Furious ECB want Ijaz Butt to retract 'fix' claims

The England & Wales Cricket Board are furious with their Pakistan counterparts after Pakistan Board president Ijaz Butt alleged yesterday that England players had taken "enormous amounts of money" to lose the third NatWest Series match at The Brit Insurance Oval last Friday.

In a statement today, the Board said: "The ECB and England team are committed to continuing with the current NatWest Series against Pakistan. The ECB and the England players completely reject the remarks made by Ijaz Butt about the England team's conduct in the 3rd NatWest ODI at The Brit Insurance Oval. Mr Butt's comments were wholly irresponsible and completely without foundation.

"The ECB expresses its gratitude for the outstanding conduct of the England team this summer and will take all legal and disciplinary action which may result from Mr Butt's comments.

"The Board and the team, however, are of a view that it remains in the best interests of world cricket, the players and in particular of cricket supporters that the tour should continue and it would set a dangerous precedent to call off a tour based on the misguided and inaccurate remarks made by one individual.

"ECB will continue to offer ICC its full support in taking the strongest possible action against all areas of corruption and is pledged to offering the ACSU its full support at all times.

"Given the current sensitivities surrounding this issue, ECB believes it is imperative that any serious allegations made against another team or player should be presented through the proper channels to the ACSU. The ECB and Team England view the comments made by Mr Butt as defamatory and not based in fact."

And England skipper Andrew Strauss also denounced Butt today and in a statement said: "We would like to express our surprise, dismay and outrage at the comments made by Mr Butt. We are deeply concerned and disappointed that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question. We refute these allegations completely and will be working closely with the ECB to explore all legal options open to us.

"Under the circumstances, we have strong misgivings about continuing to play the last two games of the current series and urge the Pakistani team and management to distance themselves from Mr Butt's allegations. We do, however, recognise our responsibilities to cricket, and in particular to the cricket-loving public in this country, and will therefore endeavour to fulfil these fixtures to the best of our ability."

Although Butt backtracked slightly this morning, claiming the accusations were not his own but rumours he had heard from bookmakers, the damage has already been done.

When questioned about his claims of corruption in the England team, Butt told BBC Radio Five Live he had no proof of any wrongdoing.

"I have never said this," he insisted. "If you listen to the full tape of the interview, the bookies are saying this. I am not saying this.

The bookies have been talking about it and we will investigate the matter and come up with whatever proof we can provide. The total statement I made categorically explained that the bookies are saying this. I am not saying this."

Butt's astonishing outburst happened a day after the International Cricket Council announced they were investigating events at The Oval, after information had been passed to a newspaper about alleged scoring patterns during the Pakistan innings.

No England player is under suspicion in that investigation. Butt had told Indian television channel NDTV: "There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the third ODI. No wonder there was such a collapse." There is no suggestion that any England player is implicated in corruption.

The ECB's anger is even greater because they extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan this summer, allowing a team unable to play international matches in their own country to hold a Test and Twenty20 series here against Australia in July. It would be a huge surprise if the ECB were to repeat the gesture next summer.

For the ECB's marketing department, the difficult task of promoting floodlit one-day internationals during the third week of September has been made tougher by the latest round of spot-fixing controversy. There were still 5000 tickets available for today's match, while sales have also been slow for the final fixture at The Rose Bowl on Wednesday.

Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were suspended by the ICC after being accused of involvement in a conspiracy to bowl no-balls to order in the Fourth Test at Lord's last month. The trio have appealed against their provisional suspension from international cricket.