ICC jumps on PCB over breach of protocol following the use of a mobile phone to record the meeting with Pycroft.
ICC says PCB breached protocol, objects to apology video.
The PCB’s videotaping of the discussion between match referee Andy Pycroft and the Pakistani team management prior to their Asia Cup match against the United Arab Emirates on September 17 in Dubai has drawn criticism from the ICC.
According to PTI, ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta told the PCB in a strongly worded email written on Thursday that using a cell phone to record the talk was against policy in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA), where the meeting was held. In addition to Pycroft, team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, media manager Naeem Gillani, head coach Mike Hesson, and Pakistan captain Salman Agha were present at the meeting. Wasim Khan, the cricket general manager for the ICC, was also in attendance.
Gillani was informed that cell phones were prohibited within the PMOA according to the anti-corruption code when he tried to record the meeting. However, Pakistan will not play the match against the UAE if the PCB did not insist on filming the meeting. Gillani was permitted to record the meeting without audio when a compromise was struck.
The PCB had committed “multiple violations” of the PMOA policy, according to Gupta, who denounced the action as misconduct. Pycroft informed the Pakistani administration during the meeting that he was not the one who issued the direction, but only the one who conveyed it: India captain Suryakumar Yadav would not shake hands with Agha.
Shortly after the meeting, the PCB released a statement asserting that Pycroft had “apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team” despite his “regret over the miscommunication and misunderstanding” surrounding the matter.
This version was rejected by the ICC, and Gupta reaffirmed Pycroft’s apology for the misunderstanding in his email to the PCB.
Pycroft was accused by the PCB of breaking the MCC’s spirit of cricket and the code of conduct by instructing Agha not to shake hands with Suryakumar. Pycroft only got this directive from the venue management in Dubai just minutes before the toss. After conducting an investigation of the incident, the ICC declared that Pycroft’s handling of the matter was acceptable.