Pak cricket trio quizzed on secret accounts

Updated at: 1459 PST,  Saturday, September 04, 2010  LONDON: Three Pakistan cricketers have been questioned by detectives over text messages, phone calls and secret bank accounts linked to alleged match-fixing. Mohammad Amir, the teenage bowler seen as one of the game’s most exciting talents, spent almost five hours on Friday being interviewed under caution. He was asked about a message he allegedly sent to Mazhar Majeed – the agent arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers – last Friday, saying “Shall I do it or not?” Hours later, it is claimed, he deliberately bowled a no-ball in the Fourth Test at Lord’s. Captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif were also questioned. They were asked about secret accounts in Swiss and British banks, which, according to the News of the World investigation, Mr Majeed said he had set up in their names. Sources said that the role of Butt, interviewed last by the Scotland Yard detectives, was under closest scrutiny. It has been reported that £50,000 cash was found in his room by police but he said the money, some in foreign currency, was to pay a dowry for his sister. Police are investigating whether the notes were those handed over by an undercover reporter. It is believed that Asif has also told investigators that it was Butt who first introduced the players to Mr Majeed, his agent, several years ago. Sir Ronnie Flanagan, head of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, said that, having seen the evidence, all the players “have a really arguable case to answer in our disciplinary arena”. Further revelations this weekend are expected to focus on four more Pakistan cricketers, and claims that the team would deliberately lose two coming one-day matches. The scandal is being investigated worldwide by five agencies, including federal authorities in Pakistan and Britain’s Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca). It emerged on Friday evening that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs started looking into Mr Majeed’s tax affairs months ago and tapped his phone. They were apparently suspicious of phone calls abroad talking about cricket matches, and tipped off officials. The disclosure will lead to questions about how long police and cricket authorities knew about the allegations. As part of the Metropolitan police inquiry into the Lord’s incident, Amir was questioned at Kilburn police station in north London yesterday. The 18 year-old was questioned in the presence of his solicitor over an alleged phone call from Mr Majeed the night before the Lord’s match about bowling no-balls. According to the News of the World, Mr Majeed also said that, before play on the second day, Amir texted him to say: 'Shall I do it or not?’ He then bowled a no-ball in the third ball of the third over, as ordered by Mr Majeed, according to the paper. Asif was questioned next, for two hours. Detectives deliberately left Butt to last. All three players protested their innocence. None was arrested and they were released without charge. Mr Majeed, 35, was arrested and bailed earlier this week pending further inquiries by Scotland Yard. He is said to deny the allegations. Scotland Yard sources said they were still in the “early days” of a “long and complex” inquiry. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s High Commissioner, has said the players will remain as long as is required “to clear their names”.

Yasir Hameed in meeting Pakistani High Commissioner

INSIGHT: Yasir Hameed claims bent teammates were fixing 'almost every match'

05/09/2010

A PAKISTAN cricketer who sensationally confirmed that there WERE cheats in his Lord's Test team has been summoned to the High Commissioner.

Respected opening batsman Yasir Hameed claimed bent teammates were fixing "almost every match" to our undercover reporter.

READ FULL STORY HERE

In our exclusive video he tells how he turned down up to £150,000 in bribes to throw matches and how he lost his place in the squad and saw his career damaged as a result.

Following our revellatios, it has now been reported Hameed was called for talks with Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan and Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt this afternoon.

Pakistani star Yasir Hameed blows lid off cricket corruption

INSIGHT: Yasir Hameed claims bent teammates were fixing 'almost every match'

Player who spurned fixer's bribes exposes teammates

05/09/2010

A PAKISTAN cricketer who played in the rigged Lord's Test has sensationally confirmed that there WERE cheats in his team.

Respected opening batsman Yasir Hameed claims bent teammates were fixing "almost every match".

And he provided a devastating insight into the shady world of betting scams, telling how he:

• REFUSED bribes of up to £150,000 from a corrupt bookmaker to throw matches.
• LOST his own place in the squad and saw his career damaged as a result.
• WATCHED as crooked colleagues splashed out on plush properties and expensive sports cars funded by their illicit activities.
• LEARNED that shameless players pocketed an astonishing £1.8million for rigging a Test match against Australia earlier this year.

Hameed, once rated amongst the world's finest batsmen, said of his scandal-struck colleagues: "They've been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks.

Pakistan cricket star Yasir Hameed blows lid off cricket match fixing

"They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages.

"It makes me angry because I'm playing my best and they are trying to lose."

And, predicting the likely fate of the players exposed by the News of the World, Hameed added darkly: "The guys that have got done have got themselves killed.

