Friday, September 8 2006 14:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Karachi: Pakistan cricket authorities Thursday (8 Sep, 2006) say they will not hesitate to seek support from other countries like India and West Indies to back their case if the ball tampering issue is given a political twist.

"We don't want to make it a political issue. We feel it should be decided as purely a cricket matter. But if it is made political then obviously we could seek the support of other countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies to back our case," PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan says.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is due to appear at a disciplinary hearing of the International Cricket Council on September 27 and 28 in London and can be banned for a minimum of four test matches or eight one-dayers if found guilty of violating the code of conduct.

He is charged with bringing the game into disrepute and tampering with the ball during the fourth Test against England at the Oval, which was deemed to be forfeited by Pakistan by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove.

Shaharyar says he had already received calls of support from the Asian bloc but had held no further talks with them after that.

However, he admits that the issue of Hair being appointed for the Champions Trophy is being discussed among ICC members in the wake of Oval Test.