Pakistan captain Salman Butt and opening bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif will travel to London Wednesday to meet with Pakistan officials in the wake of match-fixing allegations. Team manager Yawar Saeed made the announcement in the team hotel Tuesday, and said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt and the country's high commissioner will attend the meeting. The three players are expected to return to the squad, Saeed said. British newspaper The News of the World reported Sunday that Pakistan's bowlers were paid to deliberately bowl no-balls on Thursday's opening day of the fourth test against England at Lord's. The three players and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were implicated in the story. Asif, Aamer and Butt had their mobile phones confiscated by police, who also searched hotel rooms and questioned players late Saturday as part of an investigation also involving the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. Pakistan's cricketers held a closed training session Tuesday, locked away from a media circus seeking to uncover if the players illegally fixed or manipulated matches. Pakistan prepared for a warm-up game against Somerset in the western England town of Taunton from Thursday with a net session that was unusually closed to the media. The three players weren't on the team bus for an afternoon training session. “It's a challenge and we will try to make sure they are focused on the game,” Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said of the difficulties in now motivating his players. Pakistani and ICC officials are due to meet to decide if the implicated players should be suspended from the two Twenty20 games and five one-day internationals against England starting from Sunday. Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said earlier Tuesday that he wanted to wait for an initial British police report before sending an investigation team to England. He said the Pakistan inquiry team would comprise two senior Federal Investigation Agency officials and one from the sports ministry. Sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani said there was no need to rush an investigation team to Britain Tuesday. “No charges are yet framed against our cricketers, so we should not become emotional,” Jakhrani said. HMRC, Britain's customs and revenue agency, said two men and a woman were questioned in London Monday in connection with the fixing allegations. The trio are from London, and police spoke to them as part of an investigation into money laundering. Court summons players Pakistan court Tuesday summoned seven national cricket players, the country's sports minister and its cricket chief to face treason charges over fixing allegations in England. The chief justice of the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore said those under investigation in England, plus sports minister Ijaz Jakharani and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt must appear on Sept. 7. Local lawyer Ishtiaq Ahmed filed the treason case Monday, calling for life bans and confiscation of all the players' assets if they are found guilty. The charge carries a maximum death penalty. The seven national team players include Test team captain Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, plus three unnamed players, who are all accused in the sting by British Sunday tabloid the News of the World. Younus serves legal notice Former Pakistan cricket captain Younus Khan Tuesday served a legal notice on British newspaper The Daily Telegraph for linking him with a spot-fixing scam involving seven national team players. The Telegraph apparently linked Younus, who ended his captaincy last year after a players' revolt against him, to the bookmaker Mazhar Majeed at the center of the allegations.
