Pakistan cricketers respond to bans

Three Pakistan cricketers have sent responses to the game's governing body over their provisional suspension in a spot-fixing scandal, a legal adviser said.

Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on September 2, under the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Code.

They were named in a News of the World report for allegedly deliberately bowling no-balls in last month's Lord's Test against England.

British police raided the Pakistan team's hotel on August 28 before interrogating them on September 3.

Police have levelled no charges and allowed the trio to return home, on an undertaking that they would return to Britain when required.

But the ICC suspended the players and gave them until September 16 to reply to its notices.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said the replies were sent to the ICC.

"The three players -- Salman, Asif and Aamir met PCB chairman Ijaz Butt on Tuesday and have sent replies to the notices of charges served to them by the ICC through our British lawyer Elizabeth Robertson," Rizvi told AFP.

The players have been barred from speaking to the media by police and the PCB.

Newspaper reports suggest another player Kamran Akmal and Salman were also notified by the ICC in a separate case of match-fixing.

The Pakistani government has said it would conduct its own inquiry after receiving a report from Scotland Yard.