Pak trio to appear in London court next week

MUMBAI - While the members of the MCC's World Cricket Committee (WCC) will discuss (at Lord's) an update received from former Australia captain Steve Waugh on corruption in cricket, hear in-depth presentations on the use and legality of lie detectors and discuss how successfully cricket has dealt with the Pakistan tainted trio, the three players Salman Butt, M Asif and M Aamir have been asked to appear before the court in London on Tuesday or make themselves available via video. This was revealed by Yasin Patel, the barrister representing Salman Butt. Speaking exclusively over telephone from London the other day, he said: "We are going to decide in next 24 hours whether to make Salman Butt available in person or make him appear only through video conference". "We have been asked to argue on legal issues in Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday". The three players face charges of taking bribes brought against them by Britains Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The trio appeared before a magistrates court in Westminster in March and were given bail but now they face the full hearing. "We don't see the dramatic closure of the News of the World as our victory at first place," Yasin Patel maintained. "It is too early to say on that because we need to do lot of research and investigation in this case," Patel further added. All banned players have challenged the ban imposed on them by the ICC a minimum of five years for all three and have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in Lausanne.