Sydney Test implicated in Pakistan betting scandal
As Pakistan capitulated to Australia on the final day of the New Year’s Test in Sydney this year, there was enough doubt about the visiting side’s performance that the ICC saw fit to investigate the happenings of that match.
In the Test, 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 – as along the way he was dropped three times by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal – before spinner Nathan Hauritz snared a five-wicket haul as Pakistan crumbled for 139 in their second innings.
Back in May, Lord Paul Conlon, then the chairman of the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit, told a press conference at Lord’s there “has been an ongoing investigation [into the Sydney Test] since the time [of the match].
"We are satisfied that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 point of view. The dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, to maybe players potentially underperforming deliberately.
"What we are trying to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to do down captains or potential captains. Or whether they were doing something more serious, for a financial fix," Condon said at the time.
By the end of that month, Cricket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 spokesman Peter Young was quoted in The Australian newspaper as saying the ICC had responded to an enquiry from Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland into the investigation, with Young quoted as saying: “The ICC has replied, saying it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and that there is no current investigation of match-fixing.”
Case closed then. Or maybe not.
The News of the World this weekend published allegations that some members of the Pakistan cricket team had been involved in spot-fixing in Pakistan’s Test against England at Lord’s in recent days, 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, 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 for the two Pakistan fast bowlers to bowl no-balls at predetermined stages of in the match.
Majeed was arrested on Saturday as police investigated the claims arising from the story, but was bailed without charge on Sunday night.
But it’s not just the Lord’s Test that has been called into question in the betting scandal, with News of the World allegedly told by Majeed: "Let me tell you the last test we did. It was the Second Test against Australia in Sydney. Australia had two more wickets left. They had a lead of 10 runs, yeah. And Pakistan had all their wickets remaining.
"The odds for Pakistan to lose that match, for Australia to win that match, were I think 40-1. We let them get up to 150 then everyone lost their wickets.”
It’s an allegation that, if proven, threatens to taint Australia’s victory against Pakistan and the stand-out efforts of the likes of Hussey and Hauritz – not to mention skipper Ricky Ponting who weathered a storm of criticism over his decision to bat first on a green wicket only to be vindicated by the result at the end of the match.
"The way we won was one of the more satisfying moments that I've had on the cricket field,” Ponting told Australia's 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.”
In that regard, in a statement Cricket Australia 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.”
Pakistan presently remain in England, where they are scheduled to play a Twenty20 International and ODI series against the hosts during September.
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