Ashraf's Former Cronies Say Goodbye

Ahsraf - unemployed.

Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Nasim Ashraf was given a fitting farewell by his erstwhile associates at the board's headquarters in Lahore on Friday.

Ashraf told the News: "I have a genuine love for cricket and tried my best to take Pakistan cricket where it truly belongs. I may have committed some mistakes during my tenure but my intentions were to promote Pakistan cricket.

"I'm leaving the PCB and Pakistan cricket in a good shape and I pray that things get even better in the future."

This, after he stepped down on Monday following the resignation of the country's President, Pervez Musharraf.

Ashraf has been working tirelessly to ensure next month's ICC Champions Trophy goes ahead amid security concerns, but insists his decision will not hamper the running of the event.

"The tournament will go on because the board is an institution and it will continue working. I will continue performing my duties until the resignation is accepted," he said.

With the President directly appointing the PCB chairman, Ashraf felt he was left with no alternative but to resign.

"I have sent my resignation to the president's secretariat and told them I can't continue performing my duties. After the president resigned I didn't think it would be ethically right to continue."