"They're gone - forget about them."

British tabloid weekly releases video of Yasir Hameed

Updated at: 0549 PST,  Sunday, September 05, 2010  LONDON: British weekly tabloid newspaper has issued video of Pakistan Test player Yasir Hameed, which exposed many shocking facts in connection with corruption in Pakistan cricket team, Geo News reported. The video footage, apparently recorded secretly on a hidden camera, showed that Yasir Hameed was gossiping with a reporter of newspaper, Mazhar Mehmood, in a friendly atmosphere. Yasir Hameed was shot with camera claiming that most agents of players are bookies in reality. He was further shown claiming that he had been too offered huge amount of money for match-fixing including offer for a Ferrari Car and 1500,000 pounds but he refused proposals every time. “Many players are involved in fixing matches”, said Yasir on camera, adding that those players who did illegal activities are paying for their misdeeds.” “Allah has penalized guilty players. Sydney Test earned corrupt players up to 1.8 million pounds for fixing match”, Yasir claimed.

PCB drops Butt, Asif, Amir from Pak squad

Updated at: 1503 PST,  Thursday, September 02, 2010

TAUNTON: Tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been dropped by the Pakistan Cricket Board from the limited-overs leg of the England tour, according to team manager Yawar Saeed. Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said that new replacement players will be called in for the series. The players accused of spot-fixing during the Lord's Test missed a practice game against Somerset in Taunton to meet with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and International Cricket Council (ICC) officials and senior diplomats. Captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif have been implicated in the scandal following a sting operation by British tabloid 'News of The World'. Pakistan lost the four-Test series against England 1-3 last week at Lord's where the finale was overshadowed by the 'spot-fixing' scandal. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three Pakistan players who are at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy have been dropped; however, they had not, been suspended. The three players are currently in London, where they are due to meet Pakistan's high commissioner to the UK. The PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt, is expected to be at that meeting. Speaking in Taunton, where the Pakistan team are to play a warm-up match later on Thursday, Saeed said he had taken the decision, and also called for three replacements. "The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, i.e. 13 people," Saeed said. "When we play the one-day internationals we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16." The decision comes after several rounds of meetings between Ijaz Butt, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat and officials of the ECB, at which the PCB is believed to have been advised that the players should not take part in the rest of the tour.

Veena Malik to meet ICC investigators

Veena Malik to meet ICC investigators  Updated :   Wednesday  September  1 , 2010  4:14:38 PM

ISLAMABAD: The former girlfriend of Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has been asked to give evidence to the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit in a match-fixing investigation. Veena Malik's manager Sohail Rashid on Wednesday said the actress has been approached by the ICC. Asif and teammate Mohammad Amir have been implicated in a spot fixing scandal uncovered in a British tabloid newspaper sting. "They have approached Ms. Malik and will be soon meeting with her," Rashid told mediamen. Rashid was not sure when and where the meeting will be held. An ICC spokesman said the game's governing body does not comment on the ongoing investigations of its anti-corruption unit. The actress suspects that an Indian national, who often called and sent text messages to Asif was involving in illegal gambling. "I was surprised why a guy from India is calling so frequently and sending texts to Asif," Malik said. "That was quite suspicious for me ...later on he (Asif) went to Thailand to have meeting with this particular guy." In England on Wednesday, three Pakistan cricketers implicated in match-fixing allegations were sent to London to face an inquiry with Pakistani officials. Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Asif and Amir left the team hotel in Taunton to head to London. Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had ordered Thursday's inquiry at the Pakistan High Commission in in London.

Dont ban Pakistan: Taylor

Dont ban Pakistan: Taylor  Updated :   Wednesday  September  1 , 2010  12:24:16 PM

SYDNEY: Former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor said Wednesday suspending Pakistan from international cricket over alleged match fixing would be "too harsh". Taylor said it would be detrimental to cricket if an entire nation was banned because of the conduct of individuals. "I don't agree with that, I think it's too harsh a penalty for one nation," Taylor said. "If they have one person, two people, three people involved in match-fixing or fixing certain deliveries ... to throw the whole nation? No, I'm not for that." Taylor said banning Pakistan would not serve to lift the stain of match fixing from cricket. "You're always going to ask those questions," he said. "(If) you throw them out, when they come back you're still going to ask those questions. "I think all you can do is penalize the individuals and embark on an education process and hopefully stop people from doing this sort of thing, but I think throwing the nation out of world cricket I don't think is right." Taylor said combatting match fixing was a major challenge, not just in cricket. "(Match-fixing) is probably there in all sports," he said. "You can not monitor people 24/7," he said. "It comes down to education and it comes down at the end of the day saying 'if you get involved in it, the repercussions are going to be damning'." Earlier Wednesday, former New Zealand captain and ICC match referee John Reid joined calls for Pakistan's removal from world cricket.

