Ex-PCB officials fear Mushtaq Ahmed double standard re-appointment ominous for Pak cricket

Karachi: The decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to hire former Pakistani bowler and sacked England spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed for a similar position in the national team reeks of double standards and is `ominous' for Pakistani cricket, according to former PCB officials.

This is because the leg-spinner, who was first appointed bowling coach in 2005, has a chequered record in his earlier stints with national team, with England also being warned by the ICC against employing him because of his involvement in the corruption scandal during his playing days.

According to The Dawn, with the elevation of Peter Moores as Andy Flower's replacement, the England think-tank has relieved Mushtaq, a decision which is yet to be officially intimated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Sources, including former PCB officials, have expressed uneasiness over Mushtaq's reattachment with Pakistan cricket, with an ex-officials saying that the PCB is not in a mood to learn from past mistakes as it is obliging former players who had tarnished Pakistan's image.

The official also said that the signs are ominous that Pakistan cricket is heading nowhere, adding that the board has double standards as even though they banned Danish Kaneria on an English court decision but are unwilling to take action on the findings of a Pakistani court.