Saeed came under the spotlight as the spot-fixing scandal developed

The fallout from Pakistan's troubled tour of England has begun with tour manager Yawar Saeed's resignation.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said Saeed, 75, had asked chairman Ijaz Butt if he could be relieved of his duties.

A spokesman said: "The chairman has accepted, and the board will announce a new manager in due course."

Saeed, 75, defended his players on various occasions during a tour which, afflicted by claims of spot-fixing, has severely dented cricket's image.

Test captain Salman Butt and team-mates Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after it was claimed they had deliberately conspired to bowl no-balls at pre-arranged intervals during the Lord's Test match in August.

The ICC also launched an investigation into suspicious "scoring patterns" by Pakistan in the third one-day international, which the visitors won.

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Saeed had managed the Pakistan team on numerous tours since the 1970s and was a member of the inquiry committee that probed into the team's poor performances in Australia early this year that led to sanctions against seven players.

But as the team left London last Wednesday he appeared defiant about his future, saying: "I am not resigned, I'm not resigning and I will not resign tomorrow."

Former Test captain Aamir Sohail said he was not surprised Saeed had stepped down.

"I think the PCB is under pressure now to make a fresh start and I think we can expect more changes," Sohail told Reuters.

Pakistan's next assignment is a series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates, starting in late October.

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