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Further allegations as Pakistan resume tour

Pakistan resumed their troubled tour of England on Sunday after a fresh wave of corruption allegations in the worst crisis to hit cricket since the 2000 match-fixing scandal.

Shahid Afridi’s one-day side finished a distant second to world champions England in the first of two Twenty20 internationals in Cardiff after the captain had briefly threatened to turn the match in Pakistan’s favour.

Afridi resigned as the test captain after the first test against Australia in England this year following possibly the two most irresponsible innings ever played by a team leader in a five-day match.

He was succeeded by Salman Butt, who was suspended from all cricket along with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif last Thursday following an investigation into reports in the News of the World newspaper that they had manipulated incidents in the fourth test against England.

A second chapter of revelations in the British tabloid on Sunday eventually generated more heat than light.

The newspaper said a fourth unidentified team member was being investigated and ran quotes from test opening batsman Yasir Hameed saying team mates were fixing “almost every match”.

Hameed issued a statement on Sunday saying he had been duped into making the allegations by a News of the World reporter masquerading as an agent.

Candid outburst

“As I saw him as a friend and a potential agent I naively started to answer his questions,” Hameed said.

“He asked me about the match-fixing allegations against the current three Pakistani players and if I had any further knowledge. As far as I can recall I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about this matter.”

Afridi questioned Hameed’s maturity and reliability, adding: “I don’t know who he was sitting with or in which situation he gave this message. I don’t know but we have known him for a long time and we can expect anything from him.”

Eleven thousand people turned up to watch England’s first Twenty20 match since they won the World Cup in Barbados, 4,000 below the capacity at the Swalec stadium, but it was difficult to judge if disenchantment with Pakistan or heavy morning rain was the primary cause. England won by five wickets.

The dashing Afridi with his piratical long hair and beard is a player who will lift the spirits of both his team and their supporters in the remaining six one-day internationals and he was determined on Sunday to draw a line in the sand after the unhappy events of the past week.

“The people enjoyed the game. We got some good support as well,” he said. “We have to play cricket; you will see us play some good cricket.

“It’s my job and the coach’s job to lift the morale and keep the guys in high spirits.”