Asif’s ex-girlfriend claims he helped throw a series

The former girlfriend of cricketer Mohammad Asif has revealed that he told her the Pakistan team would not win a game during last year's tour of Australia - raising the possibility that players were paid to 'throw' an entire series.
 
Model-turned-actress Veena Malik also claimed that fast bowler Asif flew to Bangkok to see bookmakers just before the squad jetted to Australia last December and used servants' phones to speak to his connections in the gambling world.
 
Asif is one of several players being investigated over claims of match-rigging in relation to Pakistan's current tour of England following the News of the World expose on Sunday.

If true, Malik's claims appear to add weight to the suggestion that many of the Pakistani team have been involved in match-fixing. She told Pakistan's Express News network: "When Pakistan started losing in Australia, I jokingly said, 'For God's sake, win a match.' To this, he replied: 'We won't win anything until 2010'."
 
Pakistan lost every game of that tour including a Test that they appeared destined to win and which has been nicknamed the 'Miracle of Sydney' on account of Australia's seemingly remarkable comeback, having conceded a first innings lead of 206.
 
Malik said of Asif's trip to Bangkok: "He told me that he was offered $40,000. I advised him not to be part of such activities but he did not listen. Instead, he went ahead and demanded $200,000."
 
Malik (above) also claimed Asif had borrowed money from her as he fought a two-year ban for doping. She says that he never paid her back.
 
The four players implicated in the scandal - Asif, fellow bowler Mohammad Amir, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and captain Salman Butt  - are unlikely to play any further part in Pakistan's tour. But the rest of the squad have travelled to Somerset for a match on Thursday.

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