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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could take legal action against The Sun newspaper after the International Cricket Council (ICC) found no evidence of spot-fixing in a one-day international the tabloid claimed was influenced by bookmakers.

The paper had passed on information to the ICC ahead of the third ODI at The Oval between England and Pakistan in September, claiming that bookies were aware of certain scoring patterns during the game, which Pakistan eventually won by 23 runs.

The ICC announced an investigation into the claims and though it was careful not to mention which team was under suspicion, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) cleared its own players soon after in a statement, leaving suspicion to hang over Pakistan.

The incident led to Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, launching an attack on the ECB, the English team and the ICC, claiming there was a "conspiracy to defraud Pakistan cricket".

The ICC eventually cleared Pakistan, claiming two weeks ago that "there was no compelling evidence of any wrongdoing".

"From day one, our stance has been that we would consider legal action for defamation and now with this development [the ICC clearing the match], we are looking at the legal field," Taffazul Rizvi, the board's legal adviser, told Cricinfo.

"We believe The Sun has a case to answer because they did it in such a bald and crude manner, so we're in consultation with our lawyers in the UK about this. We will look at the whole picture before we decide on taking the legal route but it is under consideration."