The match fixing scandal took a new turn Sunday as the names of a fourth Pakistani cricketer and a top Sri Lankan player emerged, who are now reportedly suspected of match-fixing.

BBC reported that wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been contacted in writing by the ICC, though there is no suggestion that he is the fourth player and it is not in relation to incidents in the recent fourth Test at Lord’s.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have already been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after it was revealed in a sting operation conducted by The News of the World that they were involved in a spot-fixing scandal.

Close on the heels of the spot-fixing row involving Pakistanis, a leading Sri Lankan player is also under ICC scanner after his colleagues reported his proximity with a man they believe is an illegal bookie.

“ICC’s anti corruption unit has been monitoring the activities of a leading Sri Lanka player since the World Twenty20 in England last year after teammates became increasingly unsettled by his late night fraternising with a man they believed to be an illegal bookmaker. They passed on their concerns to the captain, Kumar Sangakkara, who followed ICC protocol by contacting the anti-corruption unit,” The Guardian reported Sunday.

The player has since been investigated by the Sri Lankan police but no charges have been laid.

The ICC, however, refused to comment on ongoing investigations.

“We are making no comment regarding the suggestion that the ICC is probing a fourth player. We do not comment on ongoing investigations, we will not revealing any details about the charges (faced by Butt, Asif and Amir),” added the ICC spokesman after the News of the World reported that the three men were facing a total of 23 charges.

The Metropolitan Police said it is not investigating a fourth player.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has revealed that none of the trio have been interviewed by his organisation after police warned doing so could prejudice the criminal investigation.

Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan also changed his tone and said that the three cricketers accused of spot-fixing should receive life bans if found guilty.

“If the News of the World evidence is correct, then I would banish them from cricket,” Hasan was quoted as saying by BBC Radio 5 live.

Hasan’s comments come a day after he criticised the ICC for violating the general principle of “innocent till proven guilty” by suspending the trio even when the investigations are on.

Hasan insisted the trio are “innocent until proven guilty”.

“That was my stance from day one and I still maintain it. We questioned them and all my colleagues that talked to them said that, yes, apparently they are innocent. But we’re not police investigators – it’s up to the police to find out if they’re guilty,” he told 5 live’s Sportsweek.

Lorgat said that ICC action would be “prompt and decisive”.

“If people are found guilty, the consequences will be severe,” Lorgan added. “The maximum sentence is a life ban but I don’t want to prejudge any guilt or any sanction.

Lorgat admitted, however, that in 18-year-old Amir’s case, age could be a mitigating factor, if he is found guilty.

“If I’m giving my own personal view, age could come into account, But an independent tribunal will have to decide on that.”

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Sunday called for harsh punishment for the Pakistani players if found guilty in the spot-fixing scandal.

Three Pakistani players — Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif — have been named for their involvement in spot-fixing in the fourth and last Test against England at Lords’.

Dhoni said the fixing allegation has brought disrepute to the game.

“Definitely harsh decisions need to be taken, otherwise soon people will start blaming the entire cricketing fraternity,” Dhoni told NDTV.

“It’s sad what has happened with the Pakistan team. Investigations are going on. Something like match fixing or spot-fixing doesn’t only restrict to the people who are doing it or the side they belong to. People start associating it with the whole fraternity which means all cricketers whichever team you’re playing for.”

Dhoni said it is unlikely that any Indian player could be lured into taking money for fixing.

“The kind of effort we put in the field, I can’t even think about it. End of the day what’s the money all about? There’s a bracket on money, after that whatever money you earn you’ll still eat the same, go in the same car,” Dhoni said.

“All cricketers come from middle class backgrounds so they are aware of the situation. I think most of them want to play for the country and get the fame. They are clever enough to know that money is bound to come if you are playing cricket for India.”

“I believe the struggle they go through in the starting phase of their career teaches them really well and that they don’t think about the money. You have already gone through the harsh part of life, travelled through sleeper class, and at times in a bus with no reservation or nothing. I feel most of the cricketers go through it. I don’t think anything like that will happen in the Indian team.”

International Cricket Council (ICC) president Sharad Pawar said Sunday that tainted Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer, have not been punished by the world body for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing and they will be given a chance to present their case.

Pawar’s comments come a day after Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan attacked the ICC saying that world body has violated the general principle of law – ‘innocent until proven guilty.’

“We have not punished anybody yet. Under the ICC anti-corruption rules suspected players needed to be notified and an investigation needed to be conducted. We have to send a notice to that particular player but that notice is not a final decision. It is a means of giving him (player) an opportunity to explain his position,” Pawar was quoted as saying by Times Now.

“This is not an action (the suspension), this is a sort of notice to them and an opportunity to explain. If he is not guilty then certainly he has the right to put his views,” he said.

Pawar said the ICC would appoint an independent commissioner to look into the charges and any action would be taken on recommendation of the appointed commissioner.

