Sydney Test under study

Pakistan's January Test defeat to Australia came under renewed scrutiny on Monday after it emerged an agent at the centre of a 'spot-fixing' scandal met players a few weeks after the match. The Australian newspaper printed what it said was a photo of Mazhar Majeed, the London-based businessman who has been quizzed by police over the scandal, dining with several players at a Perth restaurant three weeks after the match. The report comes after opening batsman Yasir Hameed claimed the Sydney Test, in which Australia recovered from almost certain defeat to record a rousing win, was fixed for illegal bookmaking syndicates. "In the Sydney Test Match they made 1.8 million pounds (2.8 million US dollars)," Hameed told British newspaper the News of the World in an undercover video recording. "They...

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Posted in: Pakistan

Tricked by the tabloid!

Pakistan batsman Yasir Hameed insisted Sunday he had been misled by an undercover reporter and was only repeating allegations he had read about when he said his teammates were corrupt. The News of the World newspaper said Hameed had "sensationally confirmed" its report last week that some Pakistan players had accepted money to fix aspects of the final Test match against England in London. He said he had never been approached by News of the World, and that he had never approached them. The incident was "largely inaccurately reported," he added. Hameed said that in talking to their reporter who broke the original story of the "spot-fixing" claims, he had been misled into thinking he was speaking to a potential sponsor. "Naturally, I was interested in what he had to say and we began a conversation,"...

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Posted in: Pakistan

Afridi blasts Hameed

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blasted Yasir Hameed as being mentally a teenager but the batsman insisted he was duped by a newspaper over betting scam claims which eclipsed the team's defeat to England. One-day skipper Afridi tore into Test batsman Hameed, who claimed he had done nothing more than repeat the allegations of "spot-fixing" being faced by three Pakistan players. The row overshadowed Pakistan's first international game since the scandal rocking the sport first erupted. They were beaten by five wickets Sunday in the first of two Twenty20 fixtures against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Afridi said he was trying to lift his side's spirits ahead of Tuesday's second T20, and vowed to play his part in cleaning up Pakistan's reputation. "We all know we've got to get to the bottom...

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Posted in: Pakistan

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. Many variations exist, with its most popular form played on an oval-shaped outdoor arena known as a cricket field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard (20.12 m) long pitch that is the focus of the game. A game (or match) is contested between two teams of eleven players each. One team bats, and will try to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. Run is scored by touching the crease at the opposite end of the pitch while the ball is not dead. The teams switch between batting and fielding at the end of an Innings. There are also variations in the length of a game of cricket. In professional...

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Posted in: Cricket