ICC stands firm, appoints Pycroft again for India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4s clash despite PCB protests

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has once again appointed Elite Panel Match Referee Andy Pycroft for the high-voltage India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4s match on Sunday, despite the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) repeated requests to strike him off the roster.

“Andy Pycroft is the match referee for the Indo-Pak game,” a tournament source told PTI.

The list of match officials for Sunday’s game has not yet been made public. The other match referee in the tournament is former West Indies captain Richie Richardson.

Pycroft was the match referee last Sunday when the Indian team, as a policy decision, allegedly did not shake hands with the Pakistan team. The Zimbabwean official subsequently found himself at the centre of the controversy after India skipper Suryakumar Yadav allegedly did not follow the convention at the toss.

The Pakistan team had written two mails to the ICC, first requesting Pycroft’s removal from the tournament and then asking the global body to remove him from their matches. Both requests were outrightly rejected by the ICC, which stood firmly behind its Elite Panel referee.

The ICC rejected the PCB’s claims that Pycroft violated the ‘Spirit of the Game’ code, insisting he was merely a messenger who passed on what was conveyed to him by the designated Venue Manager of the Asian Cricket Council. According to ICC officials, Pycroft could only pass on the message as there were only a few minutes left for the match to begin.

The ICC later arranged a meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team management — comprising captain Salman, head coach Mike Hesson and manager Naveed Akram Cheema — where he said that he “regretted the miscommunication.”

The ICC, in another e-mail, pointed out that Pycroft never apologised but only “regretted the miscommunication” and also accused the PCB of violating protocols related to the ‘Players and Match Officials Area’ (PMOA), which the latter denied.

In this backdrop, appointing Pycroft for another Indo-Pak match is a clear indication that the global body does not want to budge from its stand, as removing the former Zimbabwe Test batter would have allegedly set a wrong precedent.

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