Pakistan’s beleaguered cricket team was hit by yet another allegation on their ill-fated England tour, this time with a newspaper here publishing photographs to claim that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar had tampered with the ball in the fifth and final ODI against England on Wednesday.
The Daily Mail published photographs of Akhtar allegedly “running his left thumb along the ball’s seam before dropping it on the ground and standing on it with his spiked right boot” in the 41st over of England’s innings before bowling to Paul Collingwood.
There was no reaction to the claim by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday.
The end of the Pakistan tour of England has put the focus back on the outcome of the Scotland Yard investigation into illegal spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test last month. Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt, fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer and bowler Wahab Riaz have been questioned by the Metropolitan Police in this connection.
The ICC has already suspended Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer pending an inquiry. The relationship between the two teams deteriorated sharply since the first spot-fixing allegations surfaced.