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Diary of dodgy deals

The Christchurch Press
8 January 1999



SEPTEMBER 1992: Australian cricketer Dean Jones refuses an $A80,000 payment from a Sri Lankan bookmaker to provide inside information on Australian team tactics.

JULY 1993: Australian cricketer Allan Border claims he rejected a $A1 million bribe from a former Pakistani test cricketer to throw the fifth test of the Ashes series in England.

SEPTEMBER 1994: During a short tour of Sri Lanka, Mark Waugh is paid $A6000 and Shane Warne $A5000 by an Indian bookmaker for information on pitch and weather conditions.

FEBRUARY 1995: The Australian Cricket Board secretly fines Waugh $A10,000 and Warne $A8000 over the incident. The ICC agrees to a request from the ACB to keep details of the fines secret.

FEBRUARY 1995: Waugh, Warne, and Tim May claim Pakistani captain Salim Malik offered them $US200,000 each to lose matches during the Australian tour of Pakistan in October 1994. Malik denies the allegations.

APRIL 1995: Warne, May, and Waugh sign sworn statements for the ICC which are forwarded to an inquiry in Pakistan.

OCTOBER 1995: The inquiry exonerates Malik and finds the Australians' allegations unbelievable.

SEPTEMBER 1998: The Pakistan Cricket Board finds Malik, Wasim Akram, and Ijaz Ahmed responsible for match-fixing and recommends they be banned from test cricket. It refers the matter to a Pakistani High Court judicial inquiry.

OCTOBER 7, 1998: Waugh and Australian captain Mark Taylor give evidence in secret to the High Court judicial inquiry.

DECEMBER 8, 1998: The Australian newspaper reveals that Waugh and Warne took money from an Indian bookmaker for pitch and weather reports on a 1994 tour of Sri Lanka.

DECEMBER 9, 1998: Waugh and Warne say they were stupid and naive.

DECEMBER 11, 1998: Former New Zealand fast bowler Danny Morrison says he was invited to take part in a bookmaking ploy in 1994.

DECEMBER 14, 1998: The ICC releases a statement saying the match-fixing and betting allegations are damaging the very fabric of the game. It says the matter will be thoroughly discussed in Christchurch and, if necessary, a high-powered commission of inquiry will be set up.


Source: The Christchurch Press
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