Three Pakistani cricketers embroiled in match-fixing allegations have set off for crucial talks with officials from their country.

Test captain Salman Butt and seam bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer left the team hotel in Taunton, Somerset, for London ahead of questioning on Thursday from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt and the country's high commissioner.

The timing of the meeting at the Pakistan High Commission means they will be unavailable for their team's friendly match against Somerset - amid speculation that they could be asked to withdraw from the forthcoming Twenty20 internationals and one-day internationals against England, which begin on Sunday in Cardiff.

Accompanied by Pakistan's security officer, Major Khawaja Najam, Butt, Aamer and Asif left the hotel by the front door and were taken away in a waiting minicab. After an overnight stay in London, they are due to arrive on Thursday morning at the High Commission.

They are to be quizzed over the story in the News of the World which said journalists posing as Far Eastern businessmen paid a middleman £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls to order in last week's fourth Test against England at Lord's.

Following the report, Mazhar Majeed, 35, a cricket agent who also owns Croydon Athletic Football Club, was arrested by Scotland Yard detectives and later released on police bail. The three players were questioned by police at the weekend at their London hotel.

The England and Wales Cricket Board are understood to have lobbied for the players to be stood down, by whatever means, from the forthcoming limited- overs matches - and their absence may well be the first step towards ensuring that. Yet asked as he left Taunton on Wednesday morning whether he would be returning, a calm and smiling Butt responded: "Why not?"

Haroon Lorgat, of the sport's ruling body the International Cricket Council (ICC), has said he hopes there will be "some sort of a conclusion" to its own investigation by the weekend. The ICC's anti-corruption and security unit is probing the claims and Mr Lorgat has said "prompt and decisive action" would be taken against anyone who sought to harm the game's integrity.

Cricketers found guilty of cheating could be thrown out of the sport but Mr Lorgat has said "a couple of individuals that might have got caught up in corrupt practices" should not bring the entire game to a standstill.

Three people have also been arrested by customs officials in connection with betting allegations against Pakistani players. Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned on Monday as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said.

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Pakistan will not drop players without proof: PCB

Pakistan will not suspend any players being investigated for alleged corruption without proof of wrongdoing, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt says.

A newspaper report alleging three players had been bribed to fix incidents in last week's fourth test against England has rocked the cricketing world and probes by British police and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are underway.

London police confiscated the mobile phones of test captain Salman Butt as well as pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and the trio -- plus wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal -- have been questioned at the team's hotel.

"There is a case going on over here with Scotland Yard," Ijaz told website cricinfo.com.

"This is only an allegation. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken."

The Pakistan team arrived in Taunton in west England on Monday to play a warm-up game for a seven-match one-day series against England which starts on Sunday.

The ICC's anti-corruption unit has been asked to submit a report on its investigation within the next three days.

ICC president Sharad Pawar told reporters on Monday the issue had been discussed in a teleconference by the head of the council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit Ravi Sawani, Ijaz and his English counterpart Giles Clarke.

"We at the ICC are waiting for definite information from the PCB and our own anti-corruption unit. We hope to get something in the next two to three days' time and that information would lead to appropriate action, if required," he said.

Pawar has ruled out the possibility of Pakistan cutting short their tour of England.

Rotten tomatoes

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said anti-corruption officials were assisting London police with the criminal investigation and would ensure "appropriate punishments" for any players found guilty.

"We will not tolerate corruption in this great game," Lorgat said in a statement.

On Monday, the police said they had released on bail a 35-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers following the report in Britain's News of the World newspaper.

According to the report, Mazhar Majeed, an agent who claimed to represent 10 Pakistan players including Butt, said Amir and Asif had bowled three no-balls between them by pre-arrangement in the fourth test against England which finished on Sunday.

The newspaper report also cast doubt on the second test between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney this year when Australia made a remarkable comeback to win by 36 runs after overcoming a 206-run first-innings deficit.

The scandal has outraged cricket fans in Pakistan where protestors in Lahore threw rotten tomatoes at donkeys who had the names of the players accused of taking bribes stuck on their foreheads.

"These players have let us and the country down. We are already facing so many problems because of the floods and terrorism and they took away our one source of happiness," one protestor told a television channel.

--Evening Standard, Reuters