Pakistan board chief and selectors resign

Islamabad: Pakistan cricket chief Naseem Ashraf and the three-member selection committee resigned yesterday in the wake of their team's shock early exit from the World Cup.

"I have talked to Ashraf on telephone and he has confirmed that he has sent his resignation to the patron of the PCB," PCB communications director Ahsan Malek said.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is the patron of the PCB.

"Ashraf faxed his resignation last night and it's now up to the patron whether he accepts it or not," Malek said. Pakistan's cricket programme has been in crisis over the last three days since Ireland handed them a stunning three-wicket defeat in the Group D match on Saturday.

Host West Indies earlier beat Pakistan in the World Cup's opening game. With two successive defeats, Pakistan was ousted from the Super Eight stage of the tournament. Coach Bob Woolmer died less than 24 hours in the team's Jamaican hotel after the loss to Ireland and captain Inzamam announced his retirement from limited-overs games. "The fact of the matter is that Pakistan's cricket is at the crossroads," said chief selector Wasim Bari.

Former Test left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim and medium fast bowler Ehteshamuddin were the other members of the selection committee, who also tendered their resignations.

"We (the selectors) had decided soon after the debacle against Ireland that we are going to resign," Bari said.

"After talking with Ashraf last night, we had submitted our resignations to the PCB."

The selection committee faced heavy criticism from other former Pakistan Test players, especially for not choosing opening batsman Salman Butt and middle-order batsman Yasir Hameed.

"If we can't do well with experienced players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malek, then I don't know who else could have done wonders for us," Bari said.