A comprehensive and though-provoking article on the ongoing match-fixing allegations from former Pakistan wicketkeeper and captain Rashid Latif.

by Rashid Latif

10 September 2010

 
Match or Player fixing is a part and parcel of game but it mostly happens in football and then cricket. In this latest case, I am sure that Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood are working together on a single agenda of making money. In this controversy only two parties got benefited (1) News of the World (2) Mazhar Majeed.
 
Mazhar Majeed, who is already a millionaire, must have charged a hefty sum of money for this story published in the News of the World (NOTW). As far as I know, Mazhar’s brother Azhar Majeed owns a company named TBL which manages players and entire signings in 2006 and 2007 of Pakistani players were handled by Azhar Majeed’s company.
 
I have no doubt in my mind that Mazhar Majeed had meetings with boys and at any point I am not trying to prove the cricketers as innocent, but in view of my experience I can see some utter ambiguities in the whole saga.

In my opinion, the story by the NOTW that took the world by storm, was released a bit too early, which indicates that they lack solid evidence against the players or their sole purpose is to make money rather than cleanse the game of cricket. Later, the way Yasir Hameed was recorded clearly shows that they needed more evidence against Amir, Salman and Asif. According to a story published by www.theaustralian.com.au <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/> , Mazhar Majeed (bookie) claimed that two one-day games against England would also be fixed as the players hated the ODI captain Shahid Afridi and wanted Salman Butt, who he claimed to control, to get the job. (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/doubts-plague-sydney-miracle/story-e6frg7mf-1225911625723)
 
Here my point is that if they were on a mission to expose the corruption in cricket then they should have waited for the ODI series to get over, and with the help of the ICC, the Anti-Corruption Unit and the Scotland Yard they could easily expose the culprits. It is also possible that upon an offer of fixing ODIs the boys might have turned it down. It was strange for a person like me, who has been working against this malpractices since last 15 years, that why did not they wait for the ODI series?
 
In my playing career I witnessed such incidents many times, and I can recall at least two occasions where Mazhar Mehmood was involved. In 2000 during a tour to the West Indies a trap similar to the one for Yasir Hameed was tried upon a Pakistani player however a prior warning from a former skipper saved him. Later in 2000, Mazhar Mehmood tried to trick Saleem Malik but again the former captain became saviour and Malik put the second meeting with Mazhar Mehmood on hold but in first meeting with Malik and Mazher Mehmood,Malik disclosed about some ICC officials also involved. Normally at first they ask players not to loose a match but do a bit of spot-fixing such as delivering deliberate NO or WIDE balls, but in the next phase players are pushed for fixing matches also.
 
It is widely believed that only Pakistani players are involved in this practice, but I have seen it all very closely and I can easily say that players from every country do it. The problem with Pakistani or even with Indian players is that they get friendly with strangers within no time. In contrast, players from other countries remain careful and deal with a particular person for a longer period of time. I am not trying to prove that the Pakistani players are innocent but I have made a resolve to get to the bottom of this issue.
 
Coming back to Mazhar Majeed, who is a British born man, and was shown in the video with a huge amount of cash in his possession. The thing which amazed me is that when a person like me who spends his summers in England tries not to carry cash and does all the transactions either online or via debit card. The big question is that how can Mazhar Majeed carry out a deal in cash. In England such huge cash dealing is only carried out in drug business therefore it gives me an impression that the money on the table was obtained through drug trafficking. By the look of things it is obvious that the showing of cash is also a part of the setup. In the printed story published on the website of the NOTW it is mentioned that spot-fixing was done in a match played on May 10th between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, however that day Pakistan played against South Africa instead. I once again would like to make it clear that my agenda is not to prove that the Pakistani players had never been involved in malpractices.
 
I have also spotted another blunder in the reported conversation between Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood published by the NOTW which gave me the initial feeling that this saga could be full of loopholes. Following is the conversation
 
Reporter:         What does that mean, a script?
Majeed:           In other words, this bowler is going to concede this many runs or more. This
batsman's going to do this.
Reporter:         Right, so he'll be out before 20?
Majeed:           Exactly...
 
