Cricketers 'in plot to fix match'

Three top Pakistan cricketers accepted bribes to bowl deliberate no-balls in a gambling scandal that exposes "rampant corruption" at the heart of international cricket, a court has heard.

Former captain Salman Butt, 26, and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif, 28, and Mohammad Amir, 19, conspired with UK-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, to fix parts of the Lord's Test during last year's tour of England, London's Southwark Crown Court was told.

The four men were motivated by greed to "contaminate" a match watched by millions of people and "betray" their team, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the sport itself, it was claimed.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC said there were "simply breathtaking" sums of money involved in foreign betting markets, with an estimated 40 to 50 billion US dollars spent in the Indian sub-continent in one year alone. "This case reveals a depressing tale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket, with the key players being members of the Pakistan cricket team," he said.

"Those involved in this plot - which is effectively what a conspiracy is - lent themselves willingly, and for financial gain, to fix not just the outcome of the match but in particular, aspects within each match on a day-by-day basis."

He told the court the cricketers' alleged corrupt activities were "underpinned" by the overseas betting industry, in particular in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, 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 case centres on the Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord's Cricket Ground in London from August 26 to 29 last year, the court heard.

The four men are accused of "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 jury of six men and six women was told that only Butt and Asif were on trial, but Mr Jafferjee stressed there was "nothing sinister" in the absence of Majeed and Amir from the proceedings.

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