Zia condemns Speed’s remarks

Aisamul Haq Qureshi has put his Wimbledon achievement celebrations on hold to focus on the Davis Cup clash with New Zealand.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Tauqir Zia applauded the unity of the Asian block in the International Cricket Council (ICC) and believed that this was the only reason Malcolm Speed lashed out at the members’ decision to reject the nomination of John Howard.

“This is a good sign that at least the Asian bloc is united,” Zia told The Express Tribune. “This is the only reason I see which roughed up Speed as, even during my tenure as the PCB chairman, his relationship with the board members was not pleasant, especially with the Asian bloc.”

Earlier, former ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed lashed out at the Asian member countries for their stance against Howard and questioned Butt’s ability as a chairman of the PCB.

The ICC Executive Board met to discuss the nomination of Howard for the role of ICC vice-president for the next two years. However, following a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that the nomination put forward by the Australia Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket did not have sufficient support since six out of ten members opposed the nomination. The Asian boards are believed to have played an important role in this decision.

Zia added that “Speed should abstain from such remarks [against the PCB chairman] and if he had a problem with the ICC’s decision to reject Howard’s nomination and wanted to register his protest, he should’ve written to the ICC or the Australian cricket board instead of mud-slinging and using derogatory remarks.

“In fact, he should accept the decision which followed a democratic process.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2010.