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Pakistan match-fixing claims: player 'hid mobile phone in his helmet while waiting to bat'
A Pakistan player concealed a mobile phone inside the helmet he was wearing as he waited to bat during a recent international match, one of his team-mates has alleged.
By Scyld Berry
A former Pakistan Test cricketer, who was told of the incident by this player's team-mate, has passed on the allegation to the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The use of mobile phones by players is strictly forbidden anywhere on the ground during an international match under ICC regulations designed to prevent communication between match-fixers and players.
The former Test cricketer, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said he rang the ACSU hotline after being told recently of the claim by the current Pakistan player. The phone was hidden inside the right earpiece of the helmet of the player waiting to bat, he alleged.
"My reaction was one of disbelief," the former Test cricketer said on Saturday. "I had reason to suspect things were going on in international cricket, and you never had total confidence in certain games because of the rumours about match fixing and spot fixing. But when I was told about this player with the mobile inside his helmet, I was flabbergasted."
This revelation comes at the end of perhaps the most disturbing week cricket has seen in England, following last Sunday's newspaper allegations of spot fixing by three Pakistan players in the Lord's Test. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were all provisionally suspended by the ICC on Thursday evening after allegations of bowling deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan. They were questioned by police in London on Friday but were released without charge.
A Pakistan player concealed a mobile phone inside the helmet he was wearing as he waited to bat during a recent international match, one of his team-mates has alleged.
By Scyld Berry
A former Pakistan Test cricketer, who was told of the incident by this player's team-mate, has passed on the allegation to the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The use of mobile phones by players is strictly forbidden anywhere on the ground during an international match under ICC regulations designed to prevent communication between match-fixers and players.
The former Test cricketer, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said he rang the ACSU hotline after being told recently of the claim by the current Pakistan player. The phone was hidden inside the right earpiece of the helmet of the player waiting to bat, he alleged.
"My reaction was one of disbelief," the former Test cricketer said on Saturday. "I had reason to suspect things were going on in international cricket, and you never had total confidence in certain games because of the rumours about match fixing and spot fixing. But when I was told about this player with the mobile inside his helmet, I was flabbergasted."
This revelation comes at the end of perhaps the most disturbing week cricket has seen in England, following last Sunday's newspaper allegations of spot fixing by three Pakistan players in the Lord's Test. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were all provisionally suspended by the ICC on Thursday evening after allegations of bowling deliberate no-balls in the fourth Test between England and Pakistan. They were questioned by police in London on Friday but were released without charge.