Pakistan was aware of suspensions - Lorgat

The provisional suspension of three Pakistani players under the ACSU code of conduct on Thursday has sparked off a war of words between the ICC and Pakistan's top diplomat in the UK. Reacting to the suspensions, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to the UK, claimed that the ICC had made a mistake and that the governing body was "playing to the public gallery."

Speaking to the BBC, Hasan said that the ICC had "no business taking this action." Instead, he claimed that cricket's governing body had, "made an assurance to us when it said it would wait until Scotland Yard's investigations were over."

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, rejected the claim on Friday morning, telling Cricinfo that he had informed Hasan and the PCB that notices would be served to Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

"I went yesterday [Thursday] later in the afternoon as a matter of courtesy and met with the High Commissioner and Ijaz [Butt, PCB chairman] and explained to them we will be serving the notice by the end of the evening if we are completed with our work, which we did," Lorgat said.

"I obviously couldn't give all of the details due to matters of confidentiality, but they were aware we were busy with our investigations and we were close to conclusion, and that were likely to serve notice by the end of last night."

Lorgat said that the ICC had not suspended the players without the PCB's knowledge. "I didn't do it without his [Ijaz Butt's] permission. I spoke to Mr Butt on the telephone before going public. He said he is fine. In fact, I asked him to join us when we served the notice. He said he was fine and he would send the Pakistan security manager."

The ICC's move to suspend the three players came on the same day Pakistan announced that the players had opted to voluntarily withdraw from the forthcoming limited-overs series in England. Hasan's remarks about the suspension, which reiterated his earlier belief that the players had been "set up", are at the centre of what appears to be the Pakistan camp's discontent with the suspension. Though Ijaz Butt remained silent on the matter - despite attempts to contact him - another official close to the investigation also questioned the development.

The official said that no evidence had yet been shared with the PCB. "We're very surprised the ICC has done this because to my knowledge there had been no indication of this," the official said on Thursday night, after the suspensions were announced.

"This is a bit inappropriate doing it now because the Scotland Yard investigations are ongoing and they could have waited till the end of that," the official said. "What if they clear the players of any wrongdoing now?"

Pakistan are thought to be unhappy at the number of investigations currently being carried out in the case. "The ICC and ACSU are doing their investigation and helping the police, Scotland Yard are carrying out their criminal investigation and the board is also doing its own internal inquiry," the official said. "This can cause overlapping and confusion and it would've been better to let things happen one at a time."