Can Captain Afridi, Coach Waqar And Security Manager Nail Pak Trio Ahead of ICC Hearing?

The hope that the three Pakistan cricketers can find their way out of the ICC suspension has taken a turn for the worse with the implications of the Pakistan coach, captain and team manager suggesting that there was more than what met the eye. But do they have the evidence to clinch it?

waqar younis shahid afridi at press conference

Repeated interviews in the media have had Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer suggest that they have been devastated by the spot fixing allegations from Pakistan's tour of England but that they were confident that their lawyers could help them overturn the suspension rather than lead them to bans at the hands of the ICC at the official hearing in January, 2011.

However, there is little to help their case, particularly with the fact that there have been repeated suggestions that the player agent cum bookie, Mazhar Majeed was not only lurking in the vicinity but also, that the coach and captain felt something was a amiss.

In his statement to the ICC, Waqar Younis claims to have confronted the eighteen year old fast bowler about the no ball where he over stepped by a huge margin. The Pakistan coach then claims that it was Salman Butt, the then Pakistan captain, who spoke on behalf of Aamer and taking responsibility for advising such a move to the bowler.

Furthermore the Pakistan security manager claims large amounts of money were found in the hotel rooms and that the Pakistan cricketers were clearly unhappy with the raids that revealed stashes of money in different currencies.

Shahid Afridi goes a step further and suggests that the three Pakistan cricketers were huddled together in the immediate aftermath of the scandal breaking out and that he felt they would not have looked worried if they were not guilty.

It will be interesting to see how much weight their words will carry in the course of the investigations because ultimately it will only be the factual evidence that will help the ICC nail the three cricketers if they are indeed guilty. At the moment, while the three cricketers are suggesting that they are being given a biased treatment, it will be intriguing if the opinions of the team management will actually affect the case as much as the evidence will.

It is hard to see this kind of cross reference benefitting anyone connected with Pakistan cricket, not even those deposing as part of their job.