By Rashid Latif
Friday, 10 Sep, 2010
The problem with the Pakistani players is that they get friendly with strangers and start trusting them with lot of information. -AP Photo
Match or player-fixing has been part and parcel of the game for years but it mostly happens in football, and, unfortunately, now in cricket too.
In this latest case, I am sure that Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood are working together on a single agenda of making big money. I say this because in the recent spot-fixing controversy involving the Pakistan players, only two parties benefited; The News of the World and Mazhar Majeed.
I suspect that Mazhar Majeed, who is already a millionaire, must have charged a hefty sum of money for the scoop published in the News of the World (NOTW). As far as I know, Mazhars brother Azhar Majeed owns a company named TBL which manages players and the entire signings in 2006 and 2007 of the Pakistani players were handled by Azhar Majeeds company.
I have no doubt in my mind that Mazhar Majeed had meetings with the players and in no way am I trying to prove that the cricketers are innocent. However, in view of my experience, there are a number of ambiguities in the whole saga.
In my opinion, the story by the NOTW that took the world by storm, was released in a hurry and indicates that the tabloid lack solid evidence against the players.
The manner in which the events have unfolded give the impression that the NOTWs sole purpose in the whole saga is to make money rather than cleanse the game of fixing menace.
The sneaky manner in which Yasir Hameeds views were recorded clearly shows that the tabloid needed more evidence against Aamir, Salman and Asif to substantiate its allegations.
According to a story published by www.theaustralian.com.au, Mazhar Majeed (the bookie) claimed that two one-day games against England would also be fixed since the players hated ODI captain Shahid Afridi and wanted Salman Butt who he (Majeed) claims to have under his control to get the job.
Now my point here is that if the NOTW 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 have exposed the culprits big time. On the other hand, it is also possible that upon an offer of fixing the ODIs, the players might have turned it down.
But it is indeed very strange for a person like me, who has been working against this malpractice since the last 15 years, that why did the NOTW not wait for the ODI series to get over?
In my whole playing career, I witnessed such incidents many a times and I can recall at least two occasions where Mazhar Mehmood was involved. In the year 2000, during a tour to the West Indies, a trap similar to the one set for Yasir Hameed was tried upon a Pakistani player. However, a prior warning from a former skipper saved him in the nick of time. Later, also in 2000, Mazhar Mehmood tried to trick Saleem Malik into a shady deal but again the former captain became his saviour and Malik cancelled the second meeting with Mazhar Mehmood.
In the first meeting with Malik and Mazher Mehmood, Malik disclosed about some ICC officials being also involved in the dirty business of match-fixing. It was described as a cautious operation where normally, at first, they would 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 the Pakistani players are involved in this practice. But I have seen it all very closely and I can easily say that players from almost every country are into spot fixing.
The problem with the Pakistani or even with Indian players is that they get friendly with strangers within no time and start trusting them with a lot of information. In contrast, the players from other countries remain careful and deal with a particular person for a longer period of time to develop a comfort level and to gain each others trust.
Again, I am not trying to prove here that the Pakistani players are angels, but since I have been following the scene closely for quite some time, the resolve to get to the bottom of this issue gets stronger with me.
Coming back to Mazhar Majeed, who is a British-born person, was shown in the video with a huge amount of cash in his possession. The thing which amazes me is that when a person like me, who spends his summers in England, tries not to carry lot of cash and does all the transactions either online or via debit card, how can Mazhar Majeed carry out a deal in cash.
In England such huge cash dealing is only carried out in drug business. By the look of things it is obvious that the lavish display of cash in the video is also a part of the set-up.
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 10 between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This is such a fake piece of info since Pakistan played South Africa that day and not Sri Lanka.
Whatever was done by Mohammad 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 Aamir (if he is found guilty) then apart from imposing a life ban, I would award him a two-year jail sentence too because, as compared to Salman and Asif, the harsh sentence to Amir would send a very powerful signal to other players.
I know that the ICCs code of conduct provides a young player with a liberty to escape harsh punishments and I also know that Aamir would eventually get away and at the most would be suspended for a certain period.
As far as Salman Butt is concerned, I would admit that I was not expecting such a thing from him which not only plunged Pakistan cricket into a deep crisis but also tarnished the image of the country.
I would urge Salman to apologise to the cricketing world and his countrymen and reveal whatever he knows about fixing. He should not hesitate in taking names of the past and current players involved in the malpractice. This move from Salman will ultimately benefit cricket and the ICC and will, perhaps, rid the game of the menace to a large extent.
