Pakistan captain Salman Butt insisted he would not be resigning after being implicated in an alleged betting scam.
Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed it paid £150,000 to a middle man in return for details about the timing of three no-balls in the fourth Test at Lord's. That ended on Sunday in victory for England by an innings and 225 runs — Pakistan's heaviest Test defeat of all time.
However, Butt who inherited the captaincy after Shahid Afridi quit Test cricket following Pakistan's 150-run loss to Australia at Lord's last month, was in defiant mood.
The 25-year-old batsman, pointed out how under his leadership, Pakistan had bounced back to draw 1-1 against Australia and beaten England at The Oval last week before defeat at Lord's meant a four-match series was lost 3-1.
“Pakistan has won a Test match against Australia for the first time in 15 years and against England for the first time in nine years,” Butt said.
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed also confirmed that Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had their mobile telephones taken away by police on Saturday after being spoken to about the allegations.
“The three gentlemen have had their phones confiscated.
Meanwhile, Butt said: “Anybody can stand out and say anything about you, that doesn't make them true.
Butt insisted his team had given their all throughout.
“Definitely we have tried our best. It's just that the conditions have been difficult for the batsmen and remember this is a very inexperienced team, especially the batting.
“These guys are young with the least experience and in these difficult conditions they might struggle.
“Every person in my team has given 100 per cent and all the efforts he could but not every time do you achieve what you want to.
“All you can do is try and the rest, you know, is beyond control.
“We didn't play good cricket, England played a lot better cricket in this game,” Butt said.
Teenage left-arm quick Aamer took 19 wickets in the four Tests against England at a cheap average of under 19 apiece. And the 18-year-old became the youngest bowler to 50 Test wickets in the course of taking six for 84 in England's 446 at Lord's.
Saeed added he was due to meet with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt, already in London, later on Sunday.
Meanwhile England captain Andrew Strauss agreed the allegations had ”removed the gloss” from his side's victory.
“The mood was rather sombre. Cricket was in the headlines for the worst of reasons,” Strauss said.
“I can't really comment on the specific allegations but clearly it has been a tough day.
England and Pakistan are due to play two Twenty20 and five One-Day internationals, starting in Cardiff a week on Sunday. Before that Pakistan plays county side Somerset in Taunton on Thursday.
