Ponting told the Australian manager, Steve Barnard, that he was at a greyhound meeting in Sydney a year ago when a bookmaker offered him an undisclosed sum for giving information about conditions for an imminent one-day international. Ponting refused him but felt it wiser to mention the contact last week in view of the furore over Mark Waugh and Shane Warne.

The ACB announced yesterday that a Queen's Counsel from Queensland will investigate these and any further Australian connections with betting on cricket over the last six years.

Warne and Waugh have been told by the ACB that they need not go to Lahore to give evidence to Justice Qayyum's judicial inquiry into alleged corruption of one-day internationals. They were summoned to appear on Saturday but both men have Sheffield Shield playing commitments. The ACB have suggested that Warne and Waugh might give evidence via a video link, or that a Pakistan delegation should come to Australia.

Justice Qayyum yesterday issued a stern warning to Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail over his second failure to appear before the match-fixing commission. He said that Sohail would find himself ``in real trouble'' if he did not comply. Sohail's lawyer said his client will appear.