KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain and match-fixing whistleblower Rashid Latif said yesterday that cricket as a whole remains far from clean and his country should not be singled out.
Latif, who lifted the lid on match-fixing within his own team in 1994, was reacting after The Mail on Sunday said the recently concluded one-day series between Pakistan and the West Indies was being probed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“These are serious allegations that need to be investigated and the newspaper will have to provide the evidence in this case,” said Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166 one-dayers for Pakistan.
But, he added: “If the newspaper fails to provide evidence then the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) must take them to court -- and if they don’t, I will.”
Latif, 44, became an anti-fixing crusader after retiring and in 2010 suggested a delay in the broadcast of live matches to curb spot-fixing -- a measure later taken up by broadcasters.
He said that an ICC official informed him a Champions Trophy match in June that did not involve Pakistan was suspicious.
“An ICC official told me that a Group A match was suspicious, but why has there been no mention of it?” Latif said. “It’s true that our players were caught but why are only Pakistan matches reported?”
Pakistan has been badly hit by scandals with former leg-spinner Danish Kaneria the latest to face a life-ban over a spot-fixing case during a 2009 county match.
Three other top players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- are also serving bans in a spot-fixing case that surfaced on team’s tour of England in 2010.
Latif, accused the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) of making Kaneria a scapegoat.
“Right from the onset the ECB did not have a strong case against Kaneria. It seemed that it was just to show the world that their county cricket was clean from fixing,” Latif said. AFP
