No-show by Wasim Akram at inquiry

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram failed to appear at the Lahore high court on Saturday for a judicial inquiry investigating alleged match-fixing by Pakistan cricketers at the 1999 World Cup.

"Wasim and a Karachi-based journalist were to appear before the commission on Saturday and record their statements and also to be examined, but they didn't show up," Kazim Ali Malik, registrar of the inquiry commission, said from Lahore.

The inquiry, ordered by the Pakistan government to investigate allegations that two matches at the 1999 World Cup in Britain involving Pakistan were fixed, has scheduled its next hearing for December 1.

Pakistan lost both World Cup matches to Bangladesh and India.

"We will issue fresh summons to Wasim and the journalist for the December 1st hearing. Even if for some reason they could not appear before the commission, they should have informed us in advance about this situation," Malik said.

Malik said the commission had also not received any response from former South African cricket head Bacher, who is the executive director for the 2003 World Cup.

"We have sent a letter to Dr Bacher asking him to come and share with the commission any information he has on the suspicions he has raised on the World Cup matches," Malik said.

Bacher said last year that Majid Khan, former chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, had told him of his suspicions of the results.

"The commission has a specific time period to complete its inquiry and we can't afford such delays. As far as Mr Bacher is concerned, the commission will decide on its next step soon," said Malik.

Wasim Akram made an appearance before the commission last month before the Pakistan team left for Sharjah.

But Akram was unable to record a statement as team mates Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan took nearly three hours to record their own.

Mail Cricket Editor