Inzi - "clear me or one dayers are off"..

[Ernest]

That's what he said and starting with a warm up fixture with a county Middlesex - but hang on

The revelation came as Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq issued a stark warning to the ICC - clear me of ball tampering or the tour of England is finished.

Is he thinking Fletcher might be in the plot?

ENGLAND have been dragged into the centre of the ball-tampering furore after it was revealed coach Duncan Fletcher had visited match referee Mike Procter before the start of Sunday's play at The Oval.A spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board, James Avery, admitted Fletcher spoke with Procter before play but denied he had made a "specific complaint about the state of the ball

Hmm but whatever he meant it seems.

Inzamam's threat could mean next week's Twenty20 international and the five-match one-day series against England would be abandoned, costing the ECB about $24.9 million. Pakistan risk being fined more than $2.49m and being suspended from the ICC for not taking part in scheduled fixtures. The team is also considering skipping Thursday's tour match against Middlesex in support of their skipper.

Bluff trying to influence the outcome of the hearing against him? - well maybe.

But whatever the reason it seems that the public loses out again, both in England and in Pakistan.

Full story Inzi - Clear me or else....

How did this mess start - I myself am not a lover of ODIs - but millions are.

[Maranello]

Seems to be some nifty subediting by the journalist, as Inzi did not actually say "Clear me or else."

However, whatever his exact words, I disagree with the sentiment and feel it is exceedingly unfortunate. He should not be stooping down to Hair's level! Hence, he should not be prejudging the ruling. The time to protest or appeal the ruling will be after it has been made.

We expect better from Inzi.

[Occasional Fan]

That report in the Sydney Morning Herald is a compilation of lots of other reports which have been published in the English and Pakistani papers twelve or more hours ago. It re-hashes a load of points, most of which have been put on the board already, but I guess that's a problem with being at the wrong end of a big time difference. Crucially for me, the "clear me or the tour is over" is not a direct quotation from Inzamam, certainly not in the way it is presented in the SMH. I honestly doubt he has said anything of the sort: that would surely be bringing not only the game, but also the whole disciplinary procedure in which he is now embroiled, into disrepute. And if he had said it, you can be sure that the SMH or one of the sources cited would have put it in quotation marks. To be honest, I would discount this one completely: nothing more than an attempt to sell a few more papers.

[Ernest]

I can shed some light on this - I did see Woolmer with my own eyes on Sky News this evening, and he said he saw no reason the one dayers should not go ahead but---- a lot delended on what happened over the ball tampering affair.

I have not used quote-marks because this is from memory, but I am at least 99% right in what I say, also I am not sure wheather is was BBC 24 or not, as I was going from news to news with the remote.

99% sure it was Sky News, but it does not matter anyway I heard him say it, also I watched a bit on the opposit channel.
In effect no matter what anyone says - it all appears to be up in the air at the moment.

[Mr Hutt]

As far as i have read.. and this is from memory also.. both woolmer and inzi have said that some of the guys in the team may have a problem playing if their captain is accused and punished for being a cheat which according to them he is not at all. In fact i did also read somewhere that inzi has said its being called a cheat that matters.. it does not matter whether i play or not in the ODI series, the team can go on playing without me.

[Haroon]

Both Avkar and Ernest have it right...Woolmer said that the ODI series should go on but if Inzi was found guilty on the ball tampering charge, they might not want to play - he also said that this was only coming from him and that he hasn't spoken to any of the players about this - just that given his understanding of the level of comraderie amongst the players and the "loyalty" towards the captain, the players may not want to play.


In my view it shouldn't happen that way but then nothing so far has happened the way I think it should

[cantplaycantalk]

Well you can bet that if Pakistan pull out of the tour or any players refuse to play as a result of Inzi being banned then they and Pakistan will be hit with an even bigger ban.

[DomainK]

This thing is taking a nasty turn. If this statement had to come, it should have come from the PCB and not from Inzamam or Woolmer. Now this is getting more og an ego issue on at both ends.

[Occasional Fan]

I heard the comment from Woolmer on the radio yesterday and was disappointed at it: if he hasn't consulted, it seems foolish to make a statement like this which just raises the temperature. As to Inzi's comments, my point above was not about your lack of quotation marks, Ern, but about their absence from the SMH report. It looks to me as though someone is putting words into his mouth: if he'd said this, you can bet it would have been reported as a direct quotation.

[Collyisamackem]

It's a poor attitude to take and Pakistan are trying to hold the ICC to ransom. By prejudicing the hearing they are doing themselves or the ICC no good, and I thought a man like Bob Woolmer would have been more sensible in his comments to date, as well as monitoring those of his team. He must also realise that English fans, Pakistan fans based in England, and the English game (financially) stand to lose out a great deal if this series is cancelled.