Keane P: Pakistani journalists sceptical of own team (15 Feb 95)

Based on a Patrick Keane article for AAP

On Australia`s visit to Pakistan last October and November, whispered allegations of betting scandals involving the home team were as much a part of the tour as a Wasim Akram yorker or a Shane Warne flipper. Mark Taylor`s team lost the series 1-0 but came closer than any side since 1958 to ending Australia`s dismal run without success on the sub-continent.

Despite the excellent performance of the Australians, Pakistani journalists were often convinced their own team had been paid to under-perform in major matches, particularly a one-dayer in Sri Lanka and the final of the triangular tournament in Lahore.

Salim Malik`s side was accused of laying down when it lost to Australia in Colombo in September and again when it lost in Lahore eight weeks later. At no stage was any proof offered and Salim rejected the accusations angrily at a press conference in Karachi.

Rumours of bribes reached the Australian journalists working on that tour but, again, a lack of proof meant the allegations remained as unsubstantiated rumours and were never put into print. Money was never seen to change hands in the crowd at any ground on Australia`s seven-week tour but the press box often received phone calls from high-rolling bookmakers in India and Sharjah.

Pakistani journalists say the main centres for betting around the sub-continent are in Sharjah, Bombay and Karachi, with nearly every Test match in the world subject to bets.

When Australia played South Africa in Faisalabad in mid- October, Australian journalists received phone calls from Bombay bookmakers just 20 minutes after their phones had been installed at the ground.

How the telephone numbers were passed on to those bookmakers remains a mystery but visiting journalists were pestered with requests about form, injuries and weather conditions. Betting stories have surrounded the Pakistan side for more than a decade and former captain Asif Iqbal said on ABC Radio today they cast a slur on all cricketers from his country.

Asif said he had never witnessed a player "lie down" in a game. The Australian Cricket Board`s statements from Shane Warne and Tim May have been passed on to the International Cricket Council in London and the affair will probably only come to a head with some sort of statement from the game`s ruling body. It is not clear what action the ICC can take if bribes are offered as there is no precedent in the game`s recent history.