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Mazhar Majeed, the players' agent, came out with a series of astonishing disclosures while in the dock at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday. Majeed, sitting in the dock next to co-conspirators Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, was seeking the sympathy of the judge through revealing as much of his involvement as possible to limit the length of his sentence having pleaded guilty at a pre-trial in September.
Majeed's lawyer Mark Milliken-Smith QC said he was first introduced to talk about fixing by Butt, a former Pakistan captain, over dinner during the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England. He also revealed he handed £77,000 over to the players from the £150,000 he received from an undercover News of the World reporter. The figures he was asked to distribute were: £2,500 to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Mohammad Asif.
Asif was paid the larger amount to guarantee that he remained loyal to the fixing racket within the team and was not persuaded to go elsewhere. It is possible that the inference was that Asif could be lost to another fixing racket within the Pakistan team.
The barristers for Butt and Asif each requested that this new information be banned from release by the media, but the judge allowed it to be published but on the understanding that both Asif and Butt's legal team's denied these new claims.
Milliken-Smith addressed Justice Cooke post-lunch, after reporting restrictions were lifted regarding Majeed's involvement as a fixer in the spot-fixing scandal.
Butt and fast bowler Asif were found guilty of conspiring to cheat and conspiring to accept corrupt payments by a jury on Tuesday. They were joined by their former team-mate Amir on the 21st day of the trial, while almost 60 people were stuffed into Court No.4. Special room was made for excess media in a space next to the jury seats.
Milliken-Smith told the judge: "Majeed was having dinner with Butt during the Twenty20 World Cup in England. When having dinner Butt raised the subject, out of frustration, that other players were at it and gave examples of ownership of houses in Pakistan.
"How can X and Y players have these houses when they don't earn the same amount of money according to their (Pakistan Cricket Board) contract," Milliken-Smith went on, speaking on the behalf of Majeed. "He told Majeed that he could even tell when players were doing it during matches. Majeed was then shocked although he knew there were rumours pervading for some time that some players he knew were doing it."
No more was said then, but Majeed went out to see Pakistan during their Australian tour in January 2010. Majeed had lunch with Butt and another player and Butt again raised the subject of fixing. The other player questioned Butt whether Majeed could be trusted. These discussions were conducted after the Test series and before the one-day series, but there was no suggestion that any matches in Australia were fixed.
The same people met again in the West Indies during the 2010 World Twenty20 and during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, but Milliken-Smith said no fixing occurred here and they all agreed to set up some fixes for the England tour, when Pakistan would be playing Australia and England.
In between the World Twenty20 and the Australian tour, Majeed visited Pakistan for the first time in 18 years to visit family and also to see players. He met with PCB officials for business reasons but also met again with Butt and the same other player, whom Milliken-Smith did not name. In Pakistan they agreed that they needed to recruit "a couple more players" into the fix.
The lawyer added, of Majeed's sentiments: "Nothing I say now can detract from the shame and regret that he feels in admitting his involvement.
"He wholly accepts by his plea of guilt that the course of his actions has had a devastating effect on not only cricket itself but on the confidence of many millions who play and watch the sport. He knows he has betrayed people who have played or watched cricket.
"He knows that he must be punished for what he has done…It took courage and remorse for Majeed to plead guilty. We hope that Majeed attracts the full credit for pleading guilty at the first opportunity.
Milliken-Smith added: "The publicity, the press attention and the intrusion into his family's lives is something he will regret for the rest of his life."
Majeed had pleaded guilty in the spot-fixing case before the trial started but that fact could not be reported till today due to court restrictions.
Butt, Amir and Asif were exposed by the now defunct British tabloid the News of the World in an undercover sting operation. Majeed, their former agent, was recorded by a secret camera claiming to have bribed Pakistan bowlers Amir and Asif to bowl no-balls at previously agreed moments during the Lord's Test. He was paid £150,000 to arrange a fix with the Pakistan team.
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