Matt Scott At Southwark crown court
• Former Pakistan captain denies he instigated cheating plot
• Mohammad Asif accused of links to another fixing consortium
The cricket agent Mazhar Majeed has accused the former Pakistan captain Salman Butt of instigating the spot-fixing plot and alleged that the bowler Mohammad Asif was already involved in a match-fixing conspiracy with a separate consortium.
In an extraordinary sentencing hearing in court four on Wednesday it emerged publicly for the first time that Majeed had pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling and accepting corrupt payments at the same time as the Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir on 16 September.
Shortly afterwards Majeed, through his counsel, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, alleged that Butt had instigated the fixing plot. He also told Mr Justice Cooke that Asif, at the time ranked the No2 bowler in the world, was already involved in a match-fixing conspiracy with a separate consortium.
Ali Bajwa QC, for Butt, and Alexander Milne QC, for Asif, both strongly countered Majeed's accusations. The claims about Asif emerged when the judge asked Milliken-Smith what had happened to the money that has yet to be recovered from the News of the World sting that exposed their activities.
"Amir was to receive £2,500, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif," Milliken-Smith said. "I can explain why. The larger amount was paid to a certain player in order to ensure that player remained loyal to those in the dressing room rather than to be tempted by others."
There was an explanation of how in Majeed's view it had all come about. "We turn to the matter of spot-fixing," Milliken-Smith said. "Butt raised the topic and he did so not as an offer but in frustration.
"Butt saw others were at it. He compared his own lack of wealth with others playing in the Pakistan team, where wealth is represented by the number of houses they had in Pakistan. Butt was asking: 'How could X or Y have so many houses when he did not, when he came from a wealthier background and had the same contract as these players?'"
This, Majeed's statement to the court claimed, prompted Butt to put him in touch with an Indian bookmaker named Sanjay. Milliken-Smith claimed that there was a meeting involving Majeed, Butt and another Pakistan player, who remains anonymous and has not been in the dock. At this meeting, the QC said, his client "was given a number for the bookie Sanjay, whom the players had met in the Indian Premier League in 2008, and they said he was a good contact and someone they knew".
Immediately Bajwa attacked Majeed's version of events as "derogatory mitigation". He said: "These accusations Mr Butt denies. Those relating to Sanjay in India, this is false. There were many assertions made and we take issue with them."
Asif's counsel, Milne, mounted a similar protest and the judge reassured them that he would not take Majeed's assertions, which were not based on any of the evidence presented to the trial, into account when sentencing their clients on Thursday.
However, Milliken-Smith asked the judge to consider how involved Majeed, Croydon-born and based, could have been in constructing an international fixing ring. "The consequence during the trial of saying others had nothing to do with this enterprise is that Majeed inveigled Amir, Asif and Butt into this," he said.
"Grooming and everything else – it flies in the face of common sense and the verdict in the jury. He must be sentenced but he was never a recruiter. An outsider would never be trusted and wouldn't have the influence. He did not have the natural contacts. This is not about blaming others but about answering explicitly and implicitly what has been said and setting the record straight."
• Former Pakistan captain denies he instigated cheating plot
• Mohammad Asif accused of links to another fixing consortium
The cricket agent Mazhar Majeed has accused the former Pakistan captain Salman Butt of instigating the spot-fixing plot and alleged that the bowler Mohammad Asif was already involved in a match-fixing conspiracy with a separate consortium.
In an extraordinary sentencing hearing in court four on Wednesday it emerged publicly for the first time that Majeed had pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling and accepting corrupt payments at the same time as the Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir on 16 September.
Shortly afterwards Majeed, through his counsel, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, alleged that Butt had instigated the fixing plot. He also told Mr Justice Cooke that Asif, at the time ranked the No2 bowler in the world, was already involved in a match-fixing conspiracy with a separate consortium.
Ali Bajwa QC, for Butt, and Alexander Milne QC, for Asif, both strongly countered Majeed's accusations. The claims about Asif emerged when the judge asked Milliken-Smith what had happened to the money that has yet to be recovered from the News of the World sting that exposed their activities.
"Amir was to receive £2,500, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif," Milliken-Smith said. "I can explain why. The larger amount was paid to a certain player in order to ensure that player remained loyal to those in the dressing room rather than to be tempted by others."
There was an explanation of how in Majeed's view it had all come about. "We turn to the matter of spot-fixing," Milliken-Smith said. "Butt raised the topic and he did so not as an offer but in frustration.
"Butt saw others were at it. He compared his own lack of wealth with others playing in the Pakistan team, where wealth is represented by the number of houses they had in Pakistan. Butt was asking: 'How could X or Y have so many houses when he did not, when he came from a wealthier background and had the same contract as these players?'"
This, Majeed's statement to the court claimed, prompted Butt to put him in touch with an Indian bookmaker named Sanjay. Milliken-Smith claimed that there was a meeting involving Majeed, Butt and another Pakistan player, who remains anonymous and has not been in the dock. At this meeting, the QC said, his client "was given a number for the bookie Sanjay, whom the players had met in the Indian Premier League in 2008, and they said he was a good contact and someone they knew".
Immediately Bajwa attacked Majeed's version of events as "derogatory mitigation". He said: "These accusations Mr Butt denies. Those relating to Sanjay in India, this is false. There were many assertions made and we take issue with them."
Asif's counsel, Milne, mounted a similar protest and the judge reassured them that he would not take Majeed's assertions, which were not based on any of the evidence presented to the trial, into account when sentencing their clients on Thursday.
However, Milliken-Smith asked the judge to consider how involved Majeed, Croydon-born and based, could have been in constructing an international fixing ring. "The consequence during the trial of saying others had nothing to do with this enterprise is that Majeed inveigled Amir, Asif and Butt into this," he said.
"Grooming and everything else – it flies in the face of common sense and the verdict in the jury. He must be sentenced but he was never a recruiter. An outsider would never be trusted and wouldn't have the influence. He did not have the natural contacts. This is not about blaming others but about answering explicitly and implicitly what has been said and setting the record straight."
