Pakistani cricket players 'taught' about the risks

Dubai: Pakistani cricketers are not ignorant of the dangers of getting involved in match fixing, said Mudassar Nazar, the International Cricket Council Global Cricket Academy coach and former coach of the Pakistan team.

"All these cricketers who have been named in the recent scandal have come through the Pakistan Cricket Board's National Cricket Academy and we had conducted special classes and even programmes to teach them on the dangers of getting involved in match fixing and its impact," Nazar told Gulf News.

Nazar was the director of the National Cricket Academy in Lahore before joining the ICC Global Cricket Academy.

Nonsense

When asked whether Pakistan cricketers are falling prey to the bookies due to poor remuneration for playing international cricket, Nazar said: "That is nonsense. Though they did not get to play in the Indian Premier League, the remuneration they get for playing in international cricket series is on par with the best teams."

"I am shocked and frankly cannot understand why these cricketers could have got lured to such acts. They are all fully aware of how bad will be the impact on their family, the nation and themselves," said Nazar, who was responsible for spotting Mohammad Amir as a 14 year old from an academy in Rawalpindi and grooming him into a top cricketer.

Amir has been named in the scandal for deliberately bowling no-balls in the Lord's Test. "When I was the coach of the Pakistan team the players were scared of losing matches. None of the players wanted to face the criticisms of huge defeats. I used to get anonymous calls saying that our match was fixed but they may have been some disgruntled bookies who were annoyed over the fact that the result and match did not go in their favour," said Nazar, who was one of Pakistan's finest all-rounders.

To a query as to why match fixing attempts are rampant in Asian countries, Nazar said: "In England or West Indies betting is legalised and book makers focus on legal means, even betting on football matches. In countries like Pakistan, betting cannot be legalised due to religious factors."

According to Nazar, the only way the menace can end is by cricketers focusing on the game. "Cricketers should stay away from bookies."