Pakistan's top diplomat in Britain says the International Cricket Council's suspension of the three players on corruption charges is "unhelpful, premature and unnecessary." Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan says the ICC should not have acted until investigations by the police and its
own anti-corruption unit are complete.
Hasan reiterated his belief that bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and test captain Salman Butt are innocent of conspiring with bookmakers.
Hasan told BBC Radio 4 on Friday that the ICC "have done the wrong thing" in banning the players after they had asked to be left out of the remainder of Pakistan's tour of England. The ICC charged the players with corruption and suspended them late Thursday.