Majeed, who owns non-league football team Croydon Athletic, promised that there would be no-balls bowled at specific points during the game, and later that day the no-balls occured exactly when he had predicted. He explained that this allowed his employers to control the pace and flow and run-rate of the game, and subsequently adjust the betting odds in their favour to make money.
Majeed claimed to be working with seven players in the Pakistan team, to whom he would relay instructions about when they were to make their 'mistakes.' Salman Butt, Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Asif, and Kamran Akmal have all been questioned by police, who also confinscated the players' mobile phones and laptops.
This revelation comes at a time when the country's worst flooding for 100 years has left at least 1600 dead and many millions homeless. One of the greatest concerns is the contamination of the wells, meaning that clean drinking water is in short supply. World aid efforts have been established and undertaken to try to preserve as much of the country's culture as possible.
Pakistan decided to stay on their tour of England rather than return home, and the people in their homeland now fighting for their lives have been quick to voice their outrage at the players' betrayal, following the match-fixing allegations. Cricket legend and former team captain Imran Kahn said "If the allegations are true ... the there should be exemplary punishment, so that future generations think that crime does not pay." He added, "and unfortunately I will say for these cricketers that there are not many leading role models."
In the cricket itself, England had looked all set to wrap up a convincing home trouncing over rivals Pakistan, until a batting collapse in the 3rd Test saw the Three Lions falter. Andrew Strauss’s team fell to pieces against the bowling of Muhammad Amir, who finished with figures of 5-52 from 19 overs.
England had been ticking along nicely but went from 156-3 to 222 all out, allowing Pakistan to bad out their second innings in relative ease to to take the match by 4 wickets.
England recovered though to wrap up a fine fightback in the fourth and final Test, having looked like throwing the game away. With key batsmen again struggling for runs, a world record 8th wicket stand of 353 runs to save the match. The situation looked grave with the England languishing on 102-7 but wicket-keeper Jonathan Trott added 184 from 544 balls and fast-bowler Stuart Broad contributed 169 runs, facing 426 deliveries. This sparked a remarkable England comeback, which continued as the visiting Pakistan team crumbled to 74 runs all-out, facing only 32 overs of England's revitalised and inspired bowling attack.
At the end of the game, the usual post-match trophy presentation took place indoors as cricket chiefs decided that holding the presentation on the pitch could pose a security risk. Former England captain Nasser Hussain had this to say: ""If they have nothing to hide then they should go out and face the public. Nothing has been proved yet, so why did they feel the need to hide away? "
Pakistan are no strangers to controversy. In 2006 against England Darrel Hair penalised Pakistan for ball-tampering, which led to the team refusing to take to the field for the final session on that day in the fourth test match. This meant that England were awarded the first ever forfeiture-win in cricket's history. 3 months later Shoib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif tested positive for banned substances and were each handed bans.
Darrel Hair has since spoken out, saying he wasn't surprised by the develoments at Lord's. "When the anti-corruption unit was formed a decade ago they went around the world and spoke to all the leading umpires," he says, "And they said there were concerns in tournaments in places like Sharjah that the Pakistanis were bowling (deliberate) no balls and wides. But they have not been able to get any proof."
Another match that Majeed bragged to have thrown was the test against Australia last year. The Aussies posted a second-innings lead of less than 180 runs and Pakistan folded against Nathan Houritz' bowling but Majeed claims in the video footage that the players had already rigged the game.
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