ECB seeks assurance from ICC

With the current Pakistan tour marred by match-fixing allegations, a concerned ECB on Friday sought an assurance from the ICC that the game's world body does not have evidence which could result in charges or suspension of players prior to the conclusion of the series.

Amid calls in England that the remaining part of Pakistan's tour should be scrapped, the ECB said that until the ICC substantiates the allegations are correct, no further action can be taken.

The ECB Executive Board met for an emergency meeting in London to take stock of the fresh match-fixing disclosure by the tabloid The Sun and said that it had received confirmation that none of its players or officials were involved in the scandal.

After the meeting, England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke wrote to ICC President Sharad Pawar seeking assurances that there was no evidence which could result to either charges or suspension of players after before the conclusion of the series.

"The ECB has received confirmation that no England players nor member of management are involved in any allegation linked with ACSU activities," it said in a statement.

"Until the ICC substantiate that any allegations are correct no further action can be taken," the statement added.

ECB said the ICC has not shared "substantive evidence with the ECB or PCB at this stage" nor told it about anything untoward that has occurred in Friday's ODI match.

"The ECB board reiterated its policy of zero tolerance and strongly supported a full investigation into such allegations," it added.

Based on the information shared to it by' that the scoring patterns in Pakistan's innings during Friday's ODI were fixed, the ICC on Saturday launched an immediate probe.

The paper claimed that an individual in the Pakistani team camp is believed to be the ringleader who was taking money from bookies in India and Dubai and ensuring their orders were carried out.

It said that bookies knew details of Pakistan's innings before the match even began and it had given the evidence to the game's governing body ahead of the game.

Immediately after the news came out, the ICC said in a statement that the investigation is warranted as information about a certain scoring pattern appeared to be "correct".

 "The ICC has launched an investigation into activities that took place during the third One-Day International between England and Pakistan at The Oval, London, on September 17," the governing body said.

"Following information received by the ICC from a British newspaper and its source, the ICC now believes a full investigation is warranted," it added.