England captain Andrew Strauss has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) not let up in its investigation of corruption in the sport.

England beat Pakistan on Wednesday to secure a 3-2 one-day series win after a summer engulfed by spot-fixing allegations against the tourists.

"The ICC has to take a firm lead and leave no stone unturned," he said.

"It needs to make sure every game of cricket from now on is not tarnished. That's a big challenge, no doubt."

The England captain added that it was important the matter was not brushed under the carpet by world cricket's governing body now Pakistan have headed home.

"It's easy to say 'the series is over, let's let this calm down and cricket will return to normal'," said Strauss.

"If that happens, we'll have to contend with this at some stage in the future."

606: DEBATE England move on to the Ashes after a summer which sees them win every series. Where Pakistan go from here, I have no idea Stuart Broad's Hair Stylist

Three Pakistan players have been suspended while allegations of spot-fixing are investigated and further allegations were made against the Pakistan team following the third one-day international.

After those allegations, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt claimed he had heard from bookmakers that England had been paid to lose Friday's match at the Oval.

England have strongly denied the allegations and demanded an apology from Butt, threatening legal action if one is not forthcoming, and Strauss admits he is outraged by the claims.

"This summer has clearly demonstrated when there is a sniff of something in the air it devalues the whole game, and nobody wants to play cricket in those circumstances," said Strauss.

"We are keen to move on from this series and very keen not to have a repeat of this at any time in the future, which is why it's so important the ICC take a very strong lead from now on and don't take a breather now this series finished."

The England opener admitted any pleasure at winning the one-day series against Pakistan was tempered by relief that it was finally over.

But Strauss, named England's man of the series after scoring 317 runs at an average in excess of 63, added that such a mentally taxing series could be good preparation for the winter's Ashes tour of Australia.

"I'm delighted the series is over and that it's been success," said Strauss following England's 121-run victory at the Rose Bowl in the final ODI.

"We've been to some tough places over the past couple of weeks.

"It's nice way to finish a season, it's been a long hard series and to come out on top is especially satisfying.

"We've had to work hard, but we're very happy at where we are ahead of the Ashes. We've got a close group of players.

"It's going to be massive winter, but this has prepared us well as it's going to be high intensity and stressful out there, but we can't wait for it."

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi praised his players for their spirit after a tour in which they lost the Test, Twenty20 and one-day series.

"The tour was full of controversy but we were very united and played like a team," he said.

"Winning and losing [are different emotions] but we played together which was very good."

Afridi, who confirmed he would like to remain as captain, also praised England and in particular Eoin Morgan, who hit an unbeaten 107 in England's total of 256 on Wednesday.

"They played and bowled very well. That was an amazing innings by Morgan, he played very well."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version