PCB to launch match-fixing inquiry

A British judge Thursday sentenced former captain Salman Butt to 30 months, fast bowler Mohammad Asif one year and Mohammad Aamer to six months for their roles in fixing last years Test against England. Their agent Mazhar Majeed received a 32-month jail term.Experts, former cricketers and the mentor of rising teenage star Aamer had blamed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and team management on the England tour for the fiasco, and the new PCB chairman said an inquiry would be launched.The case was disappointing and we will launch our own inquiry, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf told reporters in Lahore.It will aim to discover the circumstances and negligence that led to the scandal which badly hurt the image of Pakistan cricket, he said.Aamers mentor Asif Bajwa said team management on the England tour were to blame for not taking care of the players and should be questioned.Ashraf, who took over last month, said there was a need to know exactly what happened.When the controversy happened, we had our anti-corruption officer present with the team and we want to know how this thing happened, he said.Ashraf said the PCB would seek to have match-fixing criminalised.PCB would also be asking the government to legislate a parliamentary law that makes fixing or corruption in cricket a criminal offence, so that such a thing never happens again, he said, vowing zero tolerance for corruption.PCB will never support players who are found involved in corruption or fixing, he said.We want to assure the ICC that we will cooperate in any investigation initiated by them, said Ashraf, when asked about future investigations.Media reports suggested the International Cricket Councils anti-corruption unit is due to launch a further investigation against former wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and paceman Wahab Riaz whose names were mentioned during the London trial.Pakistans government has also sought independent reports from the PCB and its high commission (embassy) in London over the scandal.