Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi finally says sorry

By Gary Fitzgerald 5/09/2010

Pakistan's Test opener sparks new match-fixing storm on the day that skipper Shahid Afridi finally says..

Shahid Afridi has issued a shock apology over the alleged "spot-fixing" scandal which has rocked cricket.

The Pakistan One-day captain said "sorry" on behalf of the three players caught up in the ugly Lord's controversy.

Pakistan captain Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged by the ICC under their anti-corruption code and provisionally suspended a f t e r a l l e g at i o n s o f deliberately bowling "no balls" in the Fourth Test.

The players - dropped for the rest of the tour - were released without charge by police after being questioned as part of the ongoing investigation into whether they accepted money from agent and businessman Mazhar Majeed.

Until yesterday, the Pakistanis have refused to condemn the players, insisting they are innocent until proven guilty.

And they have even tried to claim the whole saga a being a set-up.

But, as Pakistan prepared for today's first Twenty20 clash with England in Cardiff, Afridi revealed the first sign of remorse.

He insisted: "It is very bad news. On behalf of the players, I want to say sorry to cricket lovers in all cricketing nations.

"People are very upset and despondent.

"The only thing we can do now is play good cricket.

"That's all we can do.

"I've told the boys 'don't read the newspapers'.

"I know they are very upset."

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Howeve r, t h e tourists were rocked last night by the allgeation from Yasir Hameed that match-fixing had been going on throughout their visit to England this summer.

Yasir, 32, played in the third Test at The Oval. He claimed last night: "It makes me angry because I'm playing my best and they are trying to lose.

"They've been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks."

He added: "They were doing it in almost every match.

"God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages."

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis revealed Butt, Asif and Amir could still be a part of future Pakistan squads, insisting: "I am not sure what is going to happen, but if they are cleared they will always be welcome back. It is a big loss to the Pakistan cricket team. It's been a hard week for us. It's has been very difficult to re-focus them again.

"The support staff and Shahid Afridi are working very hard to stop people thinking about anything else.

"It is pretty sad what has happened and has been tough on everyone, not just me but the entire team, management and back home.

"We must now try and win the series so that it will take away some of the sadness from the team and the country. It's important the boys charge up now and deliver.

"We have plenty of security around. And we are trying to make sure the players don't mix with any strangers around the hotel because the situation is pretty bad.

"We want them to try to sort it out and forget what happened."

CROYDON ATHLETIC FC - owned by Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal - last night announced changes to their managerial team.

A statement on the club's website revealed that manager Tom O'Shea and assistant Neil Smith have left with immedate effect.

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Pakistan match-fixing claims: player 'hid mobile phone in his helmet while waiting to bat'

A Pakistan player concealed a mobile phone inside the helmet he was wearing as he waited to bat during a recent international match, one of his team-mates has alleged.

By Scyld Berry
Published: 11:00PM BST 04 Sep 2010

Man in the middle: alleged breach of the anti-fixing laws reported to the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit headed by Sir Ronnie Flanagan Photo: AFP A former Pakistan Test cricketer, who was told of the incident by this player's team-mate, has passed on the allegation to the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The use of mobile phones by players is strictly forbidden anywhere on the ground during an international match under ICC regulations designed to prevent communication between match-fixers and players.

The former Test cricketer, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said he rang the ACSU hotline after being told recently of the claim by the current Pakistan player. The phone was hidden inside the right earpiece of the helmet of the player waiting to bat, he alleged.


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Afridi issues shock apology "My reaction was one of disbelief," the former Test cricketer said on Saturday. "I had reason to suspect things were going on in international cricket, and you never had total confidence in certain games because of the rumours about match fixing and spot fixing. But when I was told about this player with the mobile inside his helmet, I was flabbergasted."

This revelation comes at the end of perhaps the most disturbing week cricket has seen in England, following last Sunday's newspaper allegations of spot fixing by three Pakistan players in the Lord's Test. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were all provisionally suspended by the ICC on Thursday evening after allegations of bowling deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan. They were questioned by police in London on Friday but were released without charge.