And I am not talking about Pakistan only. Salman should also expose any wrongdoing that he witnessed elsewhere, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
To be concluded
The writer is a former Pakistan captain
Friday, 10 Sep, 2010
The problem with the Pakistani players is that they get friendly with strangers and start trusting them with lot of information. -AP Photo
Match or player-fixing has been part and parcel of the game for years but it mostly happens in football, and, unfortunately, now in cricket too.
In this latest case, I am sure that Mazhar Majeed and Mazhar Mehmood are working together on a single agenda of making big money. I say this because in the recent spot-fixing controversy involving the Pakistan players, only two parties benefited; The News of the World and Mazhar Majeed.
I suspect that Mazhar Majeed, who is already a millionaire, must have charged a hefty sum of money for the scoop published in the News of the World (NOTW). As far as I know, Mazhars brother Azhar Majeed owns a company named TBL which manages players and the entire signings in 2006 and 2007 of the Pakistani players were handled by Azhar Majeeds company.
I have no doubt in my mind that Mazhar Majeed had meetings with the players and in no way am I trying to prove that the cricketers are innocent. However, in view of my experience, there are a number of ambiguities in the whole saga.
In my opinion, the story by the NOTW that took the world by storm, was released in a hurry and indicates that the tabloid lack solid evidence against the players.
The manner in which the events have unfolded give the impression that the NOTWs sole purpose in the whole saga is to make money rather than cleanse the game of fixing menace.
The sneaky manner in which Yasir Hameeds views were recorded clearly shows that the tabloid needed more evidence against Aamir, Salman and Asif to substantiate its allegations.
According to a story published by www.theaustralian.com.au, Mazhar Majeed (the bookie) claimed that two one-day games against England would also be fixed since the players hated ODI captain Shahid Afridi and wanted Salman Butt who he (Majeed) claims to have under his control to get the job.
Now my point here is that if the NOTW 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 have exposed the culprits big time. On the other hand, it is also possible that upon an offer of fixing the ODIs, the players might have turned it down.
But it is indeed very strange for a person like me, who has been working against this malpractice since the last 15 years, that why did the NOTW not wait for the ODI series to get over?
In my whole playing career, I witnessed such incidents many a times and I can recall at least two occasions where Mazhar Mehmood was involved. In the year 2000, during a tour to the West Indies, a trap similar to the one set for Yasir Hameed was tried upon a Pakistani player. However, a prior warning from a former skipper saved him in the nick of time. Later, also in 2000, Mazhar Mehmood tried to trick Saleem Malik into a shady deal but again the former captain became his saviour and Malik cancelled the second meeting with Mazhar Mehmood.
In the first meeting with Malik and Mazher Mehmood, Malik disclosed about some ICC officials being also involved in the dirty business of match-fixing. It was described as a cautious operation where normally, at first, they would 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 the Pakistani players are involved in this practice. But I have seen it all very closely and I can easily say that players from almost every country are into spot fixing.
The problem with the Pakistani or even with Indian players is that they get friendly with strangers within no time and start trusting them with a lot of information. In contrast, the players from other countries remain careful and deal with a particular person for a longer period of time to develop a comfort level and to gain each others trust.
Again, I am not trying to prove here that the Pakistani players are angels, but since I have been following the scene closely for quite some time, the resolve to get to the bottom of this issue gets stronger with me.
Coming back to Mazhar Majeed, who is a British-born person, was shown in the video with a huge amount of cash in his possession. The thing which amazes me is that when a person like me, who spends his summers in England, tries not to carry lot of cash and does all the transactions either online or via debit card, how can Mazhar Majeed carry out a deal in cash.
In England such huge cash dealing is only carried out in drug business. By the look of things it is obvious that the lavish display of cash in the video is also a part of the set-up.
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 10 between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This is such a fake piece of info since Pakistan played South Africa that day and not Sri Lanka.
Whatever was done by Mohammad 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 Aamir (if he is found guilty) then apart from imposing a life ban, I would award him a two-year jail sentence too because, as compared to Salman and Asif, the harsh sentence to Amir would send a very powerful signal to other players.
I know that the ICCs code of conduct provides a young player with a liberty to escape harsh punishments and I also know that Aamir would eventually get away and at the most would be suspended for a certain period.
As far as Salman Butt is concerned, I would admit that I was not expecting such a thing from him which not only plunged Pakistan cricket into a deep crisis but also tarnished the image of the country.
I would urge Salman to apologise to the cricketing world and his countrymen and reveal whatever he knows about fixing. He should not hesitate in taking names of the past and current players involved in the malpractice. This move from Salman will ultimately benefit cricket and the ICC and will, perhaps, rid the game of the menace to a large extent.
And I am not talking about Pakistan only. Salman should also expose any wrongdoing that he witnessed elsewhere, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
To be concluded
The writer is a former Pakistan captain
