Shahid Afridi in police claim after row at Lord's

Shahid Afridi claims Pakistan could have called the police over the confrontation between Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz in the Lord's nets.

The England batsman and Pakistan's perennial NatWest Series reserve were involved in an altercation at the nursery end shortly before the start of Monday's fourth match in the one-day international series. The incident was in danger at one point of delaying the start of a match which had been in doubt for several hours after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt accused England's players of deliberately losing at the Brit Oval last Friday - in return for "enormous amounts of money".

England captain Andrew Strauss has strongly refuted the accusations and has since made it clear he and his team will consider legal action against Butt if that is the best way to protect their reputations.

Tension was high on Monday lunchtime as another crisis point was reached in the ongoing controversy over spot-fixing which has followed the Pakistan team around throughout the second half of this summer's tour.

It was against that backdrop that tempers appeared to flare between Trott and Riaz - who was interviewed by police in the course of their spot-fixing inquiries last week - and Pakistan captain Afridi's claims on Geo television have ensured there is little chance of any ill-feeling abating before today's match at the Rose Bowl.

Dawn.com quoted Afridi telling Geo TV: "When Riaz was returning after warming up Trott called him a 'match fixer' and that he (Riaz] was up to harming Test cricket and hit his face with the pad. It could have been a police case, because it is crime to hit someone. But we showed a big heart and did not press for it."

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman yesterday declined to revisit the specifics of a bust-up described by home board chief executive David Collier yesterday as "regrettable" but "fairly minor in nature".

The incident was brought to the attention of match referee Jeff Crowe, who quickly ascertained the situation could be amicably resolved in time for the toss to take place before a match Pakistan went on to win by 38 runs to level the series at 2-2.

Afridi's claims were put to the ECB yesterday and a spokesman said: "The matter is closed. The match referee has judged the matter to be closed, and therefore we see it that way too."