This afternoon the first of two Twenty20 internationals between England and Pakistan is due to take place in Cardiff. But officials from the ICC and the England and Wales Cricket Board were braced for further revelations last night by the News of the World which might put the series in jeopardy.

On Saturday, the Pakistan one-day captain, Shahid Afridi, apologised on behalf of Butt, Asif and Amir. "I think it is very bad news," he said in Cardiff. "I think on behalf of these players – I know they are not in this series – but on behalf of these boys I want to say sorry." He added that he had not spoken to them and had not asked if he could apologise on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the legal adviser of the Pakistan Cricket Board says the three suspended players have acknowledged the businessman at the centre of the fixing claims, Mazhar Majeed, is their agent – but have denied knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing by him. The News of the World accused Majeed last weekend of accepting money in exchange for organising Asif and Amir to bowl no-balls.

PCB legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi also said on Saturday that the three would have to fight their cases on their own if they appeal against their suspension.

Pakistani Cricket Team Faces Allegations of Match-Fixing

British police have arrested London-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

The arrest came after the British newspaper, News of the World, reported that it had filmed its reporters posing as representatives of a gambling cartel paying Majeed to fix a match.

The paper said it gave him $230,000 for arranging to have blatant no-balls bowled at specific times during play between England and Pakistan. Records show that occurred when two bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, delivered three deliberate no-balls against England on Thursday and Friday.

Amir, Asif and team captain Salman Butt were among the Pakistani players questioned by police late Saturday. The players refused to answer questions from reporters.

The fourth day of the match went ahead Sunday and England's win gave it the four-test series, 3-1.

Majeed and his brother Azhar are agents who represent a number of Pakistani players. Cricinfo.com reports that Pakistani players were warned ahead of the England tour not to meet the Azhars because of their suspicious activities.

Members of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Union left their headquarters in Dubai to travel to London to look into the allegations.

Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia but allegations of match-fixing have surrounded the sport for years.

Pakistan match-fixing claims: fourth member of squad 'investigated' by ICC

A fourth member of the Pakistan squad is being investigated by the International Cricket Council over match-fixing allegations, it is claimed in Sunday's News of the World.

By Nicholas Randall
Published: 9:43PM BST 04 Sep 2010


Eye of the storm: Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt, centre, who faces match-fixing allegations, leaves a police station in London Photo: AP And in a potential further blow to the country’s cricketing reputation, Pakistan Test opener Yasir Hameed is quoted in the paper as claiming that his team-mates have been involved in trying to rig “almost every match”.

However, Hameed on Saturday night denied that he had given an interview to the News of the World.


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Pietersen returns to form According to the paper, Hameed, who played in the Test series against England but is not in Pakistan’s limited-overs squad, said: “They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks.

“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.”

The paper, which on Sunday prints full details of an investigation into fixing that began in January, last week accused Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt of spot-fixing in last month’s Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan. However, for legal reasons the paper is not naming the fourth player being investigated by the ICC.

The Metropolitan Police, which has questioned Asif, Amir and Butt, said it was not investigating a fourth player.

Separately, it has been reported that Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been asked by the ICC to provide information, although not in relation to the recent Lord’s Test.

Asif, Amir and Butt, who were last week suspended by cricket’s world governing body, face 23 ICC charges between them with each player's charges running to six pages, the News of the World claims.

The ICC was on Saturday night unable to confirm or deny the latest report. “We cannot discuss ongoing investigations,” a spokesman said.

According to the paper, investigators have recovered between £10,000 and £15,000 in marked News of the World notes from the hotel room of Butt, the Pakistan captain.

The paper also claims it has further evidence that the meeting with alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed took place before the no-balls at the centre of the fixing allegations — two delivered by Amir in the Lord’s Test and one by Asif — had been bowled. The claim follows suggestions from the Pakistan High Commissioner that the players had been set up.