Mr. Majeed who portrayed himself as the bookie gave a totally wrong definition of the word “Script”. This word along with its meaning is clearly mentioned in my column published on 24th July 2010 at Cricinfo. The T20 match between West Indies and Zimbabwe can be seen as a classic example. Before the start of the match the rate was 10/1 for Zimbabwe but if the match was scripted in Zimbabwe’s favour then one would witness swings in the match to trigger rate fluctuation and that was exactly happened in the match. Zimbabwe won the toss, elected to bat and scored 105 runs. With this score the rate fluctuated to 25/1 in favour of West Indies. However, West Indies lost the match by 26 runs. One can argue that they (West Indies) followed a script and after pushing the market rate they lost. So this is the real definition of “script” not the one given by the bookie in the NOTW article. Bear in mind that I am not at all claiming that the above mentioned match was fixed.
 
Whatever was done by Muhammad Amir, whether on the behest of Salman Butt or Mazhar Majeed, is a crime and stern punishment should be handed out to him if he is found guilty. My philosophy is to make an example out of a person who enjoys public sympathies the most. If I have to award the punishment to Amir (if he is found guilty) then apart from imposing a life ban I would award him a two-year jail sentence too, because as compare to Salman and Asif, the harsh sentence to Amir would send a very powerful signal to other players. I am not at all against Amir, but for the sake of cricket a player like Amir is to be presented as an example. I know that the ICC’s code of conduct provides a young player with a liberty to escape harsh punishments and I also know that Amir would eventually getaway and at the most he would be suspended for a certain period.
 
As far as Salman Butt is concerned I would admit that I was not expecting such a blunder from him which not only plunged the Pakistan Cricket into a deep crisis but tarnish the image of the country as well. I would blame Salman Butt because due to his carelessness he along with other players fell into a trap. Now I would urge Salman Butt to apologise to the cricketing world and reveal whatever he knows about fixing in the game. He should not hesitate in taking names of the past and current players involved in the malpractice. This move from Salman Butt will ultimately benefit cricket and the ICC.
 
I am not talking about Pakistan only, but he (Salman) should also expose any wrongdoing he witnessed elsewhere especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
 
Usually a bookie never comes to the fore instead his punters deal with players for fixing. What amazed me is that in only the second meeting the bookie (Mazhar Majeed) told the reporter (Mazhar Mehmood) that a few players were in his pocket and he would charge around half a million pounds to fix the test match. What I know is that the amount of risk is higher in a test match and the money that was asked was too less for me to believe. According to a story published by the NOTW, the bookie made $1.3 million out of the Sydney test. Also, as a normal practice a fixer do ask the names of the players who are ready to fix a match, but in this case Mazhar Mehmood did not. What I understand is that since it was a setup therefore both Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood did not take names otherwise they could face a legal challenge for the players. Let me tell you that 10 years back Mazhar Mehmood approached Salim Malik for the same purpose and Malik asked for a sum of around half a million pound even then. In the past 10 years the rate of fixing amount has increased by 300 per cent and a team ask for around 5-6 million pounds to throw a match. Also, according to the story, the bookie (Mazhar Majeed) said he was aware of the outcome of the Sydney test in advance which Pakistan lost from a commanding position. Let me take you back to January 2010, when Pakistan and Australia were playing the second test of the series in Sydney. At the end of the third day’s play Australia in their second inning were leading by 10 runs with only two wickets remaining. The reports of the day suggest that the rate was 40-1 – there is a saying in India and Pakistan that if you are sure of winning a bet then put the entire money you have on it - but Mazhar Majeed surprisingly opted for $32,500 only when he knew that Pakistan despite being in the commanding position would eventually loose the match. According to his figures, He could have gained around $8 million upon investing only $200,000. In the story the rate was mentioned as 40/1 but due to my investigation the rate of the day was 10/1. Following are the rates of the day which can be verified as well.
 
