Pakistan's Wahab Riaz to be questioned over spot-fixing allegations

The fast bowler Wahab Riaz will next week become the fourth Pakistan player to be questioned by police over spot-fixing allegations, the chairman of the country's cricket board revealedtoday. At a press conference in Lahore, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said that Riaz, who is in the one-day squad to play at Durham in the first of five-one day internationals tomorrow, would be interviewed by Scotland Yard on Tuesday. Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt – the three Pakistan players originally named in a News of the World investigation – have already been interviewed under caution by police and were released without charge or condition. It is expected that Riaz who, like the three players already implicated is connected to the agent at the heart of the allegations, will be similarly interviewed under caution as the scandal continues to dog the tour. In the News of the World Riaz was pictured lending his cream jacket to Mazhar Majeed, who apparently used it to conceal £10,000 in cash given to him by the undercover reporter. He returned to a group of cricketers, including Riaz, and appeared to show them the money. Riaz was later photographed wearing the jacket again. The PCB chairman confirmed that the police had recovered sizeable amounts of money from the rooms of Amir and Butt, although the sums concerned were significantly less than previously reported by some newspapers. Butt admitted that during the police search of players' rooms in the aftermath of the newspaper allegations, £2,500 was found in Salman Butt's room and £1,500 in Amir's. But he claimed that Salman Butt was paid the money by his agent as an advance for making an appearance at the opening of an ice cream parlour. Majeed owns an ice cream parlour called Afters in Tooting in south London. "The deal was for £5,000 and Salman got half of the amount as an advance," Butt said. He said Amir had already declared he had £1,500 in his possession but did not elaborate on where the money came from. Butt, who praised England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke for his assistance, said he believed the players would be cleared. "I personally feel that if the police had anything there they would have arrested them. They have not arrested them. We have now told them the boys should be able to come to Pakistan." The police are understood to still be examining evidence as they decide whether or not to charge the players. Pakistan's team manager Yawar Saeed, who is preparing his team for the one-day series against England, was unaware of Riaz's appointment with Scotland Yard. Saeed said Riaz would still be considered for selection unless he is told otherwise. "I've not been told anything. Let's wait," he said. "It's been a hard time. But we will do our best and continue to do our best." Butt said that police were yet to share any "incriminating material with the PCB" regarding their investigation. "Since the players have neither been charged nor is there any restriction on their movement, we have informed the police they will be travelling back to Pakistan in the next few days," he said. Butt outlined at length for the first time the sequence of events that saw police raiding the hotel rooms of Amir, Asif and Butt during the Lord's Test. The three players have been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council and given 14 days to respond to the charges against them. Butt suggested the police were unhappy with the players being suspended while their investigation was ongoing, but the ICC has said it was working closely with the police. "We cannot have a parallel investigation … Scotland Yard had even written to the ICC to say that there can't be a parallel investigation and you should not do this," he said. Butt, who confirmed that Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had been questioned by the ICC before, was critical of the governing body's anti-corruption unit for starting its own inquiry before the police had finished their investigation.