ICC asks suspended trio's lawyers to return evidence

The ICC has asked the lawyers of the Pakistan players suspended in the spot-fixing case to return evidence that had been given to them during the appeal hearing held in Dubai last month.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC is unhappy with information from the evidence being leaked to television channels in Pakistan; a leading channel recently broadcast text messages allegedly exchanged between Salman Butt, one of the suspended players, and Mazhar Majeed, the players' agent who is at the centre of the scandal.

The request has been made to the legal representatives of Butt and Mohammad Amir, the two players who appealed against their suspensions; Amir is being represented by Shahid Karim, while Butt's legal team includes Khalid Ranjha and Aftab Gul, the former Test cricketer. Gul had stepped down from the case recently, but is believed to be back. Mohammad Asif, also suspended, withdrew his appeal and the three are currently waiting to appear before an independent anti-corruption tribunal that will look into the actual charges in Doha, Qatar from January 6-11.

One of the lawyers confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the ICC had asked for documents to be returned, suggesting that the leaking of information had prompted the move. Replies to the ICC's request are in the process of being drafted.

The development comes after ESPNcricinfo reported last week that there were concerns among observers familiar with the case over the attitude of some of the lawyers and how it might affect the workings of the hearing.

In some instances, sources involved in the case claimed, views expressed inside the provisional suspension hearing were different to those expressed subsequently as public statements. One source also told ESPNcricinfo that there was an informal agreement made during the Dubai hearing between lawyers and Beloff to not speak to the media about the case. One of the lawyers involved denied any such agreement.