NEW DELHI - West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels will be allowed to play in next month's World Cup despite an ongoing probe of his links with an alleged bookmaker, the sport's governing body said yesterday.

NEW DELHI - West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels will be allowed to play in next month's World Cup despite an ongoing probe of his links with an alleged bookmaker, the sport's governing body said yesterday.

"If he is selected by the West Indies, Samuels is free to play in the World Cup," International Cricket Council (ICC) spokesman Brian Murgatroyd told reporters in the central city of Nagpur.

"The ICC's anti-corruption unit is investigating the case. No time frame has been set for the probe to end."

The 15-man squads for the World Cup, which opens in the Caribbean on March 13, had to be submitted to the ICC by yesterday.

Nagpur police said last week they had taped conversations in which Samuels had passed on team information to a man suspected of being a bookie during last month's one-day series in India. - Sapa-AFP