Two Pakistan cricketers were issued notices by the ICC seeking information nearly a month before the spot-fixing scandal broke during the Lord's Test last month, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The players are part of the squad in England and were sent notices because they were already under the scanner of the ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). One of them was provisionally suspended by the ICC after being named by News of the World's sting operation.

The ACSU "had already served notices seeking information from certain players even before the scam broke out," a source familiar with the ongoing investigation told ESPNcricinfo. It is also understood that relevant PCB officials were aware of the notices, which were sent immediately after the first Test in Nottingham.

ESPNcricinfo was unable to contact PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, who has not made any statements since Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were suspended by the ICC. Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan team's manager, is not authorised to speak on the investigations and referred ESPNcricinfo to the chairman. Another official refused to confirm or deny that such notices had been received.

Although the Daily Mail has today named the two cricketers, there has been no official confirmation of their identities.

The notice served to the pair sought certain information and the players were required to respond within 14 days. Failure to do so would in itself constitute an offence under the ICC's anti-corruption code.

Some of Pakistan's cricketers are facing scrutiny not only from the ACSU but also from Pakistan's tax authorities who will reportedly probe the finances of the cricketers, a move endorsed by both Shafqat Rana, Pakistan's associate manager, and limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi. "It was there in their (the government's) mind before we came over," Rana said about the tax probe. "I think it's a good thing, it will open things out so they (the players) will be very careful."

Kevin Pietersen and Dimitri Mascarenhas have been fined for their outbursts Twitter as England cricketers struggle to adapt to social media. Pietersen attended a disciplinary hearing at Lord's on Monday and pleaded guilty to two counts, following the post he made after being omitted from the squad a day of England, while repeating his apology last week .

Pietersen found himself in trouble after updating your Twitter account after his omission for the Twenty20 international against Pakistan. He was sent instead of Surrey to recover its original form after a disappointing season with the bat.

"Made for the summer break! Man of the T20 World Cup and dropped the T20 side as well. Its f ** k up!", Published on his own kevinpp24 Pietersen. I deleted minutes later, but not before being picked up by multiple users and distributed around the Internet.

"The hearing considered his remarks as prejudicial to the interests of the England team and the ECB and significant non-English player conditions of employment," said a statement. "It has been fined an undisclosed amount in accordance with the terms and conditions of their contract central England."

Stuart Broad said he was not interested in joining Twitter and players should be aware of their responsibilities. "You go on Twitter to get out there right to enter the public domain and let your voice be heard," he said. "But the players are aware of the responsibilities you have with that.

"We know you have fans and people are always aware of what is written. If you write something a bit controversial you know it's going to make headlines as if sometimes it is deliberate, with pop stars and movie stars to create a header, but we realize that athletes are responsible for not only us but also with our teammates. It's not something I have too involved with, but that is out there. "

Pietersen is not the only cricketer in hot water over comments Twitter Mascarenhas, the Hampshire captain injured, launching a stinging attack on Geoff Miller, the national team over the weekend and has been fined £ 1,000 by your county.

"Chairman of selectors came to Liverpool and did not even come and say hi .. what ap ****.. not take much to say hello, right?" was one of the two messages published which led to the adoption of measures Mascarenhas Hampshire and only escaped a ban because of its long-term injury.

"I realize that my actions were stupid and irresponsible and I regret any offense that may have caused," said Mascarenhas. "I apologize specifically to Geoff Miller, who always treated me fairly. I also apologize to Hampshire Cricket I feel I have let down. This was a silly conversation, late at night that got out of control and does not reflect my point of true view Mr. Miller.

"I learned a lot about the dangers of social networking sites and encourage other players to think carefully before signing with them."

Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, also warned about the risks of using social media. "Hampshire Cricket regrets the incident, but totally out of character for Dimitri Mascarenhas, violations of code of conduct club," he said. "Also, it alerts all players about the dangers of driving personal or private dialogue on the means available to the public.