Before the test match
Australia 40 cents/1 (Against $100 on Australia you will get $40)
Pakistan $7.5/1 (Pakistan’s win will increase $100 to $750)
Rate for a draw was $4/1 (If you bet $100 you will get $400)
 
Rates of the  last inning
$10/1 if Australia win
Cent 8/1 if Pakistan win
$100/1 for a draw
 
 
Here I would like to question the management of the NOTW which published the figures without a thorough re-check. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) can also raise this issue in the court of law and I have no doubt that they win a plea in case the Sydney test is questioned by the NOTW.
 
This development reminds me of a story which was made by the BBC Panorama three years ago in which a renowned clothing store (Prime Mark) was sealed after it was exposed that the owner of the outlet employed underage labour in Bangladesh and India. Since the English law does not allow child labour therefore the clothing store was boycotted by people. Later the owner apologised and resumed his business. The reason of narrating this story is to highlight a fact that the laws of the sub-continent are way different from the West. In the sub-continent if a child does not work then a family would suffer and ultimately this “child labour” represents the national cricket team. The point is that the circumstances in the sub-continent are not the same as in the west. If the ICC takes a step and send its management to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to educate the youngsters and even then the boys of this region commit such mistakes then they deserve stern punishments.
 
Coming back to the Sydney test, if the match was fixed then concrete evidence must exist such as money transfer receipts or players would be given property or a video evidence etc.  If concrete evidence is presented then I would be the first person to demand a lifetime ban for the whole team. Everyone tags Pakistanis as cheats, I am also a Pakistani and I am proud of it. My question is that when I started fighting against this menace and brought to light the matter, where were the other cricket boards then? Instead some boards put a lid on the issue and even protected their key players.
 
If we specifically talk about the spot-fixing then I would say that every act can’t be proved but doubtful activities could be judged. Remember the first ball of the 2006-07 Ashes series, which was bowled by Steve Harmison. The ball was pitched wide and went further away and eventually grabbed by a first slip fielder. Now it can be called an error as well as spot-fixing but nobody questioned Harmison’s intentions because such practices were not common then.
 
Another incident was of 2005 test match between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney. At that time I was doing research on the spot-fixing. I created an account on www.bet365.com <http://www.bet365.com/> . During the match Australia had lost three wickets and Michael Clark and Adam Gilchrist were at the wicket. For the fourth wicket the rate of stump out was 15-1 (bear in mind that the last batsman was also stumped). In view of that situation I thought that the next batsman would also be stumped, hence I put 5 pounds. After 20 minutes Michael Clark was stumped off Kaneria and I earned 75 pounds. On the 5th wicket the rate of stump-out fell to 1-11. I again put 5 pounds and later I got 55 pounds as the batsman again got stumped. (The scorecard and the betting receipts are attached). Imagine if I had collectively put 2000 pounds then how much had I earned?
 
Now another point of concern for me is the presence of a laptop in the dressing rooms with internet connection which is mostly used by a coach. In my view, the laptop with internet connection should not be allowed in the dressing room because players can use it for betting on their wickets. I am not saying that both players (Clark and Gilchrist) were involved in spot-fixing but the sequence of events was enough to create a doubt in my mind. Imagine if a player had put 5000 pound at a rate of 15/1 then without a shadow of suspicion he would have easily earned 75000 pounds and since he was not caught hence would not be called a culprit. Here I want to say that a player is called a cheat only when he is caught otherwise nobody points a finger at him, and believe me 50 per cent of the players fall in this category. I was an average player yet I was offered money for wrongdoings and I brought it into the knowledge of the ICC then how would I believe that offers are not made to top players. The reality is that they don’t disclose it to the ICC. Now people would question that why am I supporting it despite being the whistleblower, the fact of the matter is that whatever I witnessed was happened with me and I did not have a solid evidence like a video etc. I had witnesses that why I kept on fighting.
 
In this case Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood are telling a half truth which is even more lethal than a blatant lie. Being a Pakistani I had no choice but to poke my nose in and reveal the facts. My strive is to unearth the reality behind this episode that these guys have no interest whatsoever in cricket; they are in fact doing it for money only.
 
People often tag Pakistanis as cheats, okay I agree with it to some extent but what about the guy who broke the story for the News of the World – HE IS ALSO A CHEAT (Pakistani). 

 

 

 

 

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