One of the three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing affair has applied for legal aid to fight the charges, BBC Sport understands.
Lawyers for the other two players are also thought to be considering applying to have the cost of their cases paid.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The charges are conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, which all three deny.
The charges relate to an alleged plot to deliberately bowl no balls in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last August.
As foreign nationals, the three players are entitled to apply for legal aid to pay for the costs of their defence.
In court, they are expected to argue that since they were suspended from all cricket by the ICC last September they have been unable to earn any income.
It is down to the Legal Services Commission to decide whether to approve any application.
Wednesday's hearing is expected to be a formality with the case transferred to crown court for further hearings later in the Spring.
With the players also appealing against bans handed to them by the International Cricket Council at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it ensures the allegations of spot-fixing will continue to cast a shadow over cricket's integrity for some time to come.
Butt was banned for 10 years, with five of them suspended, after being found guilty of corruption by an ICC tribunal.
Mohammad Asif was handed a seven-year ban, with two of them suspended, while Amir was banned for five years.
They were banned after the News of the World newspaper reported no balls were bowled at specific points in England's innings after a payment was made to a businessman.
Information on when no balls would occur in an innings could be exploited by gamblers betting on specialist markets offered by some bookmakers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/pakistan/9427220.stm
Lawyers for the other two players are also thought to be considering applying to have the cost of their cases paid.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The charges are conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, which all three deny.
The charges relate to an alleged plot to deliberately bowl no balls in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last August.
As foreign nationals, the three players are entitled to apply for legal aid to pay for the costs of their defence.
In court, they are expected to argue that since they were suspended from all cricket by the ICC last September they have been unable to earn any income.
It is down to the Legal Services Commission to decide whether to approve any application.
Wednesday's hearing is expected to be a formality with the case transferred to crown court for further hearings later in the Spring.
With the players also appealing against bans handed to them by the International Cricket Council at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it ensures the allegations of spot-fixing will continue to cast a shadow over cricket's integrity for some time to come.
Butt was banned for 10 years, with five of them suspended, after being found guilty of corruption by an ICC tribunal.
Mohammad Asif was handed a seven-year ban, with two of them suspended, while Amir was banned for five years.
They were banned after the News of the World newspaper reported no balls were bowled at specific points in England's innings after a payment was made to a businessman.
Information on when no balls would occur in an innings could be exploited by gamblers betting on specialist markets offered by some bookmakers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/pakistan/9427220.stm