"The fine is set at this high level and I feel no sense in imposing a ban, given the long-term nature of his injury. In reaching this conclusion I have taken into account Dimi previous exemplary record. However, as team captain who understands that his actions carry greater responsibility than others. "

Earlier this season, Azeem Rafiq, the offspinner Yorkshire, was fined and suspended from all cricket for a month after an attack of Twitter by John Abrahams, England Under-19 manager, after his absence in the second test against Sri Lanka.

However, despite the recent indiscretions seems that the ECB will stop short of banning players from Twitter as originally thought a couple of weeks. From the current team of Graeme Swann and James Anderson are prolific, while Tim Bresnan - which ran into trouble last year - and Steven Finn also have accounts.

"Jimmy and Swanny are two good examples of good tweeters if there is such thing," said Broad. "What they do very well is that not make statements about the equipment, use it as a joke and not to enter a boring mundane things. It's all very fun. Ultimately, we are responsible as players and people who are employed by more of us if they decide to get rid of it is a situation that people will face. "

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal, have returned to London from Taunton and will meet with PCB officials on Thursday for an internal inquiry. Cricinfo understands that the three men have already had an informal briefing with the chairman of the board, Ijaz Butt, ahead of a more intense round of talks in the wake of last week's allegations in the News of the World.

However, in an interview with the BBC, Ijaz Butt reiterated his stance, first outlined to Cricinfo on Monday, that he would resist all pressure to remove the players from the reckoning for the one-day series that gets underway at Cardiff on Sunday. "They will be free to play immediately," he said. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, met with the PCB chairman on Thursday, while the ECB remain firm in their stance that the trio should not be allowed to play.

The players' presence in London effectively rules them out of Pakistan's warm-up game against Somerset on Thursday, and though they are still expected to rejoin the squad on Friday, it now seems likely that they will have to remain in London for a planned meeting with the Pakistan high commissioner to the United Kingdom, as well as further interviews with the Metropolitan Police.

Meanwhile the rest of the squad had another training session at the County Ground and Shahid Afridi, who has resumed the captaincy from Salman Butt, said the players wanted to move on. "All the players are focussed," he told Sky Sports News. "What has happened has gone."

As the three players left for London a senior English journalist asked Butt "will you be back?". Butt turned his head, looked the man in the eye and said: "Yes, why not?." That response only attracted unwanted attention. A tabloid reporter pounced on the opportunity and said "are you guilty?". Butt started to look towards the journalist but wisely did not react and walked into the cab.

Butt's insistence he will return shed further doubt on whether the three players allegedy involved will be suspended, something the England players are very keen takes place before the Twenty20 internationals.

"The feeling among the players is that they are professional cricketers and the matches will go ahead," Angus Porter, the Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive, told Cricinfo, "but they don't want them to become sideshows so there is a preference that it would be beneficial if the three players didn't appear."

Amir was his usual jovial self at the team hotel on Wednesday morning, with a smile on his face, and was bantering with team-mates. He was later joined by Butt, who looked a little circumspect. Both are understood to have received support from Waqar Younis and Ijaz Ahmed, the head and deputy coach respectively. Asif has largely confined himself to his room since the spot-fixing story broke on Saturday night.

The hotel has been the centre of attention since the Pakistan squad checked in on Monday afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. The lobby, a business lounge in normal times, was overnight transformed into a high-security zone with hotel staff keeping a close watch on movement in the area.

A couple of unarmed policemen arrived minutes before the three players left for London in a luxury cab, with the team's security officer Khawaja Najam in their wake. Fears of crowd trouble, of which there has been some in the past few days, proved unfounded.

Meanwhile the rest of the squad carried on with their schedules, though the mood was palpably subdued. "It doesn't feel like practice day, does it," remarked Alex, the bus-driver who has been driving the team around on this tour. Afridi broke with habit to read the morning papers at the breakfast table. The team had a closed-door nets session at the Somerset County Cricket Club ground on Tuesday afternoon; they held another on Wednesday that was open to the media.