Trio leaving Pak squad for showdown meeting

TAUNTON, England: The three Pakistan players embroiled in betting scam allegations were to leave the squad Wednesday to face cricket and government authorities, de facto sidelining them from the team.

Test captain Salman Butt, plus bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, were to leave Pakistan's training camp in Taunton, southwest England, and head to London for a meeting with officials.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it will not suspend them while the allegations are being investigated, though their date in London means they are set to miss the next match, effectively deferring the highly contentious decision over whether they should play on.

Pakistan are due to face county side Somerset in Taunton on Thursday in a warm-up match ahead of their limited overs internationals against England.

Butt, Aamer and Asif are set to miss out as they head for talks with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner (ambassador) to Britain.

It is thought the three players will not rejoin the squad until Friday at the earliest.

It appears increasingly likely that they will play no further part in the tour.

Following the Somerset warm-up, Pakistan face two Twenty20 matches against England in Cardiff on Sunday and Tuesday, then five one-day internationals.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has promised "prompt and decisive action" if the "spot-fixing" allegations made by Britain's biggest-selling newspaper are proven.

Customs officials in Britain said they had arrested and bailed two men and a woman on Sunday "as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering". A source confirmed the arrests were linked to the cricket scandal.

They were a man and a woman, both aged 35 and from Croydon in south London, and a 49-year-old man from Wembley in northwest London.

"These individuals were arrested, questioned and have been bailed pending further investigation," Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs said in a statement.

The News of the World tabloid alleges that Mazhar Majeed, a 35-year-old Croydon-based agent for several Pakistan players, took 150,000 pounds (185,000 euros, 230,000 dollars) to arrange for deliberate no-balls to be bowled at precise points in the final Test match against England in London last week.

The information would be of enormous value to the spot-betting industry, where money is wagered on specific incidents in matches.

The weekly newspaper produced audiovisual footage of their dealings with Majeed on their website and printed conversation transcripts and pictures. - AFP

Pakistan will play S Africa in UAE: ECB

Dubai: The match fixing scandal that has hit the Pakistan team will not stop the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) from going ahead with their preparations for the Pakistan-South Africa series in the United Arab Emirate (UAE), scheduled to be held in October. Plans are also on to provide extra cover to prevent any corruption during the series.

Speaking to Gulf News, Dilawar Mani, the Chief Executive of the Emirates Cricket Board, said: "We are proceeding with all arrangements needed for the series.

We are also eagerly waiting to hear on the outcome of the investigation into this incident."

Pakistan will take on South Africa in two Tests, two Twenty20 matches and a five One-day series from October 27.

The series is being played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai due to the ongoing security concerns in Pakistan.

Mani said there will be extra vigilance during the series. "We will fully adhere to the instructions from the International Cricket Board's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) during the series. This series is the home series of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and hence we will follow the instructions of the PCB as well as the South African cricket board."

Emphasis is also being given to security during the series. "Whatever are the instructions of the ACU will be accepted and we will implement it 100 per cent. No player will be allowed to use mobile phones except the team managers.

No unauthorised persons will also be allowed into the no access areas of the stadium," he added.

Commenting on the match fixing scandal, Mani said: "It is extremely shameful and disgusting if the boys are found guilty. There should be no place for spot fixing in the game and it must be totally eradicated if it has happened.

The feedback from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the two cricket boards on this incident is of very great importance for us," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola said his country will honour its series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirate.

However, he quickly added that unless instructed otherwise by the ICC.

- Agencies

Brett Lee, Johnson targeted by fixer

SYDNEY: Australian cricketers Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson were targeted by the same suspected illegal bookmaker who approached two team-mates in England last year.

The Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph said Lee and Johnson were confronted in the team hotel’s bar during the tour of England, fuelling fears over illegal betting after a newspaper sting snared an alleged match-fixer.

On Tuesday, batsman Shane Watson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin revealed how they were approached by the same man, who is believed to be Indian and is suspected of links to illicit bookmakers in his home country.

The Herald said all four players reported the encounters to Australian team manager Steve Bernard, who submitted their names to the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit.

“The trouble in this case was that the gentleman was staying in the same hotel,” Bernard told the paper.

“The guys weren’t approached about spot-fixing or anything like that, he was asking if he could buy them drinks. The players used their judgement and decided to report it to me.”

The accounts come after a British newspaper said it paid an alleged match-fixer 230,000 US dollars to organise no-balls by Pakistan during last week’s fourth Test against England, reviving fears of widespread corruption. - Agencies

Asif out from new Malayalam film

KOZHIKODE, India: Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Asif was Wednesday denied a role in the new Malayalam film “Mazhavillinattam Vare” narrating the relations between two neighbours, following his alleged involvement in match-fixing in the Test match against England at Lord's last week.

Ace lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri said he cannot cast Asif in his maiden directorial venture as ''the Pakistan player had brought disrepute to the game and his country,'' the Indian media reported.

Asif was cast in the film with central theme that boundaries and religions do not, or rather should not matter. The theme required a famous cricketer from that country to be cast in a key role.

''I liked Asif very much that was why Deepankuran, his son who debuts as music director in the venture, went all the way to London to have parleys with the player,'' Namboodiri said.

''Unfortunately, he cannot cast Asif now as he was embroiled in a scam,'' Kaithapram said.

There was another reason, which was the crux of the film, for zeroing in on Asif in the project, he said.

Originally he favoured former cricketer Wasim Akram from that country to play the role of a coach in the lead role, but finally Asif was picked as the former was not available on health grounds.

Stating that the decision to exclude Asif was not against Pakistan, the veteran lyricist said he was looking for another cricketer from that country to fill the bill now. - Agencies

Banning Pakistan is too harsh: Taylor

Melbourne: Pakistan may often find itself at the centre of match-fixing rows but former Australian skipper Mark Taylor on Wednesday said it would still be "too harsh" to suspend the troubled nation as actions of a few cannot be held against the entire country.

"I don`t agree with that, I think it`s too harsh a penalty for one nation," Taylor said.

"If they have one person, two people, three people involved in match-fixing or fixing certain deliveries ... to throw the whole nation? No, I`m not for that," he was quoted as saying by agencies.

Taylor said instead of banning Pakistan, the focus should be on punishing the guilty individuals. "You`re always going to ask those questions," he said. "(If) you throw them out, when they come back you`re still going to ask those questions.”

"I think all you can do is penalise the individuals and embark on an education process and hopefully stop people from doing this sort of thing, but I think throwing the nation out of world cricket I don`t think is right," he said.

The former captain felt the menace of match-fixing, which has come back to haunt the game after a sting operation by a British tabloid that implicated seven Pakistani cricketers including skipper Salman Butt, is not limited to cricket only. - Agencies