Deposed PCB boss Sethi apologizes to ECB chief Clarke over wrong remarks

Karachi: Discarded PCB chairman Najam Sethi has apparently sent an apology to England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke for attributing incorrect remarks to him.

According to the "Express Tribune" newspaper, Sethi sent an e-mail apologising to Clarke.

Sethi had said on his talk show on Geo news Channel that Clarke had told him during the ICC meeting held on January 9 in Dubai that if the draft proposals prepared by India, England and Australia were not accepted, they would quit the game's administrative body.

According to Sethi, Clarke had said that since the three boards contributed more revenue to the ICC, they have a right to aspire for a 'veto power' in the Council.

Sethi had then asked Clarke what if other cricketing nations did not accept the "undemocratic system"?

"We will quit the ICC," Sethi quoted Clarke as telling him in response. The report said that the ECB had sent a strong protest to the Pakistan board after Sethi's remarks appeared in the British media.

Taking notice of the ECB protest, the ICC issued a statement in which it rebutted Sethi's remarks about the Jan 9 meeting. When approached, the ECB director communication, Colin Gibson, confirmed the email exchanges between Sethi and Clarke but refused to reveal the content of the "private correspondence".

Asked if Sethi has apologised to Clarke, Gibson said,"We do not deny it".

Even when Ijaz Butt was Chairman of the board he had been forced to apologise to the ECB in 2011 after making some remarks about spot fixing being rampant in the England team. Butt apologized after the ECB threatened to seek damages from him.