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Saeed calls on squad to stay strong

TAUNTON, England — Pakistan cricket team manager Yawar Saeed urged his squad on Friday to stay strong and “ride the pressure” for the remainder of the tour of England in the wake of a fixing scandal.

Media scrutiny on the squad has intensified following the newspaper allegations of a betting scam involving test captain Salman Butt and strike bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

The three players were suspended by the International Cricket Council on Thursday for violating the sport’s anti-corruption code.

“We are human beings. Everybody has pressures in life — we have to ride the pressure, not give in to the pressure,” Saeed said.

He added that the squad had every intention of staying on for the rest of the tour, which comprises two Twenty20 matches and a five-match one-day series against England, insisting canceling it had “never crossed my mind.”

England coach Andy Flower said the England and Wales Cricket Board had made contingency plans in case Pakistan’s tour was cut short.

“That was a wise position to be in but that hasn’t been necessary,” Flower said. “We have to focus on playing the game and keeping it as simple as that. We don’t want to live in a world of ‘what if?’ We now have to see the outcome of these investigations.”

Haroon Lorgat, chairman of the International Cricket Council, said Friday the fixing allegations were the most serious case of corruption to hit the sport in a decade and Flower acknowledged the scandal had put cricket in a bad light.

“No one wants that news on the front or back page,” he said. “But the game will survive, there’s no doubt about that.”

Batsman Asad Shafiq and fast bowler Mohammad Irfan have been called up by Pakistan as cover for the suspended players and are expected to arrive in the UK next week. Pakistan’s team management will decide at a later stage if another replacement is needed.

Meanwhile, Saeed refused to be drawn on the views expressed by Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan, who on Thursday suggested the three players implicated had been “set up” and that video images released by British tabloid the News of the World may have been manipulated.

“I am concentrating on managing the team. Me and the rest of the team are trying to do the best we can, play the best cricket we can,” Saeed said. “My personal view is that we should let them (the investigators) go ahead and wait until the final decision comes.”

Saeed said he would no longer be in contact with Asif, Amir or Butt while they were not part of the squad.