Sept 28: The first Test between Australia and Pakistan starting Thursday may be disrupted over a legal tangle caused by match-fixing allegations, as Australian cricketers have been asked to testify before a judicial inquiry on the same dates as the Test in Rawalpindi.Captain Mark Taylor and batsman Mark Waugh have been ordered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Khalid Mehmood, to appear at a judicial inquiry into bribery allegations against senior Pakistani players.The inquiry will be held in Lahore, about 300 kilometres from Rawalpindi, where Taylor and Waugh are scheduled to appear on Saturday, the third day of the Test. This means that Mehmood's summons, if enforced, could result in Australia losing two of their key players for an entire day's play, putting them at a distinct disadvantage in the opening Test.Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chairman Malcolm Speed spoke to the Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive, Majid Khan, while the Australians were wrapping up Monday's match inKarachi. However, no headway was made during the discussions, the ACB media manager, Patrick Keane, later said.Keane said that Australia was still waiting for a response from the PCB. ``We are still waiting for a reply,'' said Keane.Khalid Mehmood, however, said that there was nothing to discuss. ``If they contact us, we will re-confirm that some of their players are required by the commission to give evidence,'' he told reporters, adding ``after all, they were the first ones to level accusations against a Pakistani player, and that too against a player who was a captain of the team.''PCB lawyer Ali Sibtain Fazli has declared that Waugh, who with Tim May and Shane Warne, accused Salim Malik of attempted bribery on Australia's previous tour of 1994, will be called to give evidence at the commission on Saturday. Of the three players, only Waugh is on this tour of Pakistan. Taylor may be called to give evidence based on the assertion that he was the first to know of the allegations in 1994 on his firsttour as skipper.The confusion may be further mounted by the fact that the Australian team understands that their players have diplomatic immunity while in Pakistan, meaning the commission has no power to force them to appear. This information was given by the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra, when contacted by reporters, said the Australian media manager.For his part, Waugh says that he is willing to appear before the inquiry if cleared by his team management and the ACB. ``I'd rather say that all this didn't happen. But it has, so whatever got's to be done, got to be done," he said.After the win of their four day match in Karachi, Mark Taylor joined Waugh in saying that he would also appear before the commission if required. ``I've got nothing to hide but I don't want to inflame things and let them spill over onto the field,'' he said.
