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England's tour of Pak in doubt, says MacLaurin

Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has said that the English team's first tour of Pakistan in 13 years could be in danger because of the match-fixing scandal

MacLaurin said it will be sad if England did not go to Pakistan, but it is clear the tour is in doubt, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

"Unless the ICC impose more serious punishments on the Pakistan players implicated in the Qayyum Report....England will not go ahead with the tour," the Daily Telegraph said after interviewing MacLaurin.

MacLaurin vowed to call for tough steps against players indicted by the Qayyum Commission in Pakistan at the International Cricket Council meeting now under way in Paris.

"This is no time for pussyfooting or sweeping things under the carpet," MacLaurin told the newspaper.

"If people have been found guilty then there is no place for them within the game, whether they are players or administrators."

The newspaper said that contrary to suggestions that have come out of Pakistan that the Qayyum Report is now a thing of the past.

The ECB chairman has been pushing for stronger punishments against the Pakistan players since the Qayyum Report appeared and says that the ICC can order such action.

"If the ICC feel the home board has not taken a strong enough view then they can ask them to think again," MacLaurin said.

MacLaurin wants Pakistan to drop captain Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed who came under fire for not testifying before the commission.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions here because players and administrators refused to give evidence. You can't refuse to give evidence in a case like this," MacLaurin said.

"I hope we can do what is right for the game. This is the most important meeting the ICC has ever had and I trust that people will not take up entrenched positions," he said. "If we fail, we will fail the game."

The ECB is going to push for the ICC to punish all offenders. The Corruption Commission, established by the ICC at an extraordinary ICC meeting in May, has the power to impose a full range of sanctions including slapping life bans on players found guilty of various wrongdoings after July 1, 1993.

Outgoing ICC presideint Jagmohan Dalmiya has said all member countries are "totally committed to eliminating everybody within cricket who is guilty of corrupt behavior".

ICC authorities are to hold a news conference at Lord's on Monday when they wind up their formal business.