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Peshawar Zalmi will have no case to answer for alleged ball-tampering during their game against Quetta Gladiators, after the PCB confirmed that Quetta had failed to formally make a complaint. Quetta captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s claim they had reported what they perceived as ball-tampering by Peshawar has been refuted by the PCB, who in a press release stated Quetta had not filed the complaint through the “correctly stated procedure”.
Following the conclusion of the match between Quetta and Peshawar on Saturday, Sarfaraz said his side believed Peshawar had altered the condition of the ball, and they were taking the matter up with the match referee and the PCB. “As far as ball-tampering is concerned, we have followed the protocols of [the] PCB and submitted our report on the matter,” he said. Team manager Nabeel Hashmi, who was with Sarfaraz at the press conference, appeared to clarify the comment, suggesting a formal complaint had not been made.
The procedure to file a formal complaint was never followed though. Quetta wrote their complaint on the match evaluation form, which is not the platform to lodge formal complaints. Instead, the PCB pointed out, “all Reports must be completed on Form “Rep 1″ (or such other form as may be made available for such purpose by the PSL from time to time). All Reports must be signed and dated by the person lodging the Report.”
That needed to be done within 48 hours of the conclusion of the game, which Peshawar won by six wickets. With that time having now lapsed, the window of opportunity available to Quetta to make a complaint has closed.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed match referee Roshan Mahanama has not received an official complaint from Quetta Gladiators against Peshawar Zalmi for changing the condition of the ball…” the PCB media release said.
The PCB made clear they will not recognise Sarfaraz’s public comments as an official complaint, and were not happy with the manner in which Quetta had handled the matter.
“We are aware that a statement on changing the condition of the ball has been made without providing any concrete evidence or lodging a formal complaint through the correctly stated procedure,” Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, said.
“In this case, this should have been submitted to the match referee by 6pm on Monday, 24 February. Such irresponsible statements without formal follow-up will only effect the integrity of the event and cast doubts on international cricketers, and, as such, I request the players to use caution and show responsibility.”
A source at Quetta Gladiators told ESPNcricinfo that they had no intention to formally complain, insisting Sarfaraz’s comments had been misinterpreted. Quetta merely wanted to raise awareness of the issue, and to ask umpires to pay more attention to the ball’s condition, which would explain why they included their remarks on the umpire evaluation form instead of lodging a complaint to the match referee.
The PSL resumes in Multan on Wednesday, where Multan Sultans will take on Peshawar. Quetta next play in Rawalpindi against Islamabad United.