Rejecting the proposal from the sub-continent, Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive officer, Malcolm Speed, said the pair could not be banned because they had already been punished for their offence and the matter was officially closed.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Khalid Mahmood had said yesterday that Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka would lobby the International Cricket Council (ICC) at its meeting in New Zealand to slap life bans on Warne and Waugh.

Waugh, Warne and former ACB chairman Alan Crompton are to appear before a Pakistan inquiry which will sit in Australia as part of an investigation into bribery and match-fixing in Pakistan cricket.

Meanwhile in Mumbai the Board of Control for Cricket in India president Raj Singh Dungarpur reacted cautiously to the announcement of the Pakistan Cricket Boardchairman Khalid Mahmood that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would seek life bans on tainted Australian duo Shane Warne and Mark Waugh.The PCB chief said that the three Asian countries would press for the ban at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, on January 10-11.

``We didn't come to any such conclusion during the New Delhi meet,'' revealed the BCCI chief when The Indian Express sought his comments on Saturday evening.

``Tentatively this matter (bribery and corruption enveloping the game) was discussed. However, we (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) had certainly decided to take up the matter during the ICC meeting at Christchurch,'' he added.