DUBAI, (Reuters) – Pakistan cricket team manager Naveed Akram Cheema said he was “absolutely clear and confident” there would be no repeat of the spot-fixing controversy when his team play England in the United Arab Emirates over the next two months.
The 2010 series between the two sides in England became completely overshadowed by allegations against captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
The trio was accused and subsequently convicted in a court in London in November 2011 of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
“The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) has introduced a code of conduct and an anti-corruption code and all these guys (the players) have been told,” Cheema told reporters yesterday.
“We are following those codes in letter and spirit so with those rules and regulations in place, I think the chances (of corruption) will be no more there. I’m absolutely clear and confident.”
Butt, Asif and Amir are all serving custodial sentences in Britain.
Pakistan and England play three tests, four one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with the first test from Jan. 17.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who was recalled to lead the side after missing the 2010 series, said his team’s focus was to try and beat the top-ranked test team.
“Whenever you play against the top team in the world it is a challenge to you and also an opportunity to prove yourself as a player,” he said.
“What happened in the past is not our area of concern. Everybody knows, both teams know, we have to forget the past.
“Our area of concern is to play good cricket, fair cricket and that is what we can do. We are doing that for the last year-and-a-half, our performances show that.
“The way we have behaved on the ground and conducted ourselves, that is the true example we are setting and we are proving we are doing it in a good way.”
Pakistan have not played international cricket at home since March 2009 because of the security situation in the country.
“We really want to play in Pakistan and we miss it but at the moment we cannot help it, we are playing most cricket here (in the UAE) so we have to adjust accordingly.
“It is like a home as we have played a lot of cricket here and one thing that is important is that the team has really performed well.
“That is the key for us as it is boosting confidence and that will play a key role in our performance against England.”
Misbah said spinner Saeed Ajmal, who took 18 wickets in three recent tests against Sri Lanka in the UAE, had developed a new delivery.
“He has been practising it for the past two to three months and now he is bowling it very well so let us see how the England batsmen tackle that,” he said.
