Pakistan question spot-fixing evidence

Cricket's 'spot-fixing' crisis took a new twist today when the Pakistan High Commissioner cast doubt on the authenticity of evidence presented by the News of the World.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan was speaking after he and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt interviewed Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer over claims they bowled no-balls to order in the Lord's Test as part of a plot to defraud illegal bookmakers.

It has also emerged that the three will take no part in the limited-overs leg of Pakistan's tour - set to start with a Twenty20 match against England in Cardiff on Sunday - officially at their own request, because of the stress of the past week.

But Hasan subsequently questioned whether or not the News of the World's tapes of Croydon-based businessman Mazhar Majeed, apparently correctly identifying the exact time when no-balls would occur, should be taken at face value.

Hasan told the BBC: 'We are not seeing on the video what the date is or what the time is.

'The video wasn't timed or dated. It could have been filmed before or after the match, or at a different time.'

Asked if he believes the three players might have been 'set up', he responded: 'Yes, I would say that. Yes'.

Contacted about Hasan's remarks, a News of the World spokesman said the tabloid will 'refuse to respond to such ludicrous allegations'.

Further advice was to 'watch this space' - an intriguing hint that more allegations may be in the offing for publication this weekend.

Several hours before that response and Hasan's statement at the Pakistan High Commission, it emerged in Taunton - scene of the tourists' warm-up match against Somerset - that a compromise deal had apparently been reached to save the limited-overs matches, with time running out fast for a resolution acceptable to all parties.

Butt and seamers Asif and Aamer had their rooms searched by police and their mobile phones confiscated following Scotland Yard interviews at the team hotel in London last weekend.

Majeed was arrested on Saturday night, in connection with the newspaper allegations. He was questioned for 24 hours before being released on police bail without charge, only for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to subsequently make three more arrests.

It is understood the England and Wales Cricket Board lobbied hard for an agreement to leave the three players out of the rest of the tour - on behalf of a home squad reluctant to take the field against them.

A plausible reason was therefore required for their absence, and that was duly delivered by Hasan.

'The three players have said they are extremely disturbed by what has happened in the past week, especially in regard of their alleged involvement in the crime,' he said.

'They mentioned that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such. They maintain that, on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches. Therefore, they have requested that the Pakistan Cricket Board not consider them for the remaining matches.'

As well as the police investigation, the International Cricket Council continue their own - in an attempt to make good on chief executive Haroon Lorgat's promise of 'prompt and decisive' action against anyone proven to have transgressed.

Hasan added: 'They have voluntarily offered that they should not be included in the side because they are under too much pressure. They want to clear their names first, and then play for Pakistan.

'They are under interrogation. Serious charges have been levelled against them, so they have to defend themselves. They are innocent until proven guilty. The investigations are on, and we have to wait for the results. I believe in their innocence'.

The High Commissioner confirmed the three men's passports are being held by team manager Yawar Saeed.

It was Saeed who broke the news this morning, by implication rather than a more simple form of words, that the three players will miss the rest of the tour.

'For the two Twenty20s the squad will remain what it is here this morning - ie 13 people,' he said.

'Once we have played those two Twenty20 games, for the ODIs subsequently we will be asking for replacements to make up the squad of 16 again.'

ECB chairman Giles Clarke, also speaking from Taunton, made it clear that this country's governing body are happy with the latest turn of events.

Almost a week of high-level crisis-management talks reached a head last night, when a television interview with PCB chairman Butt suggested his organisation was still entrenched.

The PCB evidently had no mind then to bow to any pressure to leave out Butt, Asif and Aamer.

Something, however, must have subsequently altered that stance - allowing Clarke to say this morning: 'The England and Wales Cricket Board welcomes the announcement of the Pakistan Cricket Board's squad for the Natwest T20 and NatWest ODI series.'

Should the News of the World have more revelations ready to be published on Sunday morning, the current apparent resolution may be far from the end of the crisis.