Damage control

Karachi :  Pakistan have called up Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Irfan as replacements for the suspended Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif for the one-day series in England.

"Both the players are currently playing with the Pakistan A team in Sri Lanka and will now join the senior team by next week," a Pakistan Cricket Board official told Reuters yesterday.

Tall left arm pacer Irfan has yet to play for the senior team while batsman Shafiq made his one-day international debut in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in June.

Pakistan Test captain Butt and opening bowlers Amir and Asif face possible life bans after they were charged on Thursday under the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption code.

British police on Friday questioned Amir, as the sport's governing body said it had suspended the trio because they had a "case to answer".

Questioning

Amir arrived at a police station near Lord's in north London, and detectives are also expected to quiz Butt and Asif.

The sanctions have infuriated the Pakistan authorities, but ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat dismissed the notion that there was a conspiracy against Pakistan. "There is no truth that there is a conspiracy against Pakistani cricket," Lorgat told the news conference.

Political issue

Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan said yesterday the ICC had "no business" to suspend them while the police investigation was ongoing. He said on Thursday he thought the trio might have been set up.

"I met the cricketers for two hours, cross-questioned them, got to the bottom of it and concluded that they were innocent," Hasan told BBC radio.

The ICC "have done the wrong thing. When there's a live police inquiry, this takes precedence over both the ICC, civil or regulatory investigations and any internal disciplinary investigations."

"The ICC had no business to take this action. The ICC is just playing to the public gallery."

The players withdrew on Thursday from Pakistan's tour of England, with Hasan citing "mental torture". They missed Pakistan's eight-run win over county side Somerset the same day.

Pakistan team manager Yawaz Saeed said he was "not happy" about the situation but was trying to focus on his duties ahead of the forthcoming two Twenty20 internationals and five one-day games against England.

"I'm not happy about it, naturally," he said, while insisting that the tour would go ahead. The players have 14 days to request a tribunal hearing at which they can challenge the charges.