England ODIs on despite 'fix' probe

30 Aug, 2010

Pakistan tour manager Yawar Saeed insisted on Sunday the upcoming one-day series against England would go ahead as scheduled despite allegations of a betting scandal surrounding the team.
Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed it gave 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) to a middle man in return for details about three "no balls" which later were bowled by Pakistan players during the fourth and final Test against England here at Lord's exactly when he had predicted.
Pakistan lost the match by an innings and 225 runs - their record Test loss - with more than a day to spare here on Sunday for a 3-1 series defeat.
Saeed, speaking after the match, told reporters at Lord's that Pakistan's two Twenty20 internationals in Cardiff against England on September 5 and 7 and the subsequent five one-day internationals against England, starting at Chester-le-Street in Durham, on September 10, would go ahead. "As far as I'm concerned the one-day series is still on," Saeed said. "We are moving to the west country and we will play all the one-dayers and all the T20s."
The News of the World alleged that two Pakistan bowlers, Mohammad Aamer - the tourists' man-of-the-series - and Mohammad Asif, delivered the blatant no-balls at the exact points in the match agreed with the alleged fixer.
The newspaper published a photograph of the alleged middle man, Mazhar Majeed, who acts as agent to some Pakistan players, counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police told AFP: "Following information received from the News of the World we have arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers."
The one-day series is also due to feature matches at Headingley (September 12), The Oval (September 17) and Lord's (September 20) before concluding at Hampshire's Rose Bowl ground in southern England on September 22.

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