Afridi struggling to lift morale after allegations

Afridi struggling to lift morale after allegations  Updated :   Wednesday  September  1 , 2010  9:08:49 PM

TAUNTON: Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi is struggling to lift the morale of his squad following the allegations of fixing against three of the players. Afridi is captain for two Twenty20s and five one-day matches after taking over from Salman Butt —one of the three players returning to London to face an internal inquiry by Pakistani officials. ''Myself and the coach are trying to keep morale high,'' Afridi said Wednesday. ''It's always very difficult in these conditions against a good team but they are all really focused. ''What has happened has gone. We are here to play good cricket. It's a big challenge for me personally —playing in English conditions is always difficult.'' Afridi hopes that the remainder of Pakistan's tour of England will help the players get over the stress of the past few days, which have featured the newspaper allegations and the start of a police investigation. ''We are all looking forward to it,'' Afridi said. ''It has been really difficult but we can forget everything, get out, play the cricket and entertain the people.'' Pakistan plays its first Twenty20 against England on Sunday.

PCB replaces suspected trio for rest of tour

PCB replaces suspected trio for rest of tour

Updated :   Thursday  September  2 , 2010  2:48:34 PM

TAUNTON, England: The three Pakistan players at the center of the fixing allegations dominating the team's tour of England will not play in the remaining Twenty20 and one-day international matches.

Team manager Yawar Saeed said Thursday that bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and test captain Salman Butt have not been suspended but that they will not play in the remainder of the tour.

Saeed said that 13 players will be available for the two Twenty20 matches before three replacements arrive to bolster the squad for the five-match one-day series.

"The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, i.e. 13 people," Saeed said. "When we play the one-day internationals, we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16."

Saeed, who had earlier said the trio would continue playing unless police laid criminal charges against them, did not say who the replacements would be.

Asif, Amir and Butt were at the Pakistan High Commission on Thursday for questioning by a Pakistan Cricket Board investigation.

British newspaper the News of the World alleged Sunday that Amir and Asif were paid to deliberately bowl no-balls in the opening day of the fourth test against England at Lord's last week.

Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were also implicated in the story.

Asif, Amir and Butt had their mobile phones confiscated by police, who also searched hotel rooms and questioned players on Saturday as part of an investigation also involving the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

Asif ex-girlfriend gives match-fix evidence

Asif ex-girlfriend gives match-fix evidence

Updated :   Thursday  September  2 , 2010  2:26:32 PM

ISLAMABAD: The former girlfriend of Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has met International Cricket Council officials investigating match fixing, after commenting on her suspicions of Asif's behavior.

Actress Veena Malik's manager Sohail Rashid on Thursday said she met ICC anti-corruption officials on Wednesday evening.

Ms. Malik had told Associated Press Television News that an Indian man frequently called and sent text messages to Asif, which she found suspicious.

Asif and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Amir are at the center of a match fixing controversy. Both were implicated in an alleged plan to deliberately bowl no-balls during the fourth test against England at Lord's.

کھلاڑی سب کچھ بھول کر ون ڈے سیریز پر توجہ دیں ،آفریدی

کھلاڑی سب کچھ بھول کر ون ڈے سیریز پر توجہ دیں ،آفریدی

ٹاونٹن: اسپاٹ فکسنگ کے بھنورمیں پھنسی پاکستان کرکٹ ٹیم آج سمرسیٹ کے خلاف پریکٹس میچ کھیلے گی۔قومی ون ڈے ٹیم کے کپتان شاہد آفریدی کا کہنا ہے کہ اسپاٹ فکسنگ اسکینڈل کے الزامات کے بعد ٹیم کی کپتانی کرنا کسی چیلنج سے کم نہیں ہوگا۔ٹاونٹن میں میڈیا سے بات چیت کرتے ہوئے قومی ون ڈے اور ٹی ٹوئنٹی ٹیم کے کپتان شاہد آفریدی نے کہا کہ گزشتہ روز کھلاڑیوں نے بھر پور پریکٹس کی ہے اور ان کی نظریں انگلینڈ کے خلاف ٹی ٹوئنٹی میچ پر مرکوز ہے۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ قومی کھلاڑیوں پر اسپاٹ فکسنگ کے الزامات لگنا مایوس کن ہے لیکن اب تک کچھ ثابت نہیں ہوا ہے۔ شاہد آفریدی نے کہا کہ اس وقت پاکستان ٹیم مشکل وقت سے گزر رہی ہے اور ایسے موقع پر قومی ٹیم کی قیادت کرنا کسی چیلنج سے کم نہیں ہوگا۔ قومی ون ڈے ٹیم کے کپتان نے کہا کہ وہ کوچ وقار یونس کے ساتھ مل کر کھلاڑیوں کا مورال بلند کرنے کی کوشش کر رہے ہیں۔ آل راونڈر نے کہا کہ کھلاڑیوں کو واضح کردیا ہے کہ تمام باتوں کو بھول کر ون ڈے سیریز پر توجہ دیں۔ انہوں نے امید ظاہر کی سمرسیٹ کے خلاف پریکٹس میچ میں تمام کھلاڑی بہترین کارکردگی کا مظاہرہ کریں گے۔

