Pakistan Not Nervous

PAKISTAN NEWS

E-mail this Article

Print this Article

Subscribe to RSS Feed

Mir - players spokesman.

By PA Sport staff

Pakistan's players have no reasons to fear a return home, according to team spokesman Pervez Mir.

The squad finally left their Heathrow hotel, which has been their base for the last couple of days since their return from the World Cup in the Caribbean, to make the journey back to Pakistan.

Since their surprise exit from the tournament and the even more shocking murder of coach Bob Woolmer in his Jamaican hotel room, emotions have been running high in Pakistan.

However, Mir said the players had nothing to fear when they touch down in their homeland.

"Pakistan are a very proud nation, they respect their players but tempers do sometimes flare," he said.

"People are disappointed and there are always certain people who are a bit over the top but I'm sure the PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board] have made all the necessary arrangements for the players and there is no reason for concern, especially when you go back to your own country.

"When you go home, you are never nervous but, of course, there is that disappointment. But let's look forward to the future and future victory. I've always said we don't have a copyright on winning games."

Mir also dismissed suggestions any Pakistan players were suspects in the Woolmer murder inquiry.

"I would say that the Pakistani team was never a suspect. We had nothing to do with it," he added.

"We were part of the same inquiry as everybody else so of course we were questioned."

He said it was "absolutely absurd" to say Woolmer had argued with members of the team, including captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, before his death.

"There were a lot of rumours that I had rowed with Inzamam and that was a joke," Mir added.

"But at least I was here, thank God, to answer those questions. Mr Woolmer is not here,.

"He was a very good man, a good coach and a father figure. Let's remember him for all those things rather than tarnish his memory."

(reopens) There has been speculation that Woolmer's murder may have been connected to match-fixing.

Former PCB chairman Shahryar Khan is convinced this is not the case after repeatedly warning the players about it during his tenure.

Khan stepped down in the furore following Pakistan's forfeited Test against England last year.

Khan told Sky Sports News: "I myself am convinced there was no match-fixing connected to this because I know from my experience that the ACU [the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit] has got a grip on the business.

"I warned the players repeatedly in team meetings that they had to stay away not only because they risked a life ban but a criminal investigation in Pakistan.

"I am very certain they would have stayed away from this heinous business. I was convinced from the beginning against the speculation that there might be some kind of match-fixing link with the Pakistan team.

"Bob would have told me had he had any fears. He used to come and speak to me about a number of issues but he never mentioned that there was a whiff of a match-fixing scandal."

Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner of the Jamaican police heading the investigation into Woolmer's death, this afternoon said he had no fresh developments to report.

Shields, speaking to the media, said: "There are no significant developments as I speak.

"The painstaking work in terms of going through the CCTV footage and other hotel records continues, so until such time as we've got that done there really is nothing else at the moment I can add.

"There is no toxicology report as yet, no clear suspects - although everybody is being considered, nobody is being ruled out at this stage.

"What I need to do is identify everybody in the hotel from Friday through to Sunday when Bob's body was found in an effort to establish everybody's movements during that period of time, not just as suspects but it's really about potential witnesses."

The police investigations will also include speaking to the Ireland and West Indies teams, who were also staying at the hotel.

The investigation may advance when police receive the toxicology report, which will indicate whether Woolmer was drugged, but Shields insists the scientists will not be rushed.

He added: "It is a full range of toxicology reports. I spoke to the leader at the forensic laboratory this morning and she has assured me they will work as quickly as they can but even if I ask her, 'how long is it going to take?' she is not answering that question. She says when it is ready."