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KARACHI, May 2: The executive council of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) showed no mercy to idol Javed Miandad when it accepted his resignation unanimously in the two-day summit that concluded at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Nusrat Azeem, president of the Karachi City Cricket Association, who conducted a crowded press briefing, said Miandad's resignation was accepted in the larger interest of the team and country.

``I don't want to explain more than what I have already said. But you are free to interpret,'' Azeem, who is the senior most councillor, remarked.

When asked if his statement meant that Miandad would have spoilt the team, he kept mum. ``I have already said that it was a unanimous decision of the council.

``We didn't contact him (Javed Miandad) because what we have heard and read is enough,'' he said.

Azeem conducted the press conference after chairman PCB Khalid Mahmood skipped the briefing and left the National Stadium before it was to start though his flight for Islamabad was scheduled late in the evening. Chief executive Majid Khan didn't attend the second day's session because of food poisoning. On Saturday, he was instructed by the chairman to hold Sunday's briefing.

Azeem said the cricket board wanted Miandad to continue till the World Cup but he resigned. ``He himself says that because of family commitments he can't continue so what can we do?''

Javed Miandad, who had remained a silent spectator since submitting his resignation on April 21, added fuel to the controversy when he said from Lahore: ``I always knew that they would sack me. And that's why I resigned to avoid that humiliation.

``My point is vindicated today as they have accepted my resignation,'' he said, adding: ``The players were against me and some officials of the cricket board were patronizing them.

``If the players don't want me, how can I continue? My job is to get the best out of them and in the present scenario, that wouldn't happen. So I decided to quit and let the players play on their own so that no aspect is left unplugged which could be made an excuse if, god forbidden, the team falters.''

Miandad and some senior players got in a tangle during the Sharjah Champion's Trophy match against England which Pakistan lost by 62 runs. According to reports, Miandad had accused five players of deliberately playing cricket below their potential.

Azeem throughout the press briefing remained at the receiving end. At times, he had no answers to questions. In fact, the 105-minutes briefing remained tense with Azeem losing his temper in the first 20 minutes when pressed on a couple of issues.

While the Miandad issue was the hottest with his future as the topic of discussion from Karachi to Khyber, it was pretty low in cricket board's agenda.

To begin with, Azeem briefed the mediamen agenda wise and Miandad's resignation came at the fag end of the conference. Secondly, when Azeem was asked why the executive council's approval was not taken in Pybus's appointment, he replied that approval of only major and urgent issues is taken on telephone while matters that can wait, are discussed and approved in the council meeting.

At this stage, when a newsman pointed out that was Miandad's issue not a serious one, Azeem said: ``How could we have accepted or rejected his resignation on telephone. It had to be deliberated upon in the council meeting.''

In another amazing statement, Nusrat Azeem said England-born South African Richard Pybus would not be elevated as coach and he would continue as assistant coach. When asked whom he would assist, Azeem said: ``The skipper and manager.''

But Azeem said Wasim Akram would control the team in England as he would decide the team strategies and what team should be fielded. ``I think the manager can also be taken into consideration as he has a strong background.

``Pybus would do the job which was assigned to him prior to Miandad's resignation.''

To another question, Nusrat Azeem said the weekly stipend of Pybus has not been decided. Asked when it would be done, he said soon. But when the same question was put to Waqar Ahmad, secretary of the PCB who was also present, he replied that a contract had been signed.

``I negotiated with Pybus and I didn't inform the council because it was not on the agenda,'' he said. But he refused to give details saying the council will be informed later.

If Khalid Mahmood is to be believed, Pybus will be paid a hefty salary of 1,700 pounds a week which becomes 10,200 pounds for his six-week services during the World Cup.

Azeem said Sarfaraz Nawaz would not go to England. He also said his contract was unlikely to be renewed after it expires next month. Similar is likely to be the fate of junior team coach Mohsin Khan. Both the officials are drawing Rs 100,000 per month from the board.

The topic of Raja Khan also sparked a heated debate in the press briefing. Raja Khan is the liaison officer of the Pakistan team in England and secretary of the PCB, Waqar Ahmad, who was present, was full of praise for him.

But when he was informed that Raja Khan had spent three hours in a Lahore police station lock-up in 1996 on charges of carrying alcohol for a member of the then team, he was left confused. But he continued to maintain that his honesty, sincerity and dedication was undoubted.

Azeem and Waqar candidly denied that Raja Khan had been appointed because he was a close friend of skipper Wasim Akram. But both remained tight-lipped when informed that Raja Khan had flew to India in March to meet Akram and pursued him to have Pybus and himself with the team in England in which he succeeded.

The briefing had started with Azeem trying to give importance to accounts. But that subject also became controversial when he said the accounts till June 30, 1997 were approved but the board still had no information about the whereabouts of a file which contained documents relating to unsold tickets of the 1996 World Cup worth an estimated Rs 10 million.

Pakistan, in a joint venture with India and Sri Lanka, had hosted the championship.

The file mysteriously went missing from board offices and Azeem said investigations were still on to recover that file. ``The setup has changed so it has become very difficult to recover those missing documents.''

Asked then how the accounts were approved, he said: ``The accounts were approved with qualification. We approved whatever details were available. But I cannot promise when the complete accounts will be available though we are trying.''

He said suggestions have been sought from the Domestic Tournament Monitoring Committee (DTMC) how the restructuring and improvement can be made in the first-class tournament. To construct academies at Karachi and Lahore, suggestions have been sought while the secretariat has been assigned to draft a proposal to create a welfare trust for the former Test cricketers who require financial assistance.

Azeem said it was after a long time that the executive council was calling the shots in cricket affairs. ``In the previous setups, the council used to play in the hands of the officials. Most of the decisions were implement without the approval of the council.''

Azeem said the council has approved the names of the match referees and umpires. But stated that the names would be sent to the International Cricket Council (ICC) who will officially announce them. But he confirmed that the two match referees and umpires have been replaced.

According to another source, Intikhab Alam and Col.Naushad Ali will replace Javed Burki and Talat Ali while Riazuddin and Athar Zaidi will take over from Javed Akhtar and Salim Badar.

Azeem said the PCB has received two invitation from the organizers of the World Cup. He said the council would decide who would go. But it seems that nothing is left for council to decide as the PCB has already confirmed the names of Asif Shah (Peshawar) and Justice Ijaz Yousuf (Quetta).