The verdict on corruption charges against three Pakistan players has been deferred until February 5 by the International Cricket Council.
A three-man tribunal leading a hearing since Thursday was expected to make a ruling on Tuesday, but it said it wanted more time to consider the issues in regard to former captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and 18-year-old Mohammad Amir, who face possible life bans for alleged spot-fixing in one of cricket's worst scandals.
The trio were alleged to have accepted payments for bowling no-balls at prearranged times in the fourth test against England at Lord's at the end of August. England won by an innings and 225 runs, handing Pakistan its worst test defeat. Within days, Butt, Asif and Amir - named Pakistan's player of the series - were suspended by the ICC and charged with corruption.
However, the tribunal acquitted Asif and Amir of all charges relating to the third test at The Oval and Butt of all but one charge. The charges had never been made public until Tuesday, and the tribunal did not say what the trio were accused of doing in that match. Pakistan won that test by four wickets.
Michael Beloff, chief of the ICC's code of conduct commission and the head of the tribunal including Albie Sachs of South Africa and Sharad Rao of Kenya, said it was conscious of the importance of the hearing for the players and cricket.
"Representations have been made to reserve any decision on the remaining charges until it has had sufficient time to give the issue the most careful consideration and until it is able, at the same time as handing down its decision, to provide written reasons," he said. "This was not feasible within the timetable agreed for this hearing in Doha."
Beloff added the tribunal would reconvene in Doha on February 5, when "its decisions will be handed down to the parties, and any consequential matters will be dealt with".
The players, he said, remain suspended from cricket.
Butt, Asif and Amir, who have played 70 tests among them since 2003, have repeatedly claimed their innocence.
They refused to comment as they left the office tower where the hearing was held.
However, an assistant to Butt's lawyer said: "On behalf of Salman Butt he would like to thank you all for support, well wishes and assistance that I've received over the last few months and in particular the last few days. At this current moment in time, we are not in a position to answer any questions."
One of Asif's London-based lawyers, Addleshaw Goddard, said in a statement that Asif "is delighted" to have been acquitted of the charges brought against him in relation to The Oval test. But he also did not elaborate on those charges.
"Mohammad Asif has co-operated fully with the ICC investigations, and is now looking forward to a timely and satisfactory outcome in relation to the outstanding matters brought against him," the statement said, adding that neither Asif nor his legal team would make any further comment.
In Pakistan, where the hearing has topped the news for most of the day, at least one former player was dismayed the trio would have to wait several more weeks to learn their fate.
"It's not fair for the players," former test cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz said. "If the decision had to be deferred then the players should have been allowed to play international cricket. At the most, Beloff should have taken a day or two to reach the verdict. One month is too long."
Former captain Rashid Latif said the delay raised doubts as to whether the tribunal had the evidence to find the trio guilty.
"I don't think the ICC had concrete evidence to come out with a verdict today," Latif said. "They didn't want to take any decision in haste and want to be absolutely sure in announcing punishments against all the three players."
The scandal broke when the News of the World newspaper accused Butt, Amir and Asif of being paid by businessman Mazhar Majeed to deliberately bowl no-balls at Lord's. Majeed, who was also arrested and questioned by police, appeared to accept 150,000 pounds from reporters posing as frontmen for a Far East gambling cartel.
It was unclear if charges from The Oval test also pertained to fixing. But in an interview with The Associated Press in August, Azhar Majeed, who said he and his brother were player agents, admitted he was asked to leave Pakistan's team hotel during The Oval test after the team's security manager told him he was top of the list of people banned from entering players' rooms.
"Security kept on hassling me, and I couldn't understand what it was for, the reason I was top of the list," Azhar Majeed said. "I couldn't understand why. I found it a bit ludicrous for him to be chucking me out of the hotel. Politely I went, but I have absolutely nothing to hide."
