Pakistan faces new fixing allegations after new ICC probe into Friday’s England match

ICC launches fresh England-Pakistan fix probe

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s cricket team faced new allegations of match-fixing Saturday after the International Cricket Council launched an investigation into Friday’s one-day international game against England, just three weeks after one of the sport’s biggest betting scandals emerged on the tour.

The ICC said the latest probe was based on information passed on by British tabloid The Sun, which suggested a scoring pattern in Pakistan’s innings was prearranged.

“A source informed The Sun newspaper that a certain scoring pattern would emerge during certain stages of the match and, broadly speaking, that information appeared to be correct,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

The investigation comes on the heels of a previous fixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour, when a player agent allegedly received money for organizing players to bowl no-balls, akin to a balk in baseball, at prearranged times in a match against England last month so as to fix spot betting markets.

Pakistan’s victory over England on Friday had initially shifted some of the attention away from the previous fixing allegations. But even before the match started at the Oval, the International Cricket Council was being told by The Sun that bookmakers in India and Dubai knew details of scoring patterns.

The Sun said it had passed on the information after it received details of calls between a Dubai-based match fixer and a Delhi bookie.

“Cricket chiefs then watched as Pakistan’s score mirrored the target that bookies had been told in advance by a fixer,” the newspaper said.

The Sun’s report said that “it is not thought that the overall result was fixed, only scoring rates in parts of Pakistan’s innings.”

The ICC said it will work with The Sun and sources to “ensure full truth surrounding this match is ascertained.”

The latest allegations put the viability of the two remaining matches in the series in doubt, with The England and Wales Cricket board holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation on Saturday.

The ECB said it has asked the ICC for “assurances that ICC does not have evidence which could result in either charges or suspension of players” before the end of the series.

It added that it has been assured that no England players or members of management are under suspicion.

London police said they are not involved with the investigation, while the Pakistan Cricket Board did not comment on the new allegations.

The earlier fixing allegations resulted in the ICC suspending Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, while a fourth Pakistan player, Wahab Riaz, was questioned by Scotland Yard last week.

London police said Friday that evidence had been passed on to prosecutors to consider charges.

That initial fixing controversy had triggered calls from some quarters for the remainder of the tour to be called off. The PCB’s director general Javed Miandad wanted the entire team changed for the one-day series.