Salman, Aamir, Asif meet PCB officials

Updated at: 1006 PST,  Thursday, September 02, 2010

LONDON: Facing the match-fixing allegations, three Pakistani players, Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamir met PCB officials including Chairman Ijaz Butt on Thursday, Geo News reported. However, players’ scheduled meeting with Pakistani High Commission in London Wajid Shamsul Hassan was delayed for a day due to anonymous reasons. Now, this meeting will be held on Friday, featuring presence of PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, PCB sources said. It was decided during the meeting with PCB officials that three players will join ODI squad in Taunton on Friday. Shocking news for Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Aamir appeared that a garment manufacturing company has called off ad agreement with bowler owing to spot-fixing charges.

Scotland Yard levels no charge on players: HC

Updated at: 0417 PST,  Wednesday, September 01, 2010  LONDON: Pakistan High Commission in London said Tuesday Scotland Yard Police merely carried out investigation with Pakistani players alleged of cricket betting scam but however, they have so far leveled no charges upon them, Geo News reported. In a statement issued from Pakistan HC in UK, shelving the impression that cricket team has been asked to abandon ongoing visit, said: “Neither any action is in progress against alleged players nor have they been asked to come back home.” There is no truthfulness in news pertaining to leaving out any player from squad neither the tour is going to be called off, the statement went on saying so. The statement said that no FIA team is flying to London to probe into betting allegations against seven players as the matter is currently in hands of Scotland Yard Police for investigation. Statement also clarified that those arrested including a woman were accused of money laundering on contrary to fixing matches, leaving the matter entirely unlinked with betting scam. Scolding news media over their conduct in connection with betting allegations, the statement warned newsmen against exaggerating the matter, saying no evidences have proven positive against players as yet.

PCB won’t suspend any player pending betting probe

Updated at: 1622 PST,  Tuesday, August 31, 2010  LONDON: Pakistan Cricket Board said Tuesday it would not suspend top players accused over a betting scam while the claims are probed, but reports suggest they will not play the rest of the tour in England. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has promised "prompt and decisive action" if the allegations made by a British Sunday newspaper are proven, insisting that corruption would not be tolerated. Pakistani authorities have also promised severe punishment but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Tuesday it would not suspend any players while police investigated the players. "Chairman Ijaz Butt just told me that since there is a case going on with the Scotland Yard we are not going to suspend any player," a PCB spokesman said. "He further said that this is only an allegation so far. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken." According to British media reports, the players named in the News of the World allegations -- captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Kamran Akmal -- are unlikely to play in the series of one-day internationals against England. The Pakistan team begin their preparation for the one-day series, which follows the Test series in which the alleged betting scam took place, with a practice match against English county Somerset on Thursday. The first one-day match against England is on Sunday. The News of the World, a British Sunday tabloid, alleged that a middleman took 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) to arrange for Pakistani players to deliberately bowl the no-balls. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said it understood that the ICC had asked the Pakistan authorities for the four players cited in the allegations to be dropped from the squad, although no official request has been made. Other British press reports said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was adamant that the players at the centre of the allegations should be omitted from the one-day series. Citing an ICC source, it also reported that the same players had been under investigation for months by their anti-corruption unit.

