Pakistan cricket probe commission seeks more time

The one-man judicial commission, set up in September, wanted the extension as players who have been ordered to declare their assets are too busy playing in the Test against Zimbabwe here to comply, they said.

The probe is being conducted by Lahore High Court Judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who was expected to wind up the inquiry on Saturday.

``Players are busy playing for the country, so they are finding it hard to submit the declarations,'' an official said.

The commission has asked 16 players to submit details of their assets, but only three have complied.

Testifying before the commission on Saturday, off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq denied involvement in the alleged match-fixing and betting scam as he submitted a list of his assets.

``I know nothing about match-fixing and have never received any offers,'' Saqlain told the commission in Lahore.

Pakistan's former coach Haroon Rasheed had alleged Saqlain threw a one-day match against India in September 1997 by conceding 17 runs to tailenders.

``This is incorrect and although I am considered an economical bowler in one-dayers, anything can happen in cricket,'' Saqlain said.

``The ball was wet and was changed on the demand of the Indian batsmen, so I couldn't grip it properly and that was the reason for our loss,'' he added.

Azhar Mahmood, playing in the Peshawar Test against Zimbabwe which had its second day Saturday, was among five people summoned on Friday to appear before the commission.

Apart from Saqlain only Ejaz Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed, both playing in the Zimbabwe Test, have declared their assets to the commission.

Paceman Waqar Younis has asked the cricket board for more time as he is too busy playing in the international match, officials said Friday.

The match-fixing and betting allegations have been haunting Pakistani cricket for nearly four years after Australians Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh accused Salim Malik of offering them bribes to perform poorly during the 1994-95 tour of Pakistan.