Thaindian News

Sydney, Aug 30 (DPA) The case against Pakistan was so “compelling” that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should suspend its national team from playing until allegations of match-fixing are dealt with, former ICC president Malcolm Speed said Monday.
“It looks as though it’s endemic that several of the team members are involved and have been for some time,” Speed, ICC boss from 2001 until 2008, told Australian national broadcaster ABC. “It looks a fairly compelling case.”

He was commenting following the arrest of alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed by British police after the News Of The World newspaper said it paid him 150,000 pounds ($232,000) in a successful sting operation.

It is claimed Majeed promised three deliberate “no balls” from Pakistan during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s cricket ground in London.

The promised “no balls” - when a bowler oversteps the line behind which the ball has to be released - came on cue from fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

It is now common for bookmakers to give odds on any aspect of the game, not just the outcome. So money may have been wagered on the no-ball count.

The ICC, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a joint statement Saturday that they were aware of the Scotland Yard probe but that the Test match would continue.

Pakistan cricket has been plagued by match-fixing allegations for years. The latest sensational claims cast doubt on the validity of Australia’s amazing come-from-behind victory against Pakistan in a Test match in Sydney earlier this year.

Ricky Ponting’s team won by 36 runs after being 200 runs down in the first innings and being only 50 ahead after eight wickets tumbled in the second innings.

Mike Hussey and Peter Siddle were in the middle when Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamal Akmal dropped four catches from the pair, who ended up scoring 134 not out to win the game.

“Our continuing view of that game is that we won it on the merit of our own performance,” a spokesman for Cricket Australia (CA) said.

But Ponting was less sure, saying “when some of these things come to light is when you slightly start to doubt some of the things that have happened.”

Former Australian captain Greg Chappell said he always suspected Pakistan had thrown away an easy victory.

“Obviously for them to lose that game, they had to be one of two things: the worst Test players of all time or the best match-fixers of all time,” he said.