ICC promises 'decisive' action if fix claims proven

Updated at: 2349 PST,  Monday, August 30, 2010  LONDON: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday promised "prompt and decisive action" if allegations of spot-fixing by Pakistan players in the fourth Test against England were proven. Neither the ICC nor the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have suspended the players involved in the allegedly deliberate bowling of no-balls here at Lord's during the final Test of a four-match series. But ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement issued Monday: "The integrity of the game is of paramount importance. "Prompt and decisive action will be taken against those who seek to harm it. "However, the facts must first be established through a thorough investigation and it is important to respect the right of due process when addressing serious allegations of this sort. "Make no mistake - once the process is complete, if any players are found to be guilty, the ICC will ensure that the appropriate punishment is handed out. We will not tolerate corruption in this great game," added Lorgat, who said the ICC were conducting their own enquries into the allegations. Pakistan's tour is continuing with a one-day match against county side Somerset on Thursday and the players who have been under investigation could yet play in that fixture at Taunton and in the first of two Twenty20 internationals against England in Cardiff this coming Sunday. Meanwhile Lorgat insisted: "The ICC, ECB and PCB are committed to a zero-tolerance approach to corruption in cricket. "All allegations of betting irregularities or fixing of matches or incidents within matches are investigated thoroughly by the ICC's internationally respected Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) and this case is no different." The South African added: "Currently, senior ACSU investigators are in the United Kingdom conducting enquiries into the allegations directed at some Pakistan players during the recently concluded Test against England at Lord's. "That investigation has the full support and co-operation of the ECB and PCB. In addition, ACSU officials are assisting London's Metropolitan Police with their criminal investigation. "Led by Sir Ronnie Flanagan (the former Northern Ireland police chief) the ACSU is the most respected and experienced such unit in world sport and it has at its disposal a robust and far-reaching anti-corruption code that all ICC members support and are bound by." The scandal broke when Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed last Sunday it had paid fixer Mazhar Majeed 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) for advance details of three Pakistan no-balls at Lord's as part of a sting operation. Majeed, a 35-year-old who is an agent for several Pakistan players, was arrested by police on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers in the wake of the report but was released on bail late last Sunday. Scotland Yard interviewed Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal plus star strike bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, who bowled the no-balls -- normally an accidental and unpredictable occurrence -- in question. Butt, Asif and 18-year-old Aamer all had their mobile phones seized. Pakistan lost the fourth Test by an innings and 225 runs -- their heaviest Test defeat -- and with it the series 3-1 at Lord's on Sunday.

Pakistan scandal poses major questions for ICC

Updated at: 0232 PST,  Tuesday, August 31, 2010  NEW DELHI: Betting scam allegations swirling around the Pakistan team are raising serious doubts over the ability of cricket's global anti-corruption watchdog to snuff out problems blighting the game. Britain's News of the World newspaper said Sunday it had paid middleman Mazhar Majeed 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars) for advance details of three no-balls in the final Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord's. International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the ICC, which he said has a "zero-tolerance approach to corruption in cricket", was conducting its own inquiry and would take action against any guilty players. "If these allegations are proven, action will be taken in a severe manner," he told media, adding in a statement that the game's integrity was "of paramount importance". But the alleged "spot-fixing" by Pakistani players highlights the apparent failure of the ICC's much-vaunted Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The ACSU was set up in 2000 after a match-fixing scandal that led to life bans for Test captains Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Mohammad Azharuddin (India) and Salim Malik (Pakistan). The unit was headed by former London Metropolitan police chief Paul Condon until June, when he retired and was replaced by another senior former British policeman, Ronnie Flanagan. The ICC acknowledges that millions of dollars are gambled legally and illegally on every match, and says the ACSU was established when "cricket's reputation and integrity were tarnished and in danger of being destroyed". Respected website Cricinfo.com reported on Monday that the ACSU had been monitoring several Pakistani cricketers and the alleged middleman, Majeed, over recent months. Pakistan's tour of Australia earlier this year -- especially the second Test in which the tourists collapsed to hand the hosts an astonishing victory -- attracted ACSU interest but no action was taken. Before he retired, Condon told Cricinfo that Pakistani in-fighting on the tour had wrecked the team's motivation. "What we still need to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to do down captains or potential captains, or whether it was something more serious, doing it for a financial fix," he said. But ACSU investigations into the Pakistan set-up were hampered because Majeed is also agent to several of the players and could not be stopped from having access to them. One clear failing of the body has been its failure to fill the key vacancy of regional manager for Pakistan and Bangladesh since retired colonel Nuruddin Khawaja died in January. "The ICC and the ACSU are on the job, but they still need to do a lot more to ensure such things don't happen," veteran cricket writer Ayaz Memon told media. "It can't be easy to prove underhand corruption. But cricket clearly does not need such scandals." The ACSU has yet to release its report on the Sydney Test between Pakistan and Australia, which Majeed claimed was fixed in favour of the home team and earned him 1.3 million pounds. "My prediction is that you will never entirely eradicate fixing from the game of cricket," Condon told Cricinfo in May. "If you were designing a game to fix, you would design cricket, because it is a whole series of discreet events, and every ball you can bet on. "If you know in advance when a bowler is going to bowl a no-ball, it's like knowing when red or black is going to come up on a roulette wheel." Condon had targeted low-profile one-day matches and the cash-rich Indian Premier League, but gave a clean slate to the IPL's third edition this year. While trumpeting the ICC's zeal to fight corruption, Lorgat acknowledged that the ACSU is hamstrung by limited powers. "It hasn't got the powers of the police or the ability of a newspaper to mount a 'sting' operation," he told media.

