Kamran, Umar file formal appeal against PCB ban

Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and his younger brother Umar have become the first players to file a formal appeal against the ban and fine imposed on them last month by the Cricket Board (PCB).

Kamran was fined three million rupees and put on six months probation period while Umar was fined two million rupees after a PCB inquiry committee found the duo guilty of violating the code of conduct during Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia.

Sources close to Kamran said that he and his brother had submitted formal appeals with PCB.

"They have in their appeals asked the board to review the fines imposed on them. They claimed that they have played cricket cleanly and in true sporting spirit all their lives," a source informed.

"The two brothers have also rejected suggestions by PCB's inquiry committee that they indulged in indiscipline on the tour of Australia," the source added.

Apart from brother duo, the committee also recommended bans on former captains Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik and pacer Rana Naved. Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi was also fined three million rupees and kept on six months probation for his ball tampering episode in Australia.

Kamran and Umar were at the centre of a controversy in Australia after the second Test in Sydney in which Kamran dropped three catches and missed a run out chance.

After the match PCB urgently sent reserve glovesman Sarfaraz Ahmed with instructions to drop Kamran instantly.

Umar also claimed that he had a back injury but when the team management had MRI scans carried out it turned out he was fine, raising questions over whether he had faked the injury to pressurise the thintank not to drop his brother from the third Test against Australia in Hobart.