Pakistan trio face PCB probe in London

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 19:13

Pakistan are under orders to try to win over a crowd of 5,000 in Taunton today - but the most important action will be taking place 170 miles away, behind closed doors.

Test captain Salman Butt and seam bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are in London for a Pakistan Cricket Board inquiry into the "spot-fixing" allegations which have put the remainder of their tour, and maybe even their cricketing futures, in doubt.

With the three men in the eye of the storm otherwise engaged, the rest of the Pakistan squad can continue preparations for the two NatWest Twenty20s and five one-day internationals they will play against England over the next three weeks.

Into the crisis - which has so far seen four arrests from outside the squad and Butt, Asif and Amir's mobile phones confiscated by police after interviews at the team hotel during the Lord's Test - steps Pakistan's limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi.

The message from Afridi yesterday, as he and his team-mates practised at the County Ground to face a strong Somerset side, was to "entertain" and try to "forget" about events elsewhere.

"What has happened has gone," Afridi said. "We are here to play good cricket. It's a big challenge for me personally - playing in English conditions is always difficult.

"We are all looking forward to it. It has been really difficult. But we can forget everything, get out, play the cricket and entertain the people."

As Afridi spoke, today's three absentees were already an hour into their journey to London, summoned to a meeting with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and the country's high commissioner.

After an overnight stay in London, they were due to arrive this morning at the Pakistan High Commission. They will doubtless again have to run the gauntlet of the media spotlight, and perhaps the protests of fellow Pakistanis and British Asians aghast at the allegations which have been made.

The PCB inquiry is the third line of investigation ongoing into newspaper reports which claim the three named Pakistan players were central to a plot to bowl no-balls to order as a means of defrauding illegal bookmakers during the Lord's Test.

Croydon-based businessman Mazhar Majeed was arrested at the weekend but released without charge on police bail after questioning at Scotland Yard.

Some members of the England squad are thought to be unhappy about the prospect of playing against a team containing Butt, Asif and Amir.

The England and Wales Cricket Board are understood to have lobbied for the players to be stood down, by whatever means, from the forthcoming limited-overs matches.

Yet asked as he left Taunton yesterday morning whether he would be returning, a smiling Butt responded: "Why not?"