Pakistan cricketers at the centre of a match fixing scandal will miss a friendly game in Taunton tomorrow as they will be meeting with Scotland Yard, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country’s high commissioner in London.
However the Pakistan Cricket Board has said that the players will not be suspended while investigations are under way, despite calls for them to be ditched from Pakistan’s team.
Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif are currently accused of accepting money for no-balls in the latest Test Match against England.
Footage filmed by an undercover reporter for the News Of The World allegedly shows the Pakistan players’ agent, Mazhar Majeed, counting out £150,000 which was a bribe to fix the cricket match.
Officials are also said to be looking at Majeed’s phone records, which allegedly show surges in the number of calls during
tournaments featuring Pakistan around the world.
The cricketers will now miss Pakistan’s practice match against Somerset tomorrow as it will clash with their meeting with PCB and High Commission officials.
However, Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has said that the players are, as yet, still part of the team.
“As it stands now, the players have only been questioned by Scotland Yard. No one has been charged neither has Scotland Yard found any incriminating evidence against any player,” a PCB official said.
England’s Professional Cricketers Association has called for the three players to be dropped from Pakistan’s team so that the remaining tour does not become a “sideshow” to the scandal.