Butt told to file fresh reply on fixing charges

The International Cricket Council has rejected Salman Butt's reply on charges of spot-fixing against him and has asked the suspended Pakistan captain to file a fresh response by Friday.

The ICC on Thursday returned the 40-page reply filed by Butt's lawyers to the charges laid out against him.

"The ICC said the reply was not acceptable to them and it was just enough to reject the allegations made against him by the ICC anti-corruption unit," Aftab Gul a lawyer said on Friday.

Gul, who was on Butt's legal team, also made it clear he had finally withdrawn from representing the former captain as had another lawyer Shahid Saeed.

"As far as I know now Aitzaz Ahsan is handling his case," Gul said.

Sources said the ICC, in a terse reply to Butt, said it was not amused by his strong worded and hard hitting reply that was sent to them earlier this week.

"Butt has now been told to send a fresh reply to the chargesheet by Friday despite it being a public holiday in Dubai as well in Pakistan due to Ashura," a source disclosed.

Butt's lawyer Shahid Saeed, in an earlier statement, said that in the reply filed with the ICC, the former Pakistan captain had rejected all allegations against him.

Saeed had also criticised ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat for giving a statement on the spot-fixing issue although charges have still not been proven against the three suspended Pakistani players -- Butt, Muhammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

Butt was unavailable for comments but the source said the ICC had indicated that if it didn't get a fresh reply by late Friday it would be compelled to take a one-sided decision and Butt would lose his right to defend himself.

"Butt is clearly in a tight position right now and since it is a holiday in Pakistan it seems improbable that his lawyers would be able to file a fresh reply by later today."

Asif and Amir are being represented by different lawyers.