KARACHI, Dec 18: Former Pakistan Test captain Rashid Latif, who blew the whistle on the match-fixing menace in international cricket, said that he now feels bad for the three suspended players — Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif because of delay in case.

The trio were suspended in early September by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on charges of alleged spot-fixing and face a full hearing next month in Doha that will decide their fates as cricketers.

“The ICC has delayed things and prolonged the issue causing lot of mental torture to these players and the Pakistani people. Perhaps they don't realise the sort of tension and pressure the players go through when confronted with such a situation,” Rashid said.

“I am really disappointed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also made no attempt to push the ICC to reach a decision on this case as soon as possible,” he added. “It is now nearly four months since these three were suspended and they still don't know what lies ahead for them. They still remain suspended without the ICC anti-corruption unit having proven any charges against them. That to me is unfair. Things like this should not take so long.”

“I know these are legal procedures and issues involved in this spot-fixing case but still four months is a long time and it is the careers of the players at stake as they remain suspended without any evidence against them so far,” the former captain said.

“If these players are guilty of spot-fixing and if the ICC's ACSU has enough evidence against them then why to delay it? Just punish them. But this delay to me indicates that perhaps the evidence is still being gathered and being scanned to ensure it stands up in legal terms.” —Agencies