TAUNTON: Three Pakistan players embroiled in betting scam allegations headed to London on Wednesday for questioning which could lead to them being sent home in disgrace from the team’s tour of England.

Test captain Salman Butt plus bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif will miss Pakistan’s match with county side Somerset in Taunton on Thursday, a warm-up match before the side’s limited overs internationals against England.

The trio left the team hotel in Taunton accompanied by team security officer Major Khawaja Najam, flanked by private security guards and police officers. Butt shook his head when asked by a reporter if he was “guilty”.

The trio will face questions from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s high commissioner (ambassador) to Britain, in London on Thursday.

“The boys are leaving today (Wednesday). They will have a meeting at the High Commission (embassy) tomorrow (Thursday),” Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed had earlier told reporters.

It appears increasingly likely the trio will play no further part in the tour amid mounting calls for the trio to be barred from appearing while the probe into the allegations remains active.

Following the Somerset warm-up, Pakistan play two Twenty20 matches against England in Cardiff on Sunday and Tuesday, then five one-day internationals.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has promised “prompt and decisive action” if the “spot-fixing” allegations linked to betting rings made by Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper are proven.

Its chief executive Haroon Lorgat hopes there will be “some sort of conclusion” to the probe within the next few days.

England’s players meanwhile are reportedly reluctant to line up against a Pakistan team containing the tainted trio, according to Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive Angus Porter.

“The England players understand it is important the games go ahead and they will be professional but they would or will find it really difficult to play against the guys directly implicated,” Porter told the Daily Telegraph.

Agence France-Presse