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Akram lands in Lahore -- for keeps?

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram lands in Lahore this evening. Indications are that he will not be allowed to leave Pakistan till the ongoing allegations against him are sorted out, one way or the other.

Akram arrives to pursue the possibility of taking legal action consequent to his being named as one of the guilty parties in cases of bribery and match-fixing.

Meanwhile, Mujeebur Rehman, chairman of the ad hoc committee running Pakistan cricket following the suspension of the PCB, warned Moin Khan, Inzamam ul Haq, Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmed that any deviation from the straight and narrow path, in future, will result in the immediate termination of their careers.

Mujeebur Rehman held lengthy, one on one sessions on Sunday and Monday with 11 members of the World Cup squad, speaking to each player in the presence of an official attached to the Ehteshab Bureau, which last week had indicted 8 players for involvement in bribery and match-fixing.

Saqlain Mushtaq and Wasim Akram did not turn up. Another conspicous no show was Ijaz Ahmed, listed in the books as 'whereabouts not known'.

Ijaz, like Akram and Saleem Malik, have been chargesheeted by the Ehtesaab Bureau, acting on the basis of the interim report of the Justice Ejaz Yousaf probe committee submitted last year, in cases of match fixing and bribery. The bureau has recommended that the trio not be considered for selection till the charges against them are either proved, or cleared.

The committee also named Moin, Inzamam, Waqar, Mushtaq and Saqlain Mushtaq as having been "beneficiaries" of the match-fixing racket, but indicated that these players had no direct involvement. This led to Rehman reading them the riot act on Monday, telling four of the five (Saqlain is in England, playing the county circuit) that their careers would be over if ever it was found out they had taken part in such activities in future.

Further, the Ehtesaab Bureau, which had in the aftermath of the World Cup filed allegations that several Pakistan players had on the eve of the final frequented gambling dens and nightclubs, has through Rehman served notice on all players that they will, henceforth, have to adhere to a strict code of conduct, failure to do so being punishable by instant expulsion from the playing ranks.

Rehman is understood to have told the nervous, ill at ease players that henceforth, while good behaviour and good performance would be rewarded, the opposite would invite immediate punitive action.

The chairman of the ad hoc committee also scotched rumours that ten or more players of the current squad were contemplating resigning in protest against the action taken against Akram, Ijaz and Salim Malik.