistan Cricket Board had strongly reacted to Andy Pycroft’s action. Andy Pycroft termed the incident on September 14 as a result of miscommunication and apologized,” it added.
“The ICC has expressed its readiness to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct during the match on September 14,” it added.
