LAHORE, Dec 11 (AFP) - Former Pakistan cricket hero Imran Khan said Friday that admissions by Australians Mark Waugh and Shane Warne that they took money from a bookmaker had been blown out of all proportion.

Imran said the whole episode was "trivial" and added: "I think the only confusion is that why it has been declared so late, its the Australian Cricket Board which is responsible for creating all this fuss."

Imran said he believed that what the Australian players had done did not even amount to a "fineable offence."

Waugh and Warne Tuesday admitted they took 11,000 Australian dollars to provide information on weather and pitches to bookmakers during Sri Lanka and Pakistan tours in 1994.

Both were secretly fined in 1995 by the Australian Cricket Board which hushed up the matter for years.

"They have created further confusion and doubt but I think what they told bookmakers was mild information and not even a fineable offence. There is something more to it," Imran told AFP.

Imran said giving bookmakers the kind of information the Australians did could not be regarded as match-fixing.

"Information like the state of the pitch or line up come on television when the match commences or you can get it from any expert for free," Khan said.

He said the belated disclosure of the affair could be an attempt to rekindle bribery allegations against former Pakistani captain Salim Malik, who was accused in 1994 by Waugh and Warne of offering them bribes.

But he declined to speculate what impact the confessions would have on an ongoing Pakistani inquiry into match-fixing allegations.

Khan last month told the inquiry commission here that match-fixing existed in Pakistan cricket but that it could not be proved due to lack of evidence.

Once a leading allrounder in international cricket, Khan said no bookie had ever contacted him for such information.

"Match-fixing is a serious offence which means you get money for your team's loss. The ICC should lay down clear and strict guidelines so that no player dares to get involved in things like match fixing and betting," he said.