Pakistan’s January Test defeat to Australia came under renewed scrutiny yesterday after it emerged an agent at the center of a spot-fixing scandal met players a few weeks after the match.
The Australian newspaper printed what it said was a photo of Mazhar Majeed, the London-based businessman who has been quizzed by police over the scandal, dining with several players at a Perth restaurant three weeks after the match.
The report comes after opening batsman Yasir Hameed claimed the Sydney Test, in which Australia recovered from almost certain defeat to record a rousing win, was fixed for illegal bookmaking syndicates.
PHOTO: AFP
“In the Sydney Test match they made £1.8 million [US$2.8 million],” Hameed told British newspaper the News of the World in an undercover video recording. “They gave away the match.”
Hameed has since insisted that his comments were “largely inaccurately reported.”
Reports also said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had written to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who put down four catches in the Sydney Test, on an unknown matter.
On Sunday, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blasted Hameed as being mentally a teenager.
One-day skipper Afridi tore into Test batsman Hameed, who claimed he had done nothing more than repeat the allegations of “spot-fixing” being faced by three Pakistan players.
Afridi vowed to play his part in cleaning up Pakistan’s reputation.
“We all know we’ve got to get to the bottom of this and we’ll do anything as players, or management, commentators, umpires to eradicate this from the game. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
The News of the World released footage of Hameed in a bar telling an undercover reporter that some Pakistan players were fixing “almost every match.”
“They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it [fixing] in almost every match,” he was quoted as saying. “It makes me angry because I’m playing my best and they are trying to lose.”
Following a Twenty20 defeat in the Welsh capital, Afridi said what he thought of 32-year-old Hameed.
“Mentally he is 15, 16,” he said.
Asked if Hameed was unreliable, he said: “Yeah, people know which type of character he is.”
The News of the World claims it paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, £150,000 for advance knowledge of no-balls in last month’s final Test against England. That prompted the ICC to charge Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.
Former England captain Geoff Boycott said it was no surprise that Pakistan were repeatedly implicated in corruption scandals, as the cricket authorities had never clamped down hard enough on past cases. The Yorkshireman urged the authorities to offer teenager Amir a plea bargain.
“Tell the truth about what took place and he can get off with a lighter sentence. If he won’t play ball, then make an example of him,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “I feel for Amir, because any 18-year-old is likely to get dragged along by his seniors ... As for the others, they should be treated even more harshly, because they have no excuse.”
Also See: Yardy stars as England triumph
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS