Seven former Australia cricket captains — Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Kim Hughes, and Mark Taylor — have written a letter to Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, with humanitarian concerns over Imran Khan’s detention in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s World Cup winning captain and ex-prime minister, Imran, now 73, has been jailed at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since 2023 after being convicted in corruption cases. Those close to him have raised health concerns which have led to three appeals from several former international cricketers.

According to a report in Cricinfo, the group of seven have made it clear that the letter is not being written “as diplomats or political figures, but as former captains who felt compelled to speak up”.

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The seven ex-captains also sought to make it clear that they “take no position on the legal or political case against Mr Khan”, calling it a matter for Pakistan alone. They added that their concern was with the treatment of any person in detention, calling it “a matter of basic humanity, whatever their politics”.

This new letter comes after previous attempts by influential former cricketers around the world to highlight the plight of the former Pakistan captain.

Previously, a group of 22 former international captains cutting across borders had written a letter to Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. This group had included former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar.

“Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan,” that letter by the 22 ex-captains had said. “The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps. Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared ‘medically fit,’ and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work.”

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In February this year, 14 former captains had written a letter where they voiced grave concerns for Imran Khan’s health following reports of an eye complaint that Imran’s family said has left him almost completely blinded in one eye amid accusations of medical neglect in prison.

Imran’s teammate Wasim Akram recently gave an interview where he exhorted authorities to ensure that Imran receives proper medical care.

“Imran Khan was my mentor. He’s my friend, I miss him a lot. I haven’t spoken to him for three years. “It’s so unfortunate, politically, what’s happening with him. The court of law is the court of law. But as far as his health is concerned, there can be no compromise on that,” Akram said in an interview with The Athletic.