ISLAMABAD — Opening batsman Nasir Jamshed became the third player to be suspended by the Pakistan cricket Board on Monday in its investigation into corruption in the Pakistan Super League.
Jamshed is not part of any of the five franchises in the PSL, and the board didn’t clarify his involvement in the scandal.
Jamshed was suspended for violating the board’s anti-corruption code, it said in a brief statement. He has represented Pakistan in two Tests, 48 one-day internationals, and 18 Twenty20s. But the left-hander has not played an international since the 2015 cricket World Cup.
Last week, Islamabad United’s Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan were suspended by the PCB for breaching the anti-corruption code and returned home from the United Arab Emirates, where the league is being played.
Sharjeel and Latif will face a hearing soon, PCB chairman Shahryar Khan said on Monday. Shaharyar said another Islamabad United player, Mohammad Irfan, was also being investigated, and he will be served with a notice “in a day or two.”
The PCB has also questioned Zulfiqar Babar of Quetta Gladiators and Shazaib Hassan of Karachi Kings.
However, Irfan, Babar, and Hassan are free to compete in the meantime.
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British police arrest 2 men in cricket spot-fixing case
British police said in London that two men have been arrested in connection with bribery offenses linked to spot-fixing in international cricket. The National Crime Agency said it is working on the investigation with the anti-corruption units at the Pakistan cricket Board and International cricket Council. The two men, who are both in their thirties, were arrested on Monday and have been released on police bail until April.
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England’s Willey out of West Indies tour
England all-rounder David Willey has been ruled out of the forthcoming one-day tour of the West Indies following surgery on a shoulder injury, it was announced Tuesday. The 26-year-old could only manage two overs during England’s one-day international win over India in Kolkata last month before a problem with his left shoulder saw him leave the field and forced him out of the subsequent Twenty20 series.
A left-arm fast-medium bowler and hard-hitting batsman, Willey — the son of former England batsman and international umpire Peter Willey — has appeared in 25 ODIs and 12 Twenty20 internationals. His place in England’s 14-man squad for next month’s three ODIs in the Caribbean has been taken by Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn.
Willey is now set to be sidelined until the start if the English domestic season in April, with an England and Wales cricket Board (ECB) statement issued Tuesday saying: “The Yorkshire all-rounder had surgery on his left shoulder on Friday to further assess the injury he sustained whilst bowling in the third ODI against India last month.” Finn, who last played international white-ball cricket back in September 2015, will now curtail his involvement in the Pakistan Super League to join the England squad.
England, who will be captained by Eoin Morgan, a longstanding team-mate of Finn at Middlesex, are due to fly to the Caribbean a week on Wednesday, with star batsman Joe Root appointed Test skipper since the squad was first announced.
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Australia’s Voges ends Test career
Australia’s Adam Voges has retired from international cricket, signing off with a Test batting average second only to the great Don Bradman.
Voges became the oldest player to score a century on his Test debut when he made an unbeaten 130 against West Indies two years ago, aged 35. The right-handed batsman scored 1,485 runs at an average of 61.87, ranking him second on the all time list behind Bradman’s incredible 99.94.
Voges lost his place in the Test team after the second of two defeats to South Africa in November and was treated for concussion after being hit by a bouncer when batting for Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match the same month.
Voges, 37, will lead the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring Sri Lankan team in Canberra on Wednesday and has said it will be his last match against an international side. “This will be it for me,” Voges told reporters in Sydney.
“I’m certainly looking forward to getting out there and playing this game. I’ve had an amazing couple of years with Australia with the Test team and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
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S. Africa ODI moved after Napier washout
New Zealand cricket (NZC) on Tuesday shifted next month’s fourth one-dayer between the Black Caps and South Africa to Hamilton due to inadequate drainage at the original venue in Napier. An ODI between Australia and New Zealand at McLean Park was abandoned because of a sodden outfield this month and NZC said the risk of another washout was too great.
As a result the fourth ODI between New Zealand and the Proteas on Wednesday, March 1, would now be played at Hamilton’s Seddon Park. The washout against Australia was the third time in four years that inclement weather forced a one-day international to be cancelled at McLean Park without a ball being bowled.
NZC said urgent remedial work was needed to prepare the ground for ODIs involving England and Pakistan next season. The Proteas arrived in New Zealand this week and play a one-off Twenty20 international against the Black Caps on Friday, followed by five ODIs and three Tests.
