England accused of throwing game
Pakistan cricket chief Ijaz Butt has launched an extraordinary attack
on England’s players, saying they may have thrown a one-day
international in return for “enormous” sums of cash.
Pakistan beat England in Friday’s one-dayer at the Oval by 23 runs
after the home side, chasing 242 to win, lost their last five wickets
for just 17 runs.
But the Pakistani tourists, already accused of spot-fixing in a
previous Test match, are now under new investigation by the
International Cricket Council (ICC) over a suspicious scoring pattern in
the Oval game.
In a remarkable intervention, Butt attempted to deflect suspicion
back onto the England side.
Bookie circle
“There is loud and clear talk in bookie circle that some English
players were paid enormous amounts of money to lose the (Oval) match,”
the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board told India’s NDTV news
channel late Sunday.
“No wonder there was total collapse of the English side,” he said.
Britain’s Sun tabloid claimed to have been made aware of details of
Pakistan’s innings before the match had got underway.
The paper tipped off the ICC, which then watched as the scoring
patterns in two suspect overs emerged as predicted, The Sun said.
But the overall result of the match was not believed to be fixed, the
report added.
Investigation
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the new allegations — which
follow the suspension of three Pakistan players for alleged involvement
in spot-fixing — warranted further investigation.
Butt, however, told NDTV there was a conspiracy to “defraud Pakistan
and Pakistani cricket” and threatened to reveal names of those involved
in the conspiracy.
Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif have all
been questioned by British police over an alleged plot to bowl
deliberate no-balls during last month’s Test at Lord’s.
A fourth player — seamer Wahab Riaz — was also interviewed by the
British authorities. All have denied any wrongdoing. On Friday, Scotland
Yard announced that an initial file detailing evidence of alleged
corruption had been forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service, which
will decide whether to proceed with the case. |