Pakistan cricketers questioned by police

Three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of spot-fixing allegations were being questioned by police last night, as the sport's governing body insisted corruption in the game was not widespread.

Cricket chiefs said the claim of no-balls being bowled to order in last month's England-Pakistan Test match at Lord's was not "the tip of the iceberg". And the International Cricket Council (ICC) denied there was a conspiracy against Pakistani cricket.

Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were charged last night under the anti-corruption code of the ICC and provisionally banned from playing in any match.

They say they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's anti-corruption code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan.

The ICC action follows newspaper allegations a middleman accepted 150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during the match.

When asked at a Lord's press conference whether the case was "the tip of the iceberg", ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat replied: "We don't believe this is widespread."

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, added: "I do not see this as the tip of the iceberg."

Mr Lorgat confirmed the three players were being interviewed by police.

Aamer, 18, is understood to have arrived at Kilburn police station in north-west London yesterday morning. Asif was seen entering the police station in the afternoon.

Mr Lorgat said: "Upholding the integrity of cricket is fundamental to every single one of us.

"We have promised to be decisive, we have had a week in which to properly conduct due diligence, and that is the point at which we were last night, when we charged three players and provisionally suspended them."