Pakistan cricketers freed by police

Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were interviewed separately by detectives at Kilburn police station in north-west London on Friday.

Speaking outside the station after they left, their lawyer Elizabeth Robertson said the men had attended voluntarily and at no time were they under arrest. She said the trio would continue to co-operate fully with police and the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has already charged them under their anti-corruption code and provisionally banned them from playing in any match.

Butt, Asif and Aamer maintain their innocence amid claims that a middle-man accepted £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during last week's fourth Test against England at Lord's.

They have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's anti-corruption code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan.

Earlier on Friday ICC anti-corruption boss Sir Ronnie Flanagan said cricketers had a "really arguable case to answer in our disciplinary arena".

"That is not the same as coming, in any sense, to a finding of guilt on their behalf," he added. "Priority must be given to the criminal investigation."

Sir Ronnie said that he did not see this case as a sign that cricket was rife with corruption. "I do not see this as the tip of an iceberg but I think it is something from which we must learn," he said.

The questioning of the cricketers was staggered on Friday, with all three being picked up and dropped off by a blacked-out 4x4. They used different exits and entrances at the police station in a bid to escape the throng of journalists who had gathered outside, many of whom could be seen leaning out of the windows of neighbouring houses in a bid to get a closer look at them.

The players are not part of the Pakistan squad preparing to play England in a T20 match on Sunday.