Rashid Latif, the man who blew the whistle on Salim Malik's shady dealings in South Africa in the mid-1990s, has said that bookmakers are still thriving in world cricket. "They are very much there, only the method has changed," said Latif, in an interview with an Indian website. "With the International Cricket Council [ICC] keeping a close watch on the players and the bookies, they now bet on things like how many runs would be scored in the first 15 overs, or which bowler would take how many wickets, or who will hit a hundred and things like that."

He was non-committal when asked if any players were still involved: "I don't know about the players now," he said. "All I can tell you at this stage is the bookies are very much in the market, and making a lot more money out of cricket."

Latif, Pakistan's first-choice wicketkeeper since being recalled for the England tour of 2001, has been omitted from the squad to face Australia in Colombo next month. Initially, it was believed that he had asked for a rest, although he subsequently denied this.

In 1995, Latif risked both his career and his life when he accused Malik of fixing matches on a tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was thrown out of the team, and reinstated only after a judicial inquiry was conducted back home in Pakistan. His revelations, followed by Hansie Cronje's bombshell in April 2000, caused a worldwide investigation into cricket's biggest scandal.

Cronje, Malik and Mohammad Azharuddin were banned for life by their respective boards, and ICC set up an anti-corruption unit, under the charge of Sir Paul Condon, the former chief of London's Metropolitan Police.

Latif said he wanted to work with ICC when he retired from international cricket: "I had made it a mission to clean the game," he said, "and I think I can contribute to the anti-corruption unit."

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