Cricket no longer the gentleman's game

Mazhar Majeed beckons to a News of the World journalist to begin the handover. Picture: News Of The World Source: AdelaideNow

Mazhar Majeed counting up the cash. Picture: News Of The World Source: AdelaideNow

Australian Test cricketers Brad Haddin and Shane Watson at the opening of the new Asics offices at Eastern Creek, Sydney. Picture: Stephen Cooper Source: AdelaideNow

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Cricket has been rocked by a graphic illustration of the expansive grip shadowy criminals have on the game and its most vulnerable stars.

Video: See the infamous sting

Mr Fix-it, property tycoon and self-proclaimed player agent Mazhar Majeed was this week caught by a News of the World investigative journalist allegedly accepting $250,000 to fix aspects of the fourth Test between Pakistan and England at Lords.

Majeed was also allegedly caught gloating that he fixed the result of the Sydney Test in January when Pakistan's last nine wickets fell for 89 runs in unbelievable fashion.

It seems Australia's unlikely 36-run comeback-win was really too good to be true - highlighting cricket's crooked underbelly.

Finally, there was video proof of a figure insidiously influencing results through spot fixing and destroying the credibility of the game.

Majeed was taped taking cash to ensure Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif would bowl no-balls at defined points during the Lord's Test which the players duly enacted in alleged collusion with skipper Salman Butt.

The sting has caused many including Australian Cricketers Association president Darren Lehmann and former Test skipper Ian Chappell to question the legitimacy of past and future fixtures. Others wonder what player names exist in the black-books of criminals.

Former South African captain Hansie Cronje was exposed in cricket's most notorious match-fixing scandal by Indian police in 2000 but the International Cricket Council has done little to tackle corruption since.

Last night Asif, Amir and Butt were to be interrogated by police in London and face life bans from cricket.

However, the shamed players, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan Sports Minister Liaz Jakharani also face charges of treason - punishable by death in a homeland court on September 7.

Many question the motivation of players to risk such serious sanctions but the comparisons between cricket's touring teams are stark.

Cricket Australia's elite contracted players enjoy average incomes of $1 million while those from strife-torn Pakistan yield just $35,000 annually. Moreover, terror threats mean Pakistan never play at home and tour endlessly, leaving players such as 18-year-old pace prodigy Amir as ideal targets for bent bookmakers.

A man reportedly tried to solicit Australian superstars Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin during Australia's Ashes tour of England last July.

Illegal bookies would frequent the bar at the Royal Garden Hotel in glitzy Kensington and offer players the promise of "fun" in London and his mobile number.

Haddin even had to send a man, later identified as Majeed, away from his room at 11pm at night having declined an offer of "dinner".

While the wary Australians reported the strange behaviour to team manager Steve Bernard and authorities, 18-year-old Amir may not have enjoyed the maturity, protective mechanisms or possibly the option of refusing dubious advances.

Former Australian fast bowler and Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson notes that some players, even officials, are blackmailed into co-operating with sinister elements.

Lawson recalled how a national selector said his daughter would be "kidnapped" unless a certain player was picked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if illegal bookmakers have told players that, if they don't perform X and Y, their families will be kidnapped or harmed," said Lawson, Pakistan coach from 2007 to 2008.

"If these allegations of fixing are proved, it could be related to extortion, threats and the well-being of their own family.

Any untoward behaviour from players should not be tolerated but Lawson said critics should consider the plight of Asif and Amir.

"Amir comes from a small village and was delayed by three hours for training because the Taliban had closed the highway, Lawson said.

"I'll never condone any form of fixing but we should consider a cricketer might not be thinking of personal gain but of getting money to buy a generator for his village.

"Mohammad Asif was always missing training to look after his sick mother."

That it took a tabloid sting to lift the lid on corruption being smugly instituted in a Test at the home of cricket - Lord's - will eternally diminish the ICC's standing.