Pakistan cricketers ‘took bribes in a sport hit by rampant corruption’

Former Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir conspired with UK-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed to fix parts of a match during Pakistan’s tour of England last year, jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard.

Motivated by greed, the four men “contaminated” matches watched by millions of people, and betrayed their team, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the sport itself, it was claimed. Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC said the cricketers’ alleged corrupt activities were “underpinned” by the betting industry in the Indian sub-continent and the Far East.

“There are of course vast amounts of money to be made in any betting activity if the results are known in advance, and all of that was at the expense of the integrity of the game,” he said.

The trial centres on the Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord’s in August last year.

Butt and Majeed are alleged to have arranged for Asif and Amir, Pakistan’s top fast bowlers, to have bowled three no-balls at specific points in the game in return for large sums of money.

The court was told this is known as “spot fixing”, where parts of a match are illegally rigged, for example by timing the delivery of a deliberate wide or no-ball, but the overall outcome of the game is not manipulated.

The allegations stem from an investigation by the now-defunct News of the World Sunday newspaper.

The jury was told that only Butt and Asif were on trial, but Mr Jafferjee said there was “nothing sinister” in the absence of Majeed and Amir.

Butt and Asif deny conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments between August 15 and 29 last year.