The Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal could be allowed to appear in the Twenty20 internationals against England after Ijaz Butt, the country's cricket board chairman, insisted none of them would be suspended until police found some hard evidence of corruption.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, the three players implicated in the News of the World sting into an alleged betting syndicate during the last Test, arrived with the squad in Taunton yesterday ahead of Sunday's match.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has been under mounting pressure to leave out the trio with both English and Pakistani law enforcement agencies now investigating the affair.
Talks yesterday between the International Cricket Council, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the PCB yielded the agreement that any player found guilty should be thrown out of the sport for life, with the ECB privately adament that the trio should at the very least be omitted from the series.
However, Butt told CricInfo that this would not be the case unless investigators revealed some substantial proof of corruption. "There is a case going on over here with Scotland Yard," Ijaz said. "This is only an allegation. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken."
The News of the World allegations against the tourists are wide-reaching – starting with suggestions of "spot-fixing" no-balls in the fourth Test against England at Lord's and going as far as citing fixed matches in the past and looking ahead to the one-day series.
Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, insisted the sport's governing body would come down hard on anyone found guilty of cheating and said he hoped a deal could be brokered between the ECB and PCB before the weekend.
"We are working hard. We realise the [Twenty20] game starts on Sunday. We're busy with the Metropolitan Police and hopefully before the weekend arrives we can get to some sort of a conclusion. But it's an individual's right that you're innocent until proven guilty.
"We were ensuring among all of us that we want to see the same outcome and same objectives. And that is for anyone found guilty of corruption to be taken out of the sport. We have got that commitment from all the parties."
He conceded: "I think the reputation of the game has been tarnished and it's something we must make right. There's no question people's confidence would have been swayed. But we must ensure the vast majority of players who play the game well are provided with that opportunity and the spectators would respect those players."
Mazhar Majeed, a known associate of the Pakistan team, was arrested and then bailed without charge yesterday as part of a Scotland Yard investigation, while Butt, Asif and Amir had their mobile phones confiscated.
A three-man team from Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency – the country's highest law enforcement agency – has also been sent to England. Interior minister Rehman Malik said the investigators would help Scotland Yard but also investigate the allegations independently.
Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who launched the FIA investigation, said: "The latest fixing allegations have bowed our heads in shame. I have ordered a thorough inquiry into these allegations so that action could be taken against those who are proven guilty."
Somerset are fully expecting Thursday's friendly fixture to take place, and county chief executive Richard Gould promised the visiting side a "warm welcome", although condemnation over the scandal continued to pour in.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan told BBC Radio Five Live: "If they are proven guilty – any player – my belief is they should be banned for life."
