Police find cash in Pakistan players' rooms

The Pakistan Cricket Board is under pressure to suspend three senior players allegedly involved in a match-fixing scam to ensure the one-day series against England can go ahead as planned. 

 Officials from the International Cricket Council will hold talks with the PCB in London on Monday morning with the immediate futures of Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain, and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir to be decided.

Sources close to the England squad have indicated they will not be happy to play against players who are the subject of match-fixing allegations and it appears highly unlikely that Butt, Amir and Asif will feature in the five-match one-day series or two Twenty20 internationals.

The prospect of the one-day leg of the tour being cancelled quickly receded on Sunday as the gravity of the consequences of such a decision took hold.

It is a move that would cost English cricket millions of pounds in broadcast, sponsorship and ticketing revenue. But unless action is taken against those Pakistan players at the centre of Sunday’s dramatic allegations, the series would lose all credibility. Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was visibly shaken by the allegations and adamant that any players found guilty must face life bans.

“With a lot of these match-fixing allegations it is so hard to prove one way or another, which is one of the real difficulties with it, but if someone is found categorically guilty the only way is for you not to be able to play international cricket again,” he said.

“Clearly there are going to be some very strong reasons for the [one-day] series to go ahead. The ICC, the ECB and the Pakistan Cricket Board have got to put their heads together and decide what the best way forward is. As a team we have got to take stock as well.”

Extra officers from the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit, led by the former chief constable of the RUC Sir Ronnie Flanagan, flew in to London on Sunday from their base in Dubai to liaise with detectives from Scotland Yard.

Butt faced the media flanked by Yawar Saeed, the team manager, and was repeatedly offered the opportunity to deny any involvement in fixing. He dismissed any notion of resigning and labelled the story as only “allegations”. “Anybody can stand out and say things about you, doesn’t make them true,” he said.

Saeed confirmed police had searched players’ hotel rooms on Sunday night and seized mobile phones belonging to Butt, Asif and Amir. He also stated the team would travel to Taunton on Monday for a Twenty20 warm-up match against Somerset on Thursday.

The Pakistan board had warned the team against having any involvement with Mazhar Majeed, the alleged fixer at the centre of allegation who is being questioned by police.

The Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari, has asked for a full report from Ijaz Butt, chairman of the PCB, and the sports minister, Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani, said: “We will take action once we get a report but I can assure you if any player is found guilty of such corruption he will be banned for life.”

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, called for exemplary punishment to be given to any player found guilty of spot fixing. “There is a need to send out a message to youngsters that crime does not pay,” Imran said. “If any player is found guilty he should be made an example for future generations of Pakistani cricketers.”

On Sunday, the Pakistan team remained locked in their dressing room until play began at 11am. The two overnight batsmen, Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal, were given a polite round of applause when they walked through the Long Room.

The MCC had increased security around the team and concerns over the reaction of the crowd forced them to hold the post-match presentation behind closed doors in the Lord’s Long Room.

During that presentation Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, handed a cheque for £5,000 to Amir as Pakistan’s player of the tournament. He did not shake hands with the young bowler and must be feeling a sense of betrayal by a team that the ECB has offered sanctuary.

Strauss did shake hands with the Pakistan team but felt an emptiness at the end of a series his team won 3-1. “We are sad, despondent, and not happy that our efforts in this Test have been overshadowed by this stuff,” he said.