Pakistan Cricket Team Suffers Dual Defeats After Allegations of Tampering

LONDON — Playing on the morning after a British tabloid newspaper published allegations of match tampering against some players, an obviously demoralized Pakistan team suffered its heaviest defeat in 58 years of test matches, losing to England by an innings and 225 runs on Sunday. It lost its six remaining second innings wickets in a little over 90 minutes.

The News of the World charged that the 18-year-old fast bowler Mohammed Amir was one of a number of players in the test between England and Pakistan in London who had accepted money to change their performance. The paper said Amir and another fast bowler, Mohammad Asif, were paid to deliberately bowl no-balls — where a foul is committed while bowling — during the opening day Thursday. Pakistan’s sports minister, Ijaz Hussein Jahrani, said that any players convicted of match-fixing would be banned for life

For fans in Pakistan, where cricket is the national sport, the allegations were just another in a long string of bad news in their flood-stricken, violence-plagued country. Pakistan is currently prohibited from hosting international matches after Sri Lanka’s cricket team was attacked by commando-style gunmen in March 2009.

Last week, Pakistan’s players were hoping to raise the spirits in their home country, where millions have been affected by recent flooding. “If we can make people feel better by winning, that is something,” said Salman Butt, the team captain. Butt, a specialist batsman, was another player implicated in the report.

That it was Amir who was implicated in the tabloid investigation will particularly hurt Pakistan fans. Amir has been the shining light on a desperately struggling team; he may be the best bowler of his age in cricket history. On Friday, he produced the best spell of bowling in big cricket this year, devastating England’s top order by taking six cheap wickets before its lower order staged a remarkable recovery.

The News of the World claimed that on Thursday, Amir deliberately overstepped the crease in his bowling stride, conceding one run for a no-ball, at certain times during the match.

The charge underlines cricket’s vulnerability to corruption. While a single run in a test match inning may seem small, enough money is wagered on trivial incidents during matches to make any change lucrative.

Reports centered on three no-balls delivered by Amir and Asif, a minimal contribution to England’s eventual score of 446.

The News of the World said it had secretly filmed video footage of its undercover reporters, posing as front men for a Far East gambling cartel, in discussion with a man it identified as a London businessman, Mazhar Majeed. In the footage, Majeed appears to accept £150,000, or about $230,000, to make sure no-balls are bowled at certain times during the match.

It quoted Majeed as saying that up to seven players in the Pakistan team, including Butt and Amir, could be bought for cash. “I’ve been doing it with them for two and a half years and we’ve made masses of money,” the paper quoted him as saying. The paper has passed the evidence of its investigation to the police, who announced that a 35-year-old man, later identified as Majeed, had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

Police also interviewed four Pakistan players — Amir, Asif, Butt and the wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal — at their team hotel on Saturday night.

“They have also spoken to me and I have tried to answer their inquiries,” the team manager, Yawar Saweed, told Pakistan’s Geo Super channel. “We will cooperate all the way with them in their inquiries.” He told Sky Sports News that the police had confiscated the mobile phones of Butt, Amir and Asif.

Asked at the post-match news conference to deny accusations against him, Butt said “these are just allegations.”

If substantiated, the case will be a savage blow to cricket, recalling the scandals a decade ago that led to the creation of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

While the highest profile player in those scandals was South Africa’s captain, Hansie Cronje — who was later banned for life — a high proportion of allegations at the time related to Pakistan. A former Pakistan captain, Salim Malik, was among players banned for life after a judicial inquiry in his home country. He was reinstated in 2008 and appointed head coach at the National Cricket Academy.

While cricket did clamp down after the scandals, restoring confidence, there had been hints of a resurgence in fixing. Danish Kaneria, a spin bowler who played the first match of the current series before being dropped, was one of two players with English county Essex questioned over allegations this season.

On the field Sunday morning in London, Amir was greeted with silence by the crowd. He was out without scoring as Pakistan slid rapidly towards defeat.