Cricket: Neck injury given as reason for Wasim's omission

The mystery of the omission of the former captain Wasim Akram from the Pakistan tour to South Africa continued yesterday when the touring party touched down in Johannesburg at the start of their three-Test tour.

Haroon Rashid, the coach, claimed that Wasim had been left out because of a neck injury, an announcement which did not quite tally with previous assertions that the all-rounder was suffering from, variously, a shoulder injury and a troublesome hamstring.

Despite suggestions that Wasim had been in dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board after allegations of involvement in match-rigging, Haroon insisted he had been left out purely on medical grounds. "Wasim wasn't really considered because of an injury. He sustained a neck injury in Sharjah and that's why he's not here," he said.

On Sunday, Majid Khan, the chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told the Dawn newspaper that Wasim had not been considered because of a hamstring injury.

Despite the absence of Wasim, who led Pakistan to a historic 3-0 Test defeat of the West Indies last year, Haroon insisted the Pakistan bowling attack would not be lacking on their three-month tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.