ISLAMABAD, 18 December 2005 — President Pervez Musharraf yesterday lavished praise on Pakistani and English cricketers for their efforts in raising funds for earthquake survivors as he hosted them at a tea party.
Musharraf also praised the two teams for playing entertaining cricket during the current series, said a senior Pakistan Cricket Board official, Abbas Zaidi, who also attended the ceremony.
The Oct. 8 quake, Pakistan’s biggest natural disaster, killed over 73,000 people and left around three million people homeless.
Both the Pakistani and England teams visited quake victims in various hospitals last month.
England donated 100,000 pounds and helped raise another $50,000 through an exhibition golf match in Lahore early this month.
The Pakistani team donated ten percent of their earnings from the three-Test series and announced they would build some 100 houses for homeless people.
Musharraf, a diehard cricket fan who went to India to watch a one-day match early this year, praised the Pakistani team for beating England 2-0 in the Test series.
“You have made the nation proud by winning the Test series,” Zaidi quoted Musharraf as saying. Zaidi said Musharraf especially praised Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq and all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
“President Musharraf praised Inzamam’s leadership and batting, and felt sorry for him on missing a Test hundred in the third Test at Lahore. He was also sorry for Afridi getting run out in the Karachi one-day,” Zaidi said.
Inzamam notched up 431 runs in three Tests against England including 97 in the third Test at Lahore. Afridi hit a 14-ball 31 in the third one-dayer, which Pakistan won by 165 runs in Karachi on Thursday.
Pakistan, who led the five-match one-day series 2-1, take on England in the fourth match at Rawalpindi tomorrow.
Musharraf also met International Cricket Council President Ehsan Mani and thanked the organization for its half-a-million US dollars donation for quake victims.
