Shoaib appeal adjourned again

Shoaib Akhtar has had his appeal against an 18-month suspension adjourned six times

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Shoaib Akhtar’s protracted bid to overturn his 18-month ban has been delayed further after the Lahore Court adjourned the hearing until November 17.

It is the sixth time the appeal has been adjourned since the Lahore High Court suspended the ban, pending this full and final judgement, on July 4.

The pace bowler, 33, was handed a career-threatening five-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board in April after he publicly criticised their allocation of central contracts. Shoaib’s own contract had been downgraded at the time.

That ban was reduced to 18 months with the addition of a seven million rupees fine (US$84,745), payable to the PCB by an appellate tribunal, in June.

Shoaib, however, appealed against that decision by taking his case to the Lahore High Court, believing that an 18-month ban would still effectively end his playing career.

The Lahore High Court suspended Shoaib’s ban in July, pending the final judgement, which paved the way for his selection to Pakistan’s 15-man Champions Trophy squad.

That created further issue with the PCB, who argued that Shoaib must pay his fine in order to play.

The Champions Trophy was subsequently postponed until next year due to security fears in Pakistan. However, the problem resurfaced again earlier this month when Shoaib was selected for, and played, in the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament in Toronto despite not paying the fine. It was his first appearance in a Pakistan shirt this year.

Justice Syed Zahid Hussain today heard arguments from PCB counsel Tafazzul Rizvi and Akhtar’s lawyer Abid Hasan Minto.

He will hear the basic case of Shoaib’s ban and the fine on November 17, with the PCB seeking clarification on whether he can continue to play without paying the fine.

Shoaib’s situation is further complicated by the fact he was on a two-year probation with the PCB for hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif in a dressing room altercation just before last year’s World Twenty20 in South Africa.