The Australian admitted it has been like “hell” for him and the team following the scandal that has seen batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif suspended from the Pakistan Super League.

The two players are reported to be linked to spot-fixing with the PSL saying that the investigation centred on “an international syndicate which is believed to be attempting to corrupt the PSL”.

On Friday, another Islamabad player – Mohammad Irfan – was questioned by the PCB’s anti-corruption unit. Needless to say, it has been too much for former Australia batsman Jones to handle.

“Emotionally and physically the team has been through hell a little bit to be honest. All in all, we’re trying to prepare these guys coming into the match and it’s not been the best preparation, I’ll be honest with that,” Jones said on Saturday evening after his team’s six-wicket defeat to Lahore Qalandars.

“The boys came here, they wanted to get out here and have some fun and play. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked that way.”

The coach said that the calm leadership of Misbah ul Haq and a break of a few days should help the team regroup and focus on cricket.

“The good thing is we’ve got a four-day spell now before our next game when we go down to Sharjah, we’ll regroup and go out and enjoy each other’s company like we always do. It’s my job as a coach to remind them that we failed a bit today but we’re in a pretty good position.

“Misbah’s always calm, cool and collected – he doesn’t give a lot of emotion away, that’s the good thing about him. Not many people see the humorous side of him but we’ve seen a bit of that over the past 24 hours to loosen things up. From our owners to Wasim Akram (Director) and our senior players, it’s been a bit of a tough time but now we’ll regroup and we’ll get together and move on.

“Also, well done to the PCB. I think they have handled everything over the past 24 hours really well. We’re here to keep this great game clean and we’ll do everything we can to do that.”