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Pakistan cricket scandal latest
CONCERN: Pakistan's team manager Yawar Saeed(R) and assistant Shafqat Rana read our expose
Skipper and two bowlers in talks tomorrow
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| IMPLICATED: Salman Butt |
THREE Pakistani cricketers implicated in our spot-betting expose were preparing today for crucial talks with officials from their country.
They look set to miss their team's match against Somerset tomorrow after the meeting was put back 24 hours.READ: CRICKET IN THE DOCK
Test captain Salman Butt and seam bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer are due to have talks in London tomorrow with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and the country's high commissioner.
Talks were due to take place today, but it emerged last night that the meeting has been postponed until tomorrow, when the friendly match with Somerset takes place.
Meanwhile it emerged that three people have been arrested by customs officials in connection with betting allegations against Pakistani players.
Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned on Monday as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.
It said: "Three individuals were arrested on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering.
"This includes two 35-year-olds - a male and a female - from the Croydon area, and a 49-year-old male from the Wembley area.
"These individuals were arrested, questioned and have been bailed pending further investigation."
The newspaper said journalists posing as Far Eastern businessmen paid a middleman 150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls to order in last week's fourth Test against England at Lord's.
Following the report, Mazhar Majeed, 35, a cricket agent who also owns Croydon Athletic Football Club, was arrested by Scotland Yard detectives and later released on police bail.
Four Pakistan players - Butt, Aamer, Asif and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal - were questioned by police over the allegations at their London hotel.
There has been speculation that the four will be asked to withdraw from the forthcoming Twenty20 internationals and one-day internationals, which begin on Sunday in Cardiff.
The PCB, the High Commission for Pakistan in London and the sports ministry in Islamabad held a conference call yesterday to discuss the best way forward.
Haroon Lorgat, of ruling body the International Cricket Council (ICC), has said he hopes there will be "some sort of a conclusion" to the investigation by the weekend.
The ICC's anti-corruption and security unit is also investigating the claims and Mr Lorgat has said "prompt and decisive action" would be taken against anyone who sought to harm the game's integrity.
Cricketers found guilty of cheating could be thrown out of the sport but Mr Lorgat has said "a couple of individuals that might have got caught up in corrupt practices" should not bring the entire game to a standstill.
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the country's highest law enforcement agency, has sent three investigators to the UK.
Reports have suggested other matches may have been fixed and up to 80 international Tests could form part of the police investigation.
The claims are the latest in a string of match-fixing allegations to dog the Pakistan team since the 1990s.
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin confirmed yesterday they had both been approached by an Indian bookmaker in the past 16 months.
Both said they reported the incidents to team management and insisted they were never specifically asked to alter the result of a match.
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