The players have a right to contest this provisional suspension and a further opportunity to defend the charges at a full hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal in accordance with Article 5 of the code.

Pakistan’s one-day captain Shahid Afridi Sunday said the suspended trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif should stay away from the dressing room ahead of the T20 matches and one-day internationals against England.

The tainted trio was earlier suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over spot-fixing allegations.

Afridi said keeping them away from the dressing room is in the best interest of the team.

“We are encountering a tough situation and we can’t afford to back off from this situation. Everyone knows how important this England tour is for Pakistan cricket. The tour of England will go on,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Geo News.

“I don’t think that trio should be part of the team or the dressing room. Keeping them out is for our best interest,” he said.

The dashing batsman earlier issued a public apology to Pakistan cricket supporters on behalf of the three players.

The developments are part of the spot-fixing scandal in which alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed was caught accepting 150,000 pounds for fixing no-balls in a sting orchestrated by British tabloid the News of the world.

The Indian cricket board Sunday unveiled a new format for the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), with the 10 teams split into two groups and the cap on team spending increased to $9 million.

The fourth season of the IPL will have 10 teams after the addition of two new teams. There will be 74 matches in total, compared to 60 earlier this year.

The format needed to be changed after the inclusion of two new franchises — Pune Warriors and Kochi.

There will be 70 league matches and four play off matches with each team having the same number of matches (14 in total – 7 home and 7 away) as in the previous IPL editions, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement after the meeting of the IPL Governing Council.

There will be one league table with teams divided into two groups of five teams each.

Each team would play the other four teams in its group twice (home and away), four of the five teams in the other group once (home or away) and one of the five teams in the other group twice (home and away).

The groups will be decided by a random draw, and similarly, which team will play the other from the other group twice or once will also be decided by a random draw.

This ensures all franchises will have the same number of matches at home as in the previous editions.

Teams are allowed to retain four players in their squads from the last event — a maximum of three Indians and two foreigners.

The cap for each team to spend on the players at the auction was raised to $9 million from the $7 million.

The number of overseas players in the squad will be 10 with no more that four in the team.

Uncapped Indian players will now be getting Rs.1 million per annum if the player has not played or first played Ranji Trophy (first class or List A) in the 2009-10 or 2010-11 seasons.

It will be Rs.2 million per annum if the player has played Ranji Trophy (First class or List A) in the 2006-07, 2007-08 or 2008-09 seasons and Rs.3 million if the player first played Ranji Trophy (First class or List A) in the 2005-06 or earlier seasons.

As for the retention of players, up to four players per franchise may be signed for retention of which only up to three shall be Indian players and the squad size has been restricted to 30.

The board said it will manage all player contracts directly.

“All player contracts will now be managed by BCCI and signed by BCCI along with the franchise and the player. A new player registration and contract management process will be detailed soon. No player contracts can be signed until then. Player regulation for 2011 season will be circulated soon to all franchisees which will detail the player contract, registration and signing process,” BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

Also, the catchment areas have been revised and this will be now aligned according to the association instead of a states. Pune can pick its team from the Maharashtra and Vidarbha Cricket Associations while Kochi has been alloted the Kerala and Madhya Pradesh associations.

Pakistan cricket Saturday called up seven-foot tall fast bowler Mohammad Irfan and batsman Asad Shafiq as replacements for the suspended trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif ahead of the T20 and One-day internationals against England starting Friday.

The two players, currently playing with the Pakistan ‘A’ team in Sri Lanka, will join the senior team by next week.

Irfan, touted as the tallest bowler in world cricket has been picked for the first time while Shafiq made his Pakistan debut during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

The replacement comes after the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended the tainted trio of Butt, Asif and Aamer from international cricket over spot-fixing allegations Saturday.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt approved the names of the two players on the request of the team management and selection committee,” a PCB statement said Friday.

Team manager Yawar Saaed said the team is under pressure but will try to play the best cricket in the series ahead.

“We are human beings and everybody has pressures in life. We have to ride the pressure, not give in to the pressure. I am concentrating on managing the team.”

“The rest of the team and I are trying to do the best we can, play the best cricket we can. My personal view is that we should let the investigators go ahead and wait until the final decision comes,” Saeed was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

Pakistan are left with two T20 matches and five one-day internationals on the England tour.

Former cricket captain Imran Khan believes that the Pakistani High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan had made a premature statement of calling Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer, currently under probe for spot-fixing in England, as innocent.

In a television interview here Saturday, Imran said the allegations against these players could be career-threatening, if proven guilty.

“The libel laws in England are such that anybody making such allegations could be in for a hard grind if he was unable to prove the accusations,” he said while recollecting his own legal battle with Ian Botham on ball-tempering charges in 1992.

Hoping that the allegations would prove false, he said: “There will always be an apprehension about the validity of cricket matches anywhere in the world otherwise.”