Three held over cricket 'betting scam'

Updated at: 1851 PST,  Tuesday, August 31, 2010  Three people have been arrested by Customs officials in connection with betting allegations against Pakistani cricket players. Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned yesterday as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs said. The development came as it was announced that three Pakistan cricketers will meet officials from their country in London tomorrow.

Rehman views anti-Pak plot among scam factors

Updated at: 1419 PST,  Tuesday, August 31, 2010

KARACHI: Federal Interior Minister Rehman A Malik said the investigative team of Pakistan would jump into probe after the report by Scotland Yard is finally made public, Geo News reported Tuesday. Talking to media along with Federal Sports Minister Aijaz Jakhrani here, he sought people of Pakistan to hold on until Scotland Yard police report, adding ‘We have written a letter regarding collaboration on the investigations with Scotland Yard and elicited from them the investigative report. Responding a question about the video, the federal minister said the video may be forged, adding action would be taken against any players if found involved in the match-fixing scandal. Aijaz said, ‘The incident caused cutting grief to the fans of cricket and we don’t need to send any other team to London.’ Rehman said the government did not rule out any anti-Pakistan conspiracy in the scam, and if there is any plot in the making, it should be uncovered. The police in the two countries may join hands in the probe under agreement between the two countries, he clarified.

Asif, Aamer, Butt stopped from practice August 31, 2010

Asif, Aamer, Butt stopped from practice

Updated at: 1849 PST,  Tuesday, August 31, 2010  TAUNTON: Pakistan cricket team management present in England stopped three players - Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Salman Butt – from taking part in practice and they are being sent to London. Sources said that Pakistan high commissioner in England Wajid Shamsul Hasan has summoned these three players to London where they are also expected to meet with wellknown lawyer Elizabeth Robert. All three players have been charged for match-fixing. As per sources, replacements of these three players may be announced but the accused players cannot go outside England until the investigations are completed. Meanwhile, an important meeting is going on between Waqar Younis, Shafqat Rana and Ijaz Ahmed.

Match Fixing Scandal: Pakistan Cricketers Set to Lose Test, Series, and Dignity

(Watch video of the ‘fixer’ detailing the ‘fix’, below).

With England already in a commanding lead in the Third Test match, Pakistan seems set to lose the game as well as the series to hosts England. But at least some of the Pakistan team may already have lost their dignity and any respect their fans had for them given the explosive allegations from mass-selling British tabloid News of the World. Although still allegations, the facts and the circumstances are piling up to a nasty indictment of a number of Pakistan players, including Captain Salman Butt, and Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Kamran Akmal.

Orchestrated by London-based fixed Mazhar Majeed, these players (and possibly others) seem to be embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, which will not only bring further heartbreak and shame to Pakistan cricket fans but also wreck whatever little dignity is left in a team that is in tatters in terms of performance and, if these allegations are true, in morals too.

Here are some essential details, according to a report at CricInfo:

The fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s is at the centre of a police investigation into spot-fixing, after a 35-year-old man was arrested after allegedly being caught offering to bribe Pakistan’s bowlers to bowl no-balls on demand.

According to a report in The News of the World, Mazher Majeed accepted £150,000 to arrange a fix involving Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, whom he allegedly asked to bowl no-balls at specific moments of the match. The paper also alleges that the team captain, Salman Butt, and the wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, are involved, along with three other unnamed cricketers.

Cricinfo understands that the players named were questioned and were quizzed about sums of money found in the rooms, though it is thought that those were made up of the daily allowances players are given while on tour. The man arrested is believed to have contacts with the team though until now it was assumed he was acting as an agent for players, helping them secure sponsorship and kit contracts.

Officials from the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit are currently flying in from Dubai, and in a statement, the ICC confirmed that the allegations were being taken seriously. “The International Cricket Council, the England & Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board have been informed by the Metropolitan Police that a 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers,” read the statement.

