Cricket crisis deepens
09/04/2010 07:41:55 PM
Cricket's spot-fixing crisis has deepened, with Pakistani batsman Yasir Hameed claiming 'almost every match' has been fixed.
British tabloid The News of the World has also reported that Hameed turned down a 100,000 pound offer to help fix a Test match.
The newspaper also claims an unnamed fourth Pakistani player is being investigated by Scotland Yard in relation to the accusations of accepting bribes to deliberately bowl no balls and fix matches.
Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have all been charged and suspended under the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code and are also being investigated by police in light of the revelations.
"They've been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks," Hameed told The News of the World. "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."
Hameed played in two of Pakistan's recent Test against England, the results of which have come under scrutiny in light of the match fixing allegations.
The News of the World will also reveal full details of its entire investigation into match fixing and has revealed Butt, Asif and Amir face 23 ICC charges between them.
The paper also claims Butt was warned five times about his responsibilities to report any contact with suspected match fixers and that investigators have found between 10,000 and 15,000 pounds of bills marked by The News of the World in the Pakistan captain's hotel room.