Iqbal calls on PCB to question ICC on Doctrove's appointment

Lahore, Jan 16 (UNI) Former captain Asif Iqbal feels Pakistan were at the receiving end of some poor umpiring by Billy Doctrove during the just concluded Centurion Test against South Africa and has urged the PCB to question the ICC on the Dominican official's appointment for the series.

Questioning Billy Doctrove's inclusion in the Elite Panel of Umpires, Iqbal said Inzamam-ul Haq's men were the most affected of the two sides by Doctrove's umpiring errors.

He said the reason behind Danish Kaneria going wicket-less in the second innings was largely due to the 'negative umpiring' by Doctrove.

''...some of it surely was down to just poor luck. But I do think that some of it was also due to very negative umpiring which, not for the first time, hit Pakistan the harder of the two,'' Iqbal wrote in his column for 'The News'.

''I would be less than honest if I were to say that asking Billy Doctrove to officiate in this Test was a good move. His inclusion in the elite panel itself is a bit of a mystery,'' he added.

Iqbal said the umpire should have been kept away from games involving Pakistan after the Oval fiasco.

''...his appointment in this game, which is the first Test against Pakistan in which he could have been appointed following the Oval fiasco in which he played the role of sidekick to arch villain Darrell Hair, is completely mystifying,'' Iqbal said.

''There were number of alternatives available and why the ICC did not choose to take any of them is something they need to answer.

...suffice it to say here that this appointment was not amusing and the PCB would be failing in its job if it did not make this clear to the ICC,'' he explained as he urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to take the matter to the ICC.

UNI