“The Metropolitan Police have informed the ICC, ECB and PCB that their investigations continue and ICC, ECB and PCB, with the involvement of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, are fully assisting those enquiries. No players nor team officials have been arrested in relation to this incident and the fourth npower Test match will continue as scheduled on Sunday. As this is now subject to a police investigation neither ICC, ECB, PCB, nor the ground authority, the MCC, will make any further comment.” A Scotland Yard spokeman added: “Following information received from the News of the World we have today [Saturday, August 28] arrested a 35-year old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.”

A report in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper confirms the same and quotes the Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed telling the Associated Press: ‘I can confirm that we are aware of the allegations and Scotland Yard police are with us now at the hotel and we are helping them with their enquiries. This is as much as I can say at the moment.”

But the real dynamite here is the explosive video from News of the World:

In describing the video included above, The News of the Worldwrites:

Having already trousered a £10,000 upfront deposit – which he insisted had gone to the stars – Majeed sat in our west London hotel room at the Copthorne Tara on Wednesday night and eagerly counted out the £140,000 balance in bundles of crisp £50 notes – our “entry ticket” into his already successful betting scam.

Our undercover team was posing as front men for a Far East gambling cartel. In return for their suitcase of money Majeed then calmly detailed what would happen – and when – on the field of play next day, as a taster of all the lucrative information he could supply in future.

He promised: “I’m going to give you three no-balls to prove to you firstly that this is what’s happening. They’ve all been organised, okay?

“This is EXACTLY what’s going to happen, you’re going to SEE these three things happen. I’m telling you, if you play this right you’re going to make a lot of money, believe me!”

Later in the same story, The News of the World goes on to quote the fixer, Majeed, as saying:

“I’ve been doing it with them, the Pakistani team, for about 2½ years. And we’ve made masses and masses of money.”

Later that night Majeed boasted how it was the players who got HIM into match-fixing. He told us: “The players would never tell anybody else. They were the ones who actually approached me about this. This is the beauty of it.

“I was friends with them for four, five years and then they said this happens. I said really?”

Majeed then described how the betting scam operates. He reached into a carrier bag, pulled out a white BlackBerry phone and flicked through a series of messages.

“I deal with an Indian party,” he said. “They pay me for the information.”

Then Majeed explained how many cricket bets are placed on what he called “brackets” – events happening in a group of 10 overs.

If players score well in the first three overs punters would be likely to bet on that continuing for the next seven. But if the fixed players then deliberately STOP scoring or slow down, anybody in on it can “make a killing”, said Majeed. The same happens with bowlers giving away runs or throwing no-balls.

In a follow-up story inThe News of the World, gives even more detail:

… after play ended for the day Majeed smugly rang our reporter to brag. “You a bit more comfortable now?” he asked. “Told you. Once you showed your hand, I showed my hand, okay?”

Then he revealed how he had arranged another no-ball for the following day’s play. “Right, it’s going to be Amir’s third over and third ball,” he said. “It’ll be his third over, not the third over of the game.” He ended the call by reminding our man: “Boss, I’m telling you, you’re dealing with the right person, you’re not dealing with an idiot, all right?”

But on Friday morning Majeed contacted our man saying that he’d received a message from Amir. Majeed said: “He’s briefed up. He’s just texted me now to say ‘Shall I do it or not?’ ”

And Amir DID do it – despite getting off to a sensational start, taking three quick wickets in nine balls.

Commentators described him as being “on fire” as England wickets tumbled to his pace attack. Amir managed to skittle out England batsmen Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan without any of them scoring a single run. It was only the fifth time in history the third, fourth and fifth batsmen in an order had been dismissed for ducks. During the blitz, former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding, commentating for Sky, said: “It’s been Mohammad Amir’s morning. He’s made that ball talk.”

His colleague Michael Atherton said: “Remarkable stuff this morning from Pakistan and in particular Mohammad Amir. Just 18 years of age. He’s running in from the Pavilion End. He’s like an old hand.

“He looks like he’s going to get a wicket with every ball he bowls.”

With Amir tearing through the batsmen, Majeed quickly contacted our man, warning that the promised no-ball might have to be cancelled and that we shouldn’t place big bets on it. He said the captain might tell Amir to keep up the onslaught. “So much is happening out there at the moment,” he added. Majeed was right – captain Salman Butt, who Majeed boasts is one of his players in the fixing scam – did have a quick word with Amir just before the THIRD BALL of the THIRD OVER.

Usually mid-over conversations between bowlers and captains would be about the placement of fielders and whether to make any changes.

