England’s win over Pakistan in the third one-day international in Sharjah last Tuesday is being investigated for corruption.
Following an erratic performance by Pakistan it is understood that investigators from the ICC’s anti-corruption unit have requested data from international betting markets about irregular betting patterns.
England won the match by six wickets after Pakistan collapsed from 132 for two to 208 all out, including three farcical run-outs. They then dropped three catches in the field and missed a stumping.
Officials were tipped off after the toss in Sharjah that the illegal Indian betting market, worth billions of dollars per game, was expecting Pakistan to under-perform.
It has also emerged that officers were warned about potential corruption before the series began.
Rumours were rife among bookmakers in the country, and the ICC received intelligence that there could at least be an attempt to manipulate the betting odds in favour of syndicates who would be betting huge sums.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan used his Twitter account to question Pakistan’s performance.
He wrote: ‘3 run outs and a few iffy shots from Pakistan. Never seen that before!!’ He followed that with: ‘They must all think we are stupid.’
Vaughan, who later deleted the tweets, was criticised by ex-Pakistan batsman Rameez Raja. ‘Vaughan’s comments are highly irresponsible and I think he is just looking for cheap publicity to stay relevant on social media,’ Raja said.
‘Pakistan’s running has always been bad and we all know Mohammad Hafeez particularly isn’t great between the wickets.
‘The team tends to panic whenever it’s under pressure and it is nothing new.’
An Anti-Corruption and Security Unit source said: ‘After comments like that we couldn’t ignore it but we also had other reasons to look into it.’
The chief reason is suspicious betting patterns — one of the key signposts for fixing.
The ICC have been told that twice the ‘normal’ amount of money was wagered on Pakistan to lose in a game which attracted more than £20million in bets on Betfair, the international betting exchange.
The day before the Sharjah match, England were rated as strong favourites to win. Seasoned odds watchers would argue that was an extremely rare event for any England one-day team in Asia, where they traditionally struggle.
Pakistan were what betting experts would call ‘virtually friendless’ (no one wanted to bet on them) on Betfair, which Indian bookmakers often use to help manage their accounts.
The ICC are known to have asked for help from betting experts in analysing the unusual data. The governing body has a memorandum of understanding about sharing information in relation to fixing.
The ICC are likely to focus their efforts on finding out whether an orchestrated spot-fix took place, the new breed of corruption which is almost impossible to prove.
Corruptors with prior knowledge of a batting collapse can make huge sums of money from just a small change in odds.
The scam works in exactly the same way as insider trading on the stock market with fixers profiting from a sudden shift.
Pakistan were favourites to win in Sharjah when they were only two wickets down but the clatter of wickets which followed produced what is known as a ‘flip flop’ when the betting odds are reversed in dramatic and rapid fashion.
Claims of fixing in Sharjah are a grim reminder of one of cricket’s grubbiest eras. In the 1990s it is now widely accepted that a plethora of ODI matches in the United Arab Emirates were tainted.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis last night said: ‘I am aware of these allegations. We may have lost [in Sharjah on Tuesday] but we lost fair and square. I’m satisfied my players have done nothing wrong, and that there is nothing in these allegations.’ – Daily Mail