Sun, Sep 05 10 02:57 PM
London/Karachi, Sep 5 (PTI) In a sensational twist to the spot-fixing scandal, former Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed today claimed that his teammates were involved in fixing "almost every match" even as a fourth touring Pakistani player came under investigation in the scam which grew in proportion after fresh disclosures. Even before the dust could settle over the suspension of the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, British tabloid ''News of the World'', came out with more explosive revelations. While the tabloid gave startling details of the conversations and the modus operandi of the bookies, the report of a Sri Lankan player being investigated by the ICC''s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit added to the crisis facing the game. Hameed told the tabloid that he had been asked by a bookmaker to help fix a Test for 100,000 pounds, but he turned down the money and said his teammates were fixing almost every match. "They''ve been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks. They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match. God knows what they were up to. Scotland Yard was after them for ages", Hameed is quoted as saying in the sting interview which was released by the tabloid. But within a few hours after the video of the interview was released, Hameed denied having given any such interview, saying he could never think of accusing his teammates of fixing matches. "I have told the team management that the newspaper is claiming that I have given them an interview. This is not correct. I deny it", he said. The Pakistan Cricket Board was huddled in an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation amid speculation that the team''s tour of England could be called off to avoid further embarrassment. Pakistan has all along maintained that its players were innocent and the entire episode was a conspiracy to alienate the country, which has not hosted any international cricket since last year''s Lahore terror attack on the Sri Lankan team. Pakistan''s High Commissioner in Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan has called the suspension of its players unethical and threatened to sue the ICC if the trio is eventually found innocent. Hameed, on the other hand, could face disciplinary action from the ICC for violating its anti-corruption code of conduct which states that it is an offence if a player "fails to disclose to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (without undue delay) full details of any approaches ... that would amount to a breach of the anti-corruption code". .
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