PAKISTAN: CRICKET - Shahid Hamid, the chairman of the tribunal investigating Pakistani fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, extends the hearing by four days

Shahid Hamid, the chairman of the tribunal investigating Pakistani fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, has extended the hearing by four days until Wednesday (November 1). Hamid has requested statements from Pakistan team coach Bob Woolmer, trainer Murray Stevenson and physiotherapist Darren Lifsun which he said would be dealt with on Wednesday, after which the findings should be finalised. The chairman told reporters: "Today was our second meeting. We have heard and recorded the statements of Professor Javed Akram. Professor Javed Akram is the professor of medicine in the King Edward Medical University. We have also recorded the statement of Doctor Syed Abbas Reza. Doctor Syed Abbas Reza is the endocrinologist in the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital. We are very grateful to both of them for the time that they have given us. Then we gave both the players the opportunity to ask questions of these two witnesses. After that we reviewed the evidence, both the statements that have been recorded by the witnesses and also the documentary evidence. And we have come to the tentative conclusion that, in the interest of justice, it is necessary that we should hear from the team coach Bob Woolmer, the team physiotherapist Darren Lifsun and the team trainer Murray Stevenson. As you know they are presently not in the country, they are perhaps arriving tonight or tomorrow. Some members have some other commitments. So, the next session of the commission will take place at 9:30 am on Wednesday the first of November over here." The bowlers appeared before the tribunal for the second successive day on Saturday (October 28) and were questioned by the members for more than two hours. The pair have already made their statements and have denied taking the banned steroid Nandrolone knowingly. The panel was formed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after Shoaib and Asif were recalled from the Champions Trophy in India on October 16 following positive tests for the banned steroid. The checks were conducted independently by the board before the tournament. The two players face a two-year ban under International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-doping regulations, but since they tested positive out of competition, the tribunal can reduce the length of the suspension.

ITN Source | October 29, 2006

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