“It is difficult to prove spot-fixing because it does not have any bearing on the result of any fixture,” he believed, adding that it will be hard to press criminal charges against three tainted cricketers.

Imran said he had advised the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) to get to the root-cause of the menace when the match-fixing allegations first surfaced in 1993.

“I assume that they did not go all the way with the investigation because it could threaten their own positions,” he said, adding that he would have given exemplary punishments to culprits if he was the chairman of PCB.

“In my career, I used to hear about match-fixing but nobody ever approached me,” he said, adding he told the players that not only would their careers end but they will also be jailed, when it came to his knowledge in 1989 in Sharjah that four players of the Pakistani team had taken money from the bookies. “We won that final match easily,” he said.

Imran opined that the trial in the courts in England would be fair because nobody could influence the proceedings there.

“Everything will depend on the Scotland Yard investigation,” he said adding that the prosecution had to prove that “no-balls were bowled deliberately after taking bribe”.

“It would have been nice if these players had withdrawn from the squad voluntarily,” he said regretting that cricket had started reflecting the ills plaguing the society.

“When these boys see somebody in a prominent position involving in corrupt practices, they tend to think that crime pays,” he noted.

“I don’t believe that these players were set-up in the sting operations because they should have the ability to make the distinction between right and wrong,” he pointed out. “If these allegations prove, it will be very damaging for cricket in Pakistan and the fans will also lose interest in the game,” he feared.

Imran criticised the cricket structure in the country where the President of Pakistan appoints the chairman of the cricket board.

“We are trying to survive on only the sheer talent of players like Aamer but the system will always face problems if the PCB was not run professionally by elected people,” he emphasized.

Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has attacked — yet again — the International Cricket Council (ICC) saying that the world body’s decision to drop tainted pacer Mohammed Aamer from the list of annual awards nominees shows that “there is a rat in the whole affair”.

Hasan said that by removing Aamer from the list of nominees for the Emerging Player of the Year award, the ICC has violated the ‘general principle of law — innocent until proven guilty’.

“I have learnt that ICC has taken cricketer Aamer’s name off the list of ‘Players of the Year’. What happened to the general principle of law ‘innocent until proven guilty’,” Hasan said in a statement late Friday.

“After the shocking, arbitrary and high-handed suspension of the three Pakistani cricketers through the ICC’s uncalled for action, nothing is coming to me as a surprise. Rather, my apprehensions that there is a rat in the whole affair are being strengthened. It is emerging as a fishy situation where pieces have now started falling in place to convince me that there is more than meets the eye,” he said.

Hasans said that ICC’s act to suspend the three cricketers, captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammed Asif and Aamer was “malafide and sinister” and said it was done to cover up its own wrong doings.

“As I said in my Thursday’s statement that after the request by the three players to PCB, through me, for their voluntary withdrawal from playing in the current tour until their names have been cleared and their honour vindicated, ICC’s action was not only in bad taste but was also self-serving, malafide and intriguingly sinister,” Hasan said.

“I would rather add that ICC’s hasty decision was aimed at covering up its own acts of omission and commission. Its notice to the players appears to have been aimed at influencing the legal process and to prejudice the ongoing police investigation,” he said.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan Friday attacked International Cricket Council (ICC) for suspending three Pakistani players even while the police investigation was going on in the spot-fixing scandal.

Hasan accused the ICC of “playing to the public gallery”, and said the council had “no business” taking action while the investigations were on.

“They (the ICC) have done the wrong thing. When there’s a live police inquiry, this takes precedence over both the ICC, civil or regulatory investigations and any disciplinary investigations,” Hasan was quoted as saying by Radio 4’s Today programme.

“To take action now is unhelpful, premature and unnecessary considering the players had already voluntarily withdrawn from playing. The ICC had no business to take this action. The ICC is just playing to the public gallery.”

Hasan said that he had spoken to the three cricketers and had concluded that they were innocent.

Hasan’s attack come after Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were charged by the ICC late Thursday night with multiple breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption rules and were suspended from all forms of the game with immediate effect.

The three cricketers also became the first players to be suspended under new ICC rules intended to protect the integrity of the game.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat warned that the players can face life bans if they are proved guilty.

They could face even stiffer action as the result of the ongoing criminal inquiry, which will accelerate when the trio will be interviewed under caution by detectives from Scotland Yard.

On Thursday they protested their innocence for the first time since the scandal broke, but are currently being viewed as suspects in the alleged conspiracy. They are not expected to be arrested however, and have agreed to voluntarily attend the interviews with Scotland Yard investigators.

It was reported on Thursday night that marked bank notes were allegedly discovered in police searches of Butt’s hotel room and his locker at Lord’s cricket ground.

The ICC initially said it would not act until the police had interviewed the three players. But the decision to charge and suspend the players came after its Anti-Corruption Unit’s chief operating office Ravi Sawani held talks with officers from the Metropolitan Police Economic Crime Unit.