On this occasion, no changes were made, prompting commentator Michael Holding to chip in: “A quick conference between captain and the bowler. Hasn’t resulted in the field being changed. Not yet.”

But there WAS a sudden change in Amir’s form. As promised, he bowled and again placed his foot over the crease, into the banned area – a no-ball. The umpire had a word with Amir about the surprise delivery, pointing out how far over the line his foot had been.

On the TV replay, the side view showed he placed his foot at least eight inches past the line. It prompted bowling legend Michael Holding to exclaim: “How far over was that? Woh!”

Ian Botham added: “It’s like net bowling” – referring to when bowlers don’t try so hard when they are practising in the nets.

In its story The News of the World writes that “The scam, fuelled by greed, is a betrayal by the players not only of their sport but of their cricket-crazy homeland.” They are right, but only just. If true – I guess, one keeps hoping against hope that it is not – it would also be a betrayal of decency and dignity. If indeed these allegations are proven true, these cheats – and by that one means not only the fixer but any players or officials involved – should be treated as exactly that: cheats and liars and frauds and given the full punishment for being that. Certainly, this magnitude of lying and cheating should be cause for a permanent removal from ever representing the national side again.

Imran Khan The guilty should be punished as an example for future generations to realise that crime does not pay

Imran Khan The guilty should be punished as an example for future generations to realise that crime does not pay

Imran wants harsh punishment as deterrent

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has said he is concerned about the long-term repercussions the match-fixing crisis could have on the country's cricketing establishment but feels it is a chance for the authorities to act in a manner that would discourage future cricketers from considering such activities.

"If they are proved, not just in terms of the best players in the team being implicated but from the public point of view, they would not understand the finer points of the game and each time they lose they will think it's a fixed match," Imran told Britain's ITVchannel.

"Why should Pakistan cricket suffer if some players have indulged in a crime? Why should Pakistani supporters suffer because of that? The people who are found guilty should be removed from the team and replaced and should be punished as an example for future generations to realise that crime does not pay."

Reactions to the issue have come in thick and fast, especially from former cricketers. Matthew Hayden, the former Australia opener, said it was "not in Australia's DNA to accept any kind of skullduggery", and felt the scandal highlighted the different cultures that exist in the game. "You have a look at Pakistan which has been wiped out by the recent floods and you put yourself in the position that maybe you can try and get what's left of your family and salvage the situation," Hayden told AAP. "We wouldn't ever dare get involved in corruption but that's in our country."

Hayden's one-time Australia team-mate Ian Healy, felt that players involved in fixing did not care enough for their country, and was pleased that they may have been caught in the act. "We'd be stupid to think this is new," he said. "How long has this lurk been going on? It's a long time I'm sure, but it's been caught which is awesome," said Healy, who also recalled a dodgy victory against Pakistan in the 90s which later came under the match-fixing scanner.

"This game in Sri Lanka we thought we were heroes - we were high-fiving fools. It came out a year later that that game was brought into question," Healy said.

Healy, however, said that he felt Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal did not deliberately drop catches during the Sydney Test, which Mahzar Majeed, the man at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy, claimed was also fixed to News of the World. Healy said Akmal came to him for advice because he was struggling with his keeping.

"He was stiff as a board and extremely tense. You couldn't drop those on purpose they way he was doing it," Healy told the Sydney Morning Herald. "His technique had gone off, which he told me about two weeks before - the ball wasn't going into his glove that well for the spinners. I said to him, 'look, we'll work on that in Hobart'. I wasn't going to the Sydney Test. And then he did that. It didn't look to me as if they were on purpose at all."

Michael Hussey, the Australian batsman who was let off by Akmal in Sydney, also said he felt the mistakes were genuine. "It all happens in a split second," he said. "Especially the catches off me ... they were all up to the stumps. With those sort of catches they either go in or they don't. I don't think you can try to drop those."

Former ICC chief Malcolm Speed said there was a "fairly compelling case" for suspending Pakistan from the ICC. "It looks as though it is endemic that several of the team members are involved and have been for some time," Speed told ABC radio. "So perhaps they need a rest."

Speed echoed Healy's views that the unearthing of the scandal was a step forward for the game. "[It's] great that they've been caught in England where there is a very sophisticated legal system that deals with conspiracy and specifically with cheating in sport. So I see that as a major positive," he said. "I would have liked it to have happened when I was involved with ICC but it didn't happen at that time."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Mohammad Amir is one of the players whose mobile phone has been removed © AFP

Mohammad Amir is one of the players whose mobile phone has been removed © AFP