Afridi escapes further PCB sanction

Shahid Afridi was banned for two matches by the ICC after apparently biting the ball

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt has resisted calls to take further action against all-rounder Shahid Afridi for ball tampering.

Afridi, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, was banned for two matches by the International Cricket Council after being caught biting the ball during the final one-day international against Australia in Perth last month.

Butt has come in for criticism following Pakistan’s defeats in the all the Tests, one-day and Twenty20 matches on their tour of Australia.

At a meeting of the senate standing committee on sports, senators demanded Butt take more action against Afridi.

“If Afridi bites the ball like an apple there are lots of problems behind it,” Senator Haroon Akhtar said.

“If you don’t take action this will happen again. The team lacks discipline and you (Butt) have to rectify the problem.”

Butt, however, is reported to have told the committee that ICC rules prevent him from imposing further sanctions against the all-rounder.

“The ICC has told us clearly that you cannot punish a player twice for one offence,” Butt said.

“Their lawyer has also suggested that if we handed more punishment to Afridi and he challenges it in court, the PCB would be in trouble.”