I have nothing to explain says Mushtaq Ahmed

England's new spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed is not concerned by reports the ICC will investigate his past links with bookmakers.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hired Mushtaq, 38, this month to tutor spin bowlers like Monty Panesar and aspiring internationals.

The former leg-spinner was available having retired from first-class cricket this year due to a knee injury.

"I am not concerned by this because I was assistant coach with the Pakistan team twice in recent years," Mushtaq told Reuters by telephone from Lahore.

"I have no issues to explain and I am satisfied with what I am doing. Hopefully everything is sorted out now with the ECB."

The Sunday Telegraph claimed the International Cricket Council (ICC) was unhappy that the ECB had appointed Mushtaq.

It said the ICC would send the ECB a letter "to be written by chief executive Haroon Lorgat in consultation with their Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (that) will demand to know if the ECB were aware of Mushtaq's tainted background and took it into account when they made the appointment."

The newspaper said the ICC would also question the ECB for hiring Mushtaq's former team mate Waqar Younis, who was named along with Mushtaq in a report in 2000 by Justice Qayyum, who conducted a thorough investigation into match-fixing.

Both Mushtaq and Waqar were censured and fined by the Qayyum Commission in Pakistan. Qayyum was quoted as saying of Mushtaq at the time: "He has brought the name of the Pakistan team into disrepute with, inter alia, associating with gamblers."

Mushtaq was fined 300,000 rupees (£3,789) and Waqar 100,000 (£1,264), the newspaper said. It added that the commission recommended Mushtaq should be "kept under close watch and be not given any office of responsibility in the team or on the board", while Waqar "should be kept under observation and investigated".

While Lorgat, who joined the ICC in July, may question the ECB's moral responsibilities he also knows the ICC does not have the powers to hand down a ban.

The ECB, in turn, would probably ask the ICC why it did not raise the same concerns with the Pakistan Cricket Board when Mushtaq coached their team.

"I don't want to go into details about the past, I just want to do my job and serve cricket and I shall not be worrying about these things," Mushtaq added.

"I am unsure why this has surfaced when I was assistant coach to Bob Woolmer in 2005 and 2006 for two series against England and India.

"Then I worked with Bob again at the 2007 World Cup. I'm passionate about my job and that is all I am thinking of."