Harpreet Seehra
Elite
A corrupt cricket agent paid a Pakistan bowler £65,000 to stop him switching to a rival match-fixing ring, a court heard on Wednesday.
Mohammad Asif, 28, received the money at the request of other players in his national side who feared he might be tempted to start working for another crooked gambling syndicate, London's Southwark Crown Court was told.
It was also alleged in court that Pakistan's former Test captain Salman Butt, 27, teamed up with another mystery player to organise rigging of parts of games during last summer's tour of England.
The sensational claims were made by lawyers for agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, who was convicted along with Asif, Butt and bowler Mohammad Amir, 19, of plotting to bowl deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test between Pakistan and England in August last year.
Majeed received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord's match.
He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.
Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed's barrister Mark Milliken-Smith QC said: "The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted."
Asif's lawyer Alexander Milne QC denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord's.
Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed that he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.
Butt was accused of approaching the agent during the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June 2009 and complaining that other Pakistan players were able to buy houses, despite being less experienced and playing in the national side less regularly than him because they earned money through illegal fixing.
This was allegedly followed by a lunch in January last year during Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia, at which Butt and another unnamed Pakistan player told Majeed they wanted to get involved in rigging parts of games, although not results.
The two cricketers were said to have discussed fixing during the forthcoming tour of England although the plans were still "nebulous" at that stage.
The following month, Majeed travelled to Pakistan, where he again met Butt and the mysterious cricketer, the court heard.
Mr Milliken-Smith said: "The players indicated they wished to add a couple more players and possibly a further one or two in the future...
"In that meeting Majeed was given the number of a bookie. That bookie was Sanjay - he understood that Sanjay was a bookie that the players had met in the Indian Premier League in 2008."
It was agreed that Majeed would act as the middle-man between the players and the Indian bookmaker, whom he met shortly afterwards in a hotel in London's Park Lane, it was alleged.
Mr Milliken-Smith said Sanjay regularly phoned the agent during Pakistan's tour of England asking him to arrange for the cricketers to fix "brackets", a set period of a game on which punters bet, for example, how many runs will be scored.
"Sanjay was trying to get the players to do as much as possible. He mentioned to Majeed the possibility of brackets and even results," he said.
"Majeed kept giving out the message that they, the players, did not want to do anything at this stage, and certainly not results, because Butt was a new captain."
Mr Milliken-Smith said the agent did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: "He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter."
Butt's barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed's claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.
Butt missed the birth of his second son in Pakistan on Tuesday as he and former world number two Test bowler Asif were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
Amir, a teenage cricketing sensation who was tipped to become one of the all-time great fast bowlers, admitted the same charges at a pre-trial hearing in September.
It can now be reported that Majeed also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments after the judge lifted reporting restrictions.
The International Cricket Council imposed five-year bans on all three cricketers in February over the deliberate no-balls at Lord's. They are all appealing against the suspensions.
Appealing for Butt to be given a suspended sentence, Mr Bajwa said the former Pakistan captain had been left almost penniless by the fixing scandal and went from a "national hero to a figure of contempt".
"He has lost an extraordinary amount. He stands to lose almost the last thing that matters to him, his family," he said.
"He does not know when he will see his newborn son."
Mr Milne said Asif enjoyed money, fame, glamour and popularity in Pakistan until he stepped slightly over the line to deliver a no-ball at Lord's exactly when Majeed predicted he would on August 26 2010.
"It would be in some respects laughable if it were not so serious, but that one no-ball, the two inches I described to the jury, were effectively the end of his career," the barrister said.
Henry Blaxland QC, mitigating for Amir, quoted a statement to the court in which the young cricketer said he was not motivated to bowl two deliberate no-balls at Lord's by money but found himself trapped by his own stupidity.
Amir said: "I want to apologise to Pakistan and to everyone that cricket is important to. I do know how much damage this has done to the game, the game which I love as well, more than anything else in the world."
Aftab Jafferjee QC, prosecuting, applied today for a compensation order to repay the £150,000 that the News of the World journalist gave Majeed.
The maximum sentence for cheating is two years in jail and an unlimited fine, while accepting corrupt payments carries a sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.
