London, September 5
Pakistan Test batsman Yasir Hameed has reportedly told a British tabloid that his teammates have been fixing “almost every match” and that he himself had refused bribes. A fourth touring Pakistani player has reportedly come under investigation in the scam that grew in proportion after fresh disclosures.

However, Hameed later denied his statements.

In another sting operation by The News of the World, Hameed said he had refused bribes worth £150,000 from a corrupt bookmaker to throw away matches and lost his own place in the squad that saw his career spoiled as a result.

Hameed’s revelations come after the British tabloid promised last week that it would come out with more news on the spot-fixing scandal involving three Pakistani players, captain Salman Butt, fast bowlers Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer.

Hameed, who made a comeback in Test cricket after three years with the Oval Test against England last month, said the Sydney Test in Australia earlier this year was rigged for £1.8 million.

“They’ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages,” the 32-year-old batsman said.

“It makes me angry because I’m playing my best and they are trying to lose. The guys that have got done have got themselves killed. They’re gone - forget about them,” he said.

However, Hameed later denied giving any interview to The News of the World, which is owned by international media magnate Rupert Murdoch and is the Sunday sister paper of popular The Sun tabloid.

“I can never think of blaming my teammates in match-fixing. I have just told the team management that the newspaper is claiming I have given them an interview. This is not correct,” he said.

In the sting operation, Hameed said he became a victim of betting cartels’ vengeance for refusing to fix games. “It’s because of all these wrong things that I was ousted, because I wouldn’t get involved. If you sat here and said, “I’m a bookie and I want you to fix the match tomorrow - I’ve met lots of people like that in the past and I refused. They offered me handsome money. I could have come to see you in a Ferrari. They give you so much money that you can live out your dreams, buy a flashy car,” Hameed told the undercover reporter.

Hameed said he was offered huge amounts of money - up to £150,000.

“I wouldn’t get involved. That’s why I was out of the team for two years - two years! Now God has punished them. I played in the (Lord’s) match. Even though I flopped, these guys have been caught out. Just look at my average. It’s 38, 39 (runs scored per innings). Which player in the world has that average and is dropped? If I was playing for any other country, what would I be now? I’d be the team captain,” he said.

Hameed had a sensational start to his international career in 2003, scoring 170 runs in his first innings and another 105 in the second, against Bangladesh. In his first 30 ODIs, he scored more runs than any other batsman. Despite that he was bounced in and out of the national team.

“The truth is I’ve never sold a match. I’ve always got legitimate money. I come from a middle-class hard-working family,” he said.

“The sum of £150,000 (paid to Majeed) was just (a deposit) to show what would happen on this ball, what would happen on the other ball. In future, imagine how much money they would have made. Imagine how many pounds they would have made!” he said.

“He (Majeed) pays the players whatever the rate is. I think they get £20,000 or £25,000 for no balls. God knows what was the deal, I didn’t ask.”

Hameed asked how Asif had been able to amass a big property portfolio.

“I’m having a house built and it’s stopped halfway. I’m building it from legitimate money and work has stopped. Asif - how many matches has he played and how many have I? I’ve played 80 matches and he’s played around 50. He has four mansions. Where did they come from? He has just built a house in Italian style in Lahore. You go there and you will think you are in Italy - that’s how good his house is,” Hameed said.

On skipper Butt, he said: “He’s a nice guy basically. I don’t know why he’s gone like this because of money.”

Hameed also pointed out that the 2004 ICC Champion Trophy semifinal at the Rose Bowl in Southampton between Pakistan and West Indies was also rigged.

The West Indies won the match by seven wickets despite posting just 132 runs. Pakistan capitulated at 131, all out. — IANS

Pakistan's High Commissioner in London could become one of the unintended victims of the cricket scandal that continues to dominate the headlines in the UK and all other cricket loving countries. Wajid Shamsul Hasan has been described as an "unthinking stooge" by the London Times - strong language to be used against any diplomat accredited to the Court of St James, let alone against the High Commissioner of a friendly Commonwealth country.

If he chooses to stay on in his job this is a characterisation, however unfair, that could be used to taunt him and haunt him for the rest of his diplomatic career. A former India-born journalist, Hasan was given his country's top diplomatic job - the second time he has served as High Commissioner in London - shortly after Benazir Bhutto's husband, Asif Zardari, was appointed President of Pakistan in 2008.

Until a few days ago Hasan was perceived as a warm, affable, accessible and highly popular diplomat, markedly different from his Indian counterpart, Nalin Suri, a professional civil servant who heads the Indian diplomatic mission.

Last week, however, Hasan was caught on the wrong foot as he tried to defend the indefensible by standing up for his country's beleaguered cricketers. His unfortunate moment of truth came during a live interview last Friday with the BBC when he insisted that the three cricketers suspended by the International Cricket Council, Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt, were innocent of any wrong doing. For impartial investigation, Hasan justified his claim by explaining he had personally interviewed them. "Let me put the record straight", he explained.

“In the morning I met the cricketers for two hours, first questioned them, got to the bottom of it and concluded that they were innocent and that is what I told the media..the entire British media was there and I told them that.”

To make matters worse Hasan went on to point the finger of blame at India, at Sharad Pawar in particular, for the predicament in which the cricketers found themselves. All this has turned out to be meat and drink for the British media which has decided to go for the High Commissioner's jugular.

“The Pakistan High Commissioner's assertion this week that the allegations are a 'set up' is deeply embarrassing", The Times said in an editorial. "Having said that the players could not be proved guilty until the end of the investigation, he then declared that he knew them to be innocent. The Commissioner's only achievement was proving himself to be an unthinking stooge of President Zardari."

The one small consolation for Hasan, following such a ferocious attack on his personal integrity, is that he has residence status in the UK. If he is removed from his job, or if he is forced to go because Zardar is removed in a coup, he can always return and retire to his comfortable private home in North London.