No wrongdoing on part of match referee: ICCs stern message to PCB amid Asia Cup boycott drama

New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent a stern message to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that it cannot remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of officials for the ongoing Asia Cup 2025.

As per a report in Cricbuzz, ICC sent a categoric message to the PCB on Wednesday saying that there was no wrongdoing on the part of Pycroft and he cannot be removed from the Asia Cup. On what proved to be a dramatic Wednesday, Pakistan first announced of pulling out from their last league fixture against UAE and also the Asia Cup and then at the eleventh hour, announced that they would be participating the game.

The Group A league match between Pakistan and UAE was then delayed and now the game would start at 9 PM IST in spite of the usual start time of 8 PM IST. The report further mentions that ICC conducted its own inquiry with the conclusion that Pycroft had actually helped avoid an embarrassing situation for both the captains at the toss.

He was the one to advice both Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha to avoid handshakes at the toss on September 14, thereby breaking or violating no match protocols.  The global governing body at the same time also acknowledged that PCB was within its right to complain but after the required enquiry, no wrongdoing was found by the match referee.

It is worth noticing here that the appointment of match officials is a centralised ICC decision and it cannot be influenced by considerations of any member board. It is also been mentioned in the report that ICC was not willing to bend to the pressure tactics of the PCB which has been told that this would set a dangerous precedent for the future.

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who asked the players to stay at the hotel later instructed them to depart for the stadium and take part in the match.