Afridi apologises

Pakistan's one-day captain Shahid Afridi has apologised on behalf of the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal.

Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif have all been charged and suspended by the ICC after allegations they intentionally bowled no-balls to rig betting markets and possibly fixed entire matches.

Speaking ahead of Pakistan's Twenty20 game against England in Cardiff on Sunday, Afridi apologised for the scandal.

"I think it is very bad news," he said. "On behalf of these players - I know they are not in this series - but on behalf of these boys I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations."

The scandal broke when English tabloid The News of the World caught player agent Mazhar Majeed on tape accepting money to fix matches and claiming he had paid Amir, Asif and Butt to intentionally bowl no-balls and fix matches.

Majeed's claims put the results of Pakistan's Test loss against England at Lord's under the microscope and also raised the possibility of the Sydney Test against Australia in January being rigged.

The News of the World has promised further revelations on Sunday, but Afridi said the Twenty20 and ODI series against England would go ahead regardless.

"I told the boys don't read the newspapers tomorrow, just focus on cricket. I know the Pakistan people are very upset. We all love cricket," Afridi said.

"As I team all we can do is to play good, aggressive cricket and maybe when we go back home maybe the things will settle down."

"It is a big challenge for me as a captain but I think we are all ready and focused. Myself and the coach have already told the boys: 'Don't talk about this issue, we are here to play cricket'."