ICC puts ban on Pakistan trio

An ICC anti-corruption tribunal on Saturday has banned three Pakistani players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir on spot-fixing allegations against them. Mohammad Amir, Muhammad Asif and Salman But have been banned for 5, 7 and 10 years respectively. The players were suspended from all cricket since Sept. 3, 2009 after a British tabloid alleged they bowled no-balls at prearranged times during August’s fourth test at Lord’s to fix spot betting markets. The three players protested their innocence to the International Cricket Council but Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday they and their agent were summoned on charges of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat. The members of the tribunal considered the case for six days last month following allegations in a British newspaper that the trio had arranged for deliberate no-balls to be delivered in the fourth test at Lord’s last year.