RIBBLESDALE Cricket chiefs have adopted a 'wait and see' policy on Padiham professional Ajay Sharma following his suspension from international and domestic cricket in India.

Sharma is one of five Indian cricketers named in a report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigating match-fixing allegations and banned from playing in any international or domestic matches until further notice.

The CBI's report alleged that Sharma provided bookmaker MK Gupta (known as MK) with information on matches and was involved in preparing a test match pitch to MK's specific instructions.

Sharma was immediately thrown out of the Himachal Pradesh Ranji Trophy game he was playing in in India.

If the 38-year-old remains suspended for the rest of the winter, it is unlikely he will play enough first class games to obtain a work permit for next season.

Even if a work permit is granted the English Cricket Board (ECB) could step in to ban him from playing in this country.

As revealed in yesterday's Lancashire Evening Telegraph the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are preparing to write to the ECB advocating that Sharma be banned.

Even if the ECB do not ban him, the clubs in the Jennings Ribblesdale League have the power to, if they wished.

But no decision has been made as yet, said Ribblesdale League Secretary Rod Slater. He said: "The League executive doesn't have the power to ban him on its own," said Slater.