Aleem Dar's sons used false identities to play in Scottish cricket club

The Kilmarnock Cricket Club was this week removed from the first division of the Western District Cricket Union (WDCU) in Scotland after it was revealed that Ali and Hassan Dar, aged 18 and 16, had used false identities and

However, the world renowned umpire who recently officiated in his 100th Test has denied any knowledge of a row involving one of Britain’s oldest cricket clubs established in 1852. He said the fault for the controversy lay with the club officials and his sons were patriotic Pakistani citizens.

The pair had registered under the pseudonyms Umer Mustafa and Saleh Mustafa to compete for Kilmarnock in a number of fixtures in the 2015 season. It is revealed that at least one of the matches was watched by Dar himself.

The umpire’s trip was questioned after England’s three-day victory over Australia in the third Test at Edgbaston. This gave him a free weekend and he went to Stenhousemuir’s Tryst ground to watch a “cousin and nephew” in action.

“I do confirm that I, along with my wife, went to watch the game but it was a friendly game I thought. I went there to watch my sons and nephew Azeem, but I didn’t know that my sons were playing with different names.” Dar told ESPNcricinfo.

Dar’s nephew, Muhammad Azeem Dar, made his Scotland Under-19 debut in January, and was Kilmarnock’s regular first-team captain during the 2015 season. However, he is not believed to have been playing on the day of his uncle’s visit.

After this revelation Kilmarnock were relegated to the second tier of the Western District Cricket Union and all their points have been deducted during the matches for breach of rules and providing improper details.

In a statement released on its website, the club said it was not complicit in the actions of the club members who registered the two players in question with fraudulent information, and will not be influenced by the misguided efforts of a few. The club has the right to appeal to Cricket Scotland but has decided to accept the decision taken by the WDCU.