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29 March 2024

Pakistan players plotted to oust Afridi - court

Shahid Afridi led Pakistan to the semifinals of the World Cup. (FILE)

Published
By AP

Pakistan cricketers plotted to oust former one-day captain Shahid Afridi from his position by underperforming, a court heard on Tuesday.

During the fifth day of the alleged Pakistan spot-fixing trial at London’s Southwark crown court, the jury was played recordings that suggested members of the team wanted Test captain Salman Butt to lead Pakistan in one-day cricket as well, rather than Afridi.

The comments were made by the agent at the centre of the allegations, Mazhar Majeed.

“There’s a thing going on with the players,” Majeed was heard to say. “A lot of the boys want to (mess) up Afridi because he is trying to (mess) up things for them and he’s the captain of the Twenty20 and one-day (sides). They all want Butt to be captain.”

Majeed went on to say that Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal would “waste” two or three overs when batting, to slow Pakistan’s scoring rate during one-day matches and undermine its chances.

His statements were recorded during a covert sting operation by undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood for the now-defunct British tabloid The News of the World.

Former Pakistan captain Butt and fast bowler Mohammed Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.

Butt, Asif and Pakistan teammate Mohammed Amir are accused of conspiring with Majeed to bowl deliberate no-balls in the fourth test against England at Lord’s in August of last year.

Butt and Asif deny the charges. Majeed and Amir aren’t required to appear in court.

Other revelations from Tuesday’s proceedings were that Majeed was offered $1 million for Pakistan to lose the 2010 Test at The Oval — a match they eventually won.

The offer came from an unnamed contact in India. During an audiovisual recording, Majeed told his contact: “Boss you know how many we’ve got, you know that they do it, so of course that’s not a problem.”

He added to the undercover journalist after the call had ended: “See what I mean? There’s big, big money in results boss I tell you. You can see that.”

The court also heard from a witness who works in anti-corruption that there was no evidence to support an unsubstantiated claim made by Majeed on Monday that Australia are the “biggest” match-fixers in the game.

Butt’s legal representatives sought to discredit Majeed by noting a series of his more outrageous claims and barrister Yasin Patel, working under Ali Bajwa QC on Butt’s team, asked senior International Cricket Council anti-corruption officer Alan Peacock about the Australia claim.

Peacock, who has worked with the ICC’s anti-corruption unit since its inception in 2000, denied having any knowledge of Australia fixing matches.

“We have no evidence (of this),” Peacock said.

Other claims made by Majeed that Butt’s team raised included his alleged involvement in arranging a £12 million ($18.7 million) publishing deal for the autobiography of Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand, as well as a $6 million deal for the autobiography of recently retired Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.

The case continues.