Retired judge to hear Pakistani appeals

Pakistan's cricket board has asked a retired judge to hear the appeals of players penalised for recent disastrous tours, and the process could begin next week, an official said Tuesday.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last month imposed bans and other hefty penalties on seven top players after on and off-the-field problems during tours of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Australia.

"Through a resolution of the governing board, retired justice Irfan Qadir has been appointed as independent arbitrator to deal with players? appeals," PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi told AFP.

"To avoid conflicting judgements, all the appeals will go to one arbitrator -- in this case Justice Qadir -- and he may initiate the process as early as next week."

Former captains Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were banned for an indefinite period for "infighting which let the team down."

Shoaib Malik and all-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were banned for one year and fined two million rupees each (24,000 dollars).

Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi was fined three million rupees for ball-tampering in a one-day match against Australia in February, while brothers Kamran and Umar Akmal were also heavily fined.

Yousuf resigned in protest, but the six other players have all appealed.

The PCB penalties came after an evaluation committee investigated the team's dismal performance on the tour of Australia December-February in which the side lost all three Tests, five one-days and a Twenty20 international.