Former Pakistani captain airs match-fixing suspicions

13 April 1999

KARACHI, April 13-Former Pakistani cricket captain Rashid Latif Tuesday accused unnamed players in the national team of involvement in match fixing, citing the defeat at Sharjah against England.

''I suspect match fixing as they threw away the match at Sharjah on Monday,'' the 30-year-old Latif said. ''It is unbelievable the way Saqlain got out,'' he told.

''The guys are once again trying to make fools of the public. The way they lost the match, it is obvious something fishy has again started in the team,'' Latif said, without naming any player.

He said Saeed Anwer did not play in two recent matches, in which the national team was defeated by Sri Lanka in India and by England in Sharjah, because he ''may not have wanted to be part of match fixing.''

''I am not saying this because I am out of the team, I am only repeating my earlier        apprehensions,'' he said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman said he believed he was punished because of his ''courageous stance'' over match fixing and bribery.

''I will never let the game I have loved so much be polluted. It is sacred for me and I want it to be pure, like an angel,'' he said, hoping he can make a comeback.

Latif was made captain in 1997, but after the team's poor performance he was discarded.

He said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the judicial inquiry commission, which is currently probing match fixing allegations, should keep a close watch on the activities of the team.

''Links between bookmakers and players'' should be broken as bookies ''do not let the players live in peace,'' Latif said.

Latif, along with several present and former team members, testified recently before Judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum.

Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and Salim Malik were implicated in PCB's interim report last year for their alleged involvement in match fixing and bribery.

The cricketers denied the allegations. During the 1994 South Africa tour, Latif along with team mate Basit Ali announced retirement after accusing some players of match fixing and not giving their best, but both later reversed their decision.

The match-fixing allegations have been haunting Pakistani cricket for nearly four years since Australian players Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh accused Salim Malik of offering them bribes to perform poorly during the 1994-95 tour of Pakistan.