The judge, Mr Justice Cooke, will sentence all four men on Thursday.
Mohammad Asif, 28, received the money at the request of other players in his national side who feared he might be tempted to start working for another crooked gambling syndicate, London's Southwark Crown Court was told.
It was also alleged in court that Pakistan's former Test captain Salman Butt, 27, teamed up with another mystery player to organise rigging of parts of games during last summer's tour of England.
The sensational claims were made by lawyers for agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, who was convicted along with Asif, Butt and bowler Mohammad Amir, 19, of plotting to bowl deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test between Pakistan and England in August last year.
Majeed received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord's match.
He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.
Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed's barrister Mark Milliken-Smith QC said: "The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted."
Asif's lawyer Alexander Milne QC denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord's.
Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed that he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.
Butt was accused of approaching the agent during the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June 2009 and complaining that other Pakistan players were able to buy houses, despite being less experienced and playing in the national side less regularly than him because they earned money through illegal fixing.
This was allegedly followed by a lunch in January last year during Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia, at which Butt and another unnamed Pakistan player told Majeed they wanted to get involved in rigging parts of games, although not results.
The two cricketers were said to have discussed fixing during the forthcoming tour of England although the plans were still "nebulous" at that stage.
The following month, Majeed travelled to Pakistan, where he again met Butt and the mysterious cricketer, the court heard.
Mr Milliken-Smith said: "The players indicated they wished to add a couple more players and possibly a further one or two in the future...
"In that meeting Majeed was given the number of a bookie. That bookie was Sanjay - he understood that Sanjay was a bookie that the players had met in the Indian Premier League in 2008."
It was agreed that Majeed would act as the middle-man between the players and the Indian bookmaker, whom he met shortly afterwards in a hotel in London's Park Lane, it was alleged.
Mr Milliken-Smith said Sanjay regularly phoned the agent during Pakistan's tour of England asking him to arrange for the cricketers to fix "brackets", a set period of a game on which punters bet, for example, how many runs will be scored.
"Sanjay was trying to get the players to do as much as possible. He mentioned to Majeed the possibility of brackets and even results," he said.
"Majeed kept giving out the message that they, the players, did not want to do anything at this stage, and certainly not results, because Butt was a new captain."
Mr Milliken-Smith said the agent did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: "He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter."
Butt's barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed's claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.
Butt missed the birth of his second son in Pakistan on Tuesday as he and former world number two Test bowler Asif were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
Amir, a teenage cricketing sensation who was tipped to become one of the all-time great fast bowlers, admitted the same charges at a pre-trial hearing in September.
It can now be reported that Majeed also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments after the judge lifted reporting restrictions.
The International Cricket Council imposed five-year bans on all three cricketers in February over the deliberate no-balls at Lord's. They are all appealing against the suspensions.
Appealing for Butt to be given a suspended sentence, Mr Bajwa said the former Pakistan captain had been left almost penniless by the fixing scandal and went from a "national hero to a figure of contempt".
"He has lost an extraordinary amount. He stands to lose almost the last thing that matters to him, his family," he said.
"He does not know when he will see his newborn son."
Mr Milne said Asif enjoyed money, fame, glamour and popularity in Pakistan until he stepped slightly over the line to deliver a no-ball at Lord's exactly when Majeed predicted he would on August 26 2010.
"It would be in some respects laughable if it were not so serious, but that one no-ball, the two inches I described to the jury, were effectively the end of his career," the barrister said.
Henry Blaxland QC, mitigating for Amir, quoted a statement to the court in which the young cricketer said he was not motivated to bowl two deliberate no-balls at Lord's by money but found himself trapped by his own stupidity.
Amir said: "I want to apologise to Pakistan and to everyone that cricket is important to. I do know how much damage this has done to the game, the game which I love as well, more than anything else in the world."
Aftab Jafferjee QC, prosecuting, applied today for a compensation order to repay the £150,000 that the News of the World journalist gave Majeed.
The maximum sentence for cheating is two years in jail and an unlimited fine, while accepting corrupt payments carries a sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.
The judge, Mr Justice Cooke, will sentence all four men on Thursday.
