Nasser Hussain's determination to concentrate purely on his side's cricket is already being tested after ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin repeated his call for players under suspicion of match-fixing to be instantly suspended.

Hussain has tried to distance himself from the corruption discussions at the ICC meeting in Nairobi this week and also from the conflicts that took place 13 years ago when England last toured Pakistan.

But his team had barely landed at Karachi airport before they heard MacLaurin had implicated several Pakistani players, who were recently fined as a result of the inquiry into match-fixing conducted by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, in his call for action.

MacLaurin told BBC Radio Four: "My stance has always been, if there's any feeling of corruption with anybody in the game - be it a player or an administrator - then they should be suspended from the game until it's proved one way or another.

"If an England player or administrator was under suspicion at all or hadn't co-operated with the inquiry, I'm sure that my board at home would ask them to step aside while we made more inquiries.

"I think we're just scratching the surface at the moment and an awful lot more will come out. Whether it comes out over the course of the next couple of days I really don't know - but we haven't heard the end of it by a long way."

"If someone is under suspicion he should be removed from the game until his case is heard and his innocence is proved," MacLaurin said.

Hussain was also informed that Shakeel Khan, one of the umpires involved in the 1987 controversy in Faislabad has been appointed for England's opening warm-up match against a Governor's XI in Karachi on Friday, but the England captain was steering clear of any potential row.

"I was still at school the last time England toured here and I'm not bothered about the past," he said.

"There are no complaints off the pitch at all. They have given us almost everything we've asked for with the itinerary and we're really keen to get on with the cricket now."

But his opposing captain Moin Khan admitted Lord MacLaurin's stance had served to fire up the Pakistan players ahead of the forthcoming Test series, which is likely to feature Wasim Akram and five other players named in the match-fixing inquiry.

"Talk like that always gives you a boost and makes you want to prove people wrong," he said.

"Wasim Akram and the others have already been fined and that should be the end of it. We want to put all the talk of match-fixing behind us and concentrate on our cricket just like England do -- that is all in the past.

"We know we are under more pressure here in Pakistan than when we play overseas, but the whole team is confident and we are looking forward to facing England," said Moin.

After their first practice, Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher are now planning their campaign to try and beat Pakistan after five consecutive series defeats.

``We've played some very good cricket recently, but this is our biggest test," Hussain said.

"In the next year we play Pakistan in five Test matches and Australia in five Test matches and there is no bigger test than that, particularly here in Pakistan.

"They are going to have good days but the next day we're going to have to wake up and make sure we come back at them -- at no stage on this tour do we give up or throw the towel in."

© CricInfo Ltd