Pak court summons top players

A Pakistani court on Tuesday summoned seven top cricket players including former captain Wasim Akram to answer a petition seeking their suspension on match-fixing The Sindh high court ordered Akram, Waqar Younis, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmed and Ataur Rehman to appear before a two-judge bench on December 12.

Lawyer Abdul Qadir Mandokhail in his petition demanded the suspension of the players from the national team after they were penalised in Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's report into match-fixing released in May.

He claimed that since the players were found guilty they should be barred from representing Pakistan.

Malik and Rehman have been banned from the game for life while the other five were fined and censured in the report.

Akram, Younis, Anwar, Ahmed and Inzamam are in the current Pakistani squad facing England in a Test series.

Mandokhail's petition was rejected by Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed in September on the grounds that since the players live outside Sindh the case did not fall in the provincial court's jurisdiction.

The judge also fined Mandokhail 10,000 rupees (185 dollars) for seeking publicity.

Mandokhail's review petition was accepted by the provincial high court earlier this month.

Mail Cricket Editor