Pakistan trio set to miss Taunton warm-up
As the Pakistan cricket betting scandal continues to reverberate throughout the cricket world, it appears the three players implicated in it won’t be participating in tomorrow’s warm-up match against Somerset.
Controversy has been raging since the News of the World on the weekend published allegations that a group of Pakistan players were involved in spot-fixing, revolving around three deliberate no-balls bowled against England during the Test at Lord’s last week.
The scandal has left the remainder of Pakistan’s tour of England, which includes two scheduled Twenty20 Internationals and five ODI matches, under a cloud of controversy as investigations into the involvement of three players implicated in the alleged scam – pacemen Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and Test captain Salman Butt – continue.
That trio are now set to miss Pakistan’s hit-out against Somerset as they head back to London to meet with officials, reportedly including the Pakistan high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Though it must be stressed that each is innocent until proven guilty, head of the Professional Cricketers Association, Angus http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Porter-c82384, has told the BBC that: “Speaking on behalf of the England team we can say we think it would be preferable if those individuals who are named do not play in the forthcoming series [against England]."
Pakistan are scheduled to play two Twenty20 Internationals and five ODIs against their hosts during September.
While all indications are that the series will continue, with England yesterday announcing a Kevin Pietersen-less squad for it, whether or not Amir, Asif and Butt will be participating in any of the seven matches remains to be seen, although there seems to be a growing expectation that the three will be left out of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 side for the remainder of the tour.
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