Pakistan betting scandal fallout continues
The fallout continues for the Pakistan cricket team after allegations made in the News of the World that some members of the team had been involved in a betting scam during the final Test of the series against England at Lord’s over the past few days.
The allegations made by the newspaper centre around spot-fixing, essentially affecting the play to land bets on a specific passage of play rather than the overall result, centring around three deliberate no-balls against England on Thursday and Friday.
The News of the World implicated Pakistan pace duo Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif in the scandal, along with a middle man, 35-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed who, the paper claims met undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel and accepted £150,000, allegedly in return the two Pakistan fast bowlers to bowl no-balls at predetermined points in the match.
Majeed was arrested on Saturday as police investigated the claims arising from the story, but who was bailed without charge on Sunday night.
Police have taken statements from Amir and Asif, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and captain Salman Butt, while players’ mobile phones, computers and cash have also been seized as part of the investigations.
They are allegations that have rocked the cricket world, and while it must be stressed they are just that – allegations – the ripple effect has seen Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani order an inquiry into the matter undertake to impose life bans on any player found guilty of involvement in the alleged scam, which he said has made http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 "bow its head in shame".
Former International Cricket Council (ICC) boss, Malcolm Speed, has also bought into the debate, telling ABC radio in Australia: "It looks as though it is endemic that several of the team members are involved and have been for some time” and that "I think that's [suspension] an option. It's serious.”
Of course, the players in question are innocent until proven guilty, but the allegations have raised perhaps inevitable questions about Australia’s victory over Pakistan in the New Year’s Test in Sydney this year.
To that end, in a statement Cricket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 has said: “CA had been in no doubt that Australia had won that game on the merit of their on-field performance and will now wait on evidence from UK and ICC investigations before making any further comment.”
In that match, Australia conceded a first innings lead of 206, but went on to record a 36-run victory, as Michael Hussey scored a standout second innings 134 before spinner Nathan Hauritz snared a five-wicket haul as Pakistan crumbled for 139 in their second innings.
"The way we won was one of the more satisfying moments that I've had on the cricket field,” Ponting told ABC Radio on Monday. "And now when some of these things come to light is when you start to slightly doubt some of the things that have happened.”
The immediate practicalities, however, revolve around the remainder of Pakistan’s tour of England, where they are still scheduled to play a Twenty20 International and five ODIs against their hosts.
As England captain Andrew Strauss attempted to celebrate his team’s 3-1 Test series victory over Pakistan, he left any decisions about whether or not to play the remainder of the series to those with the power to make them: “That's something for the ICC, the ECB and the PCB to sit down and decide what the best way forward is. Clearly there are going to be some very strong reasons for the series to go ahead, but they've also got to sit down and think about what the right thing to do is, going forward, and that's their decision."
However, Pakistan manager, Yawar Saeed, yesterday seemed to be in no doubt about his views about the remainder of the tour, as she said, “As far as I'm concerned the one-day series is on”.
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