The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday suspended the registration of International Cricketers Association (ICA) chief Mughees Ahmed Sheikh on several breaches of the Anti-Corruption Code.

Mughees, who has been registered as a player agent with the ECB, was guilty of four anti-corruption rule breaches after an investigation and hearing by an independent tribunal.

The tribunal will make his suspension period known in due course, but temporarily, the ECB has suspended his player agent registration. The suspension has caused a shockwave within Pakistani cricket since ICA is representing over 80% of centrally contracted players and some of the former stars.

These players include prominent national team players like Amir Jamal, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Haseebullah, Jahandad Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Huraira, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Tayyab Tahir. Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Haris, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Usama Mir, and Abdul Samad are also affiliated with ICA.

ICA's influence is not limited to players, with Pakistan's current head coach and chief selector Aaqib Javed, as well as retired superstars Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, and Misbah-ul-Haq, also being associated with the agency.

Interestingly, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had already taken steps to curb the monopoly of Saya Corporation, which dominated a major portion of player representation in Pakistan cricket earlier. However, with the passage of time, ICA became the leading player agency in the nation, practically usurping Saya Corporation's monopoly.