20 May,2009 03:52 PM IST | | AFP
A former first-class cricketer died during a veterans Twenty20 match in Pakistan, leaving organisers contemplating a ban on players with a history of cardiac problems, officials said Wednesday.
Javed Sheikh, 53, collapsed during the match at Asgher Ali Shah stadium in Karachi, having complained of chest pain after bowling three overs.
Sheikh, who played for Muslim Commercial Bank during his first-class career in Pakistan, was the second veteran to die this year.
Fakhr Khairi, a 60-year-old skin specialist, died while taking a run during a 60-plus age group match in Karachi earlier this year.
Pakistan Veterans' Cricket Association president Fawad Aijaz deplored the latest death.
"It's sad that Sheikh died during the match and a positive activity for veteran players (has been) turned into a tragedy," Aijaz told AFP.
Aijaz said his association will formulate fitness guidelines for veterans' cricket, including barring players with a history of cardiac disease.
"We have been successfully holding senior cricket for players over 40 and veterans cricket for 50s plus but after this second death we will stop players who have cardiac history," said Aijaz, himself an active veteran cricketer.
Sheikh's colleague Visal Ansari also expressed his sorrow.
"Veterans' cricket is a positive activity but the players must themselves realise what their condition is, and should not exert more effort than their body can afford," said Ansari, secretary of the Sindh Veterans' Association.
