The relationship between the Pakistani and English cricket teams is close to breaking point over the match and spot-fixing allegations that have dogged the Test and one-day series.
England batsman Jonathan Trott and Pakistan bowler Wahab Riaz were involved in an altercation at the nets before start of the fourth ODI at Lord’s on Monday afternoon. Both England captain Andrew Strauss and Pakistan coach Waqar You-nis tried to dismiss it as an “isolated incident” during the post-match press meet.
Both Strauss and Younis, who attended the press conference instead of captain Shahid Afridi, claimed to have no knowledge about the reason for the altercation between Trott and Wahab Riaz, who is one of the four Pakistani cricketers questioned by the police.
Pakistan coach Yawar Saeed, who denied he had resigned, said there had been an altercation between the two players on the field. “Yes there were some words exchanged after a misunderstanding over use of nets, but the players moved away after the intervention of the umpires,” Saeed said. “It wasn’t an ideal start to the day, but it has been dealt with,” said Strauss, looking very stressed.