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Pakistan 'fix almost every match' player tells NotW
But Yasir Hameed says he was set up by the paper, as Pakistan lose to England
Pakistan's hopes of deflecting attention away from the betting scandal that has engulfed their tour of England and back to their exploits on the pitch were dealt a blow on Sunday when yet more allegations were made against the squad, and England cruised to victory in their Twenty20 encounter.
Batsman Yasir Hameed, who is not in the one-day squad, allegedly told the News of the World that Pakistani players were fixing "almost every match" and said that he had turned down bribes of £150,000 in 2004.
It was also claimed on Sunday that a fourth Pakistani cricketer was being investigated by the ICC - cricket's governing body - for match-fixing. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif are already facing 23 charges from the ICC's anti-corruption unit and have been interviewed by police.
There were more signs of divisions within the Pakistan squad when the returning captain Shahid Afridi, who did not play in the Test series, questioned the reliability of Hameed. Afridi said: "He is 30 or 31 but mentally he is 15 or 16."
Hameed himself claimed he had been set up the News of the World. He said he had been misquoted and was just repeating the allegations that the paper had published the previous week. He also revealed that the Mazeer Mahmood, the so-called Fake Sheikh who orchestrates the News of the World's stings, had offered to pay him £25,000 to make a statement against his team mates and had later sent him a threatening text.
The text warned him that he had been caught on video drinking wine during Ramadan.
Back on the cricket pitch the Pakistan team tried to leave their troubles behind them as they took on England in a Twenty20 match. However, they mustered jut 126-4 off their 20 overs.
But there was a chance for the tourists when England found themselves at 62-5 at the halfway point of their reply. Pakistan let the opportunity slip away, thanks to some dropped catches and sloppy fielding and the sixth wicket pair of Eion Morgan and Michael Yardy saw England home with nearly three overs to spare. ·
