UK charge Pakistan trio with taking bribes

LONDON,  (Reuters) - British prosecutors charged former Pakistan test captain and opening bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir on Friday with taking bribes to fix incidents in the fourth test against England at Lord’s last year.

The trio are accused of arranging incidents, such as bowling no-balls at pre-agreed times, during the match.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said the trio, along with a fourth man, 35-year-old sports agent Mazhar Majeed of Croydon, England, had been charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and with conspiracy to cheat.

“These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl `no balls’ on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan’s fourth test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London,” said Simon Clements, head of the CPS Special Crime Division.

He said Majeed had been ordered to appear at London’s City of Westminster Magistrates Court on March 17.

“Summonses for the same court date have been issued for the three players and they have been asked to return to this country voluntarily, as they agreed to do in September last year,” Clements said.

“Their extradition will be sought should they fail to return.”

The three players will learn on Saturday if they are facing sporting sanctions when they hear the verdict of an independent anti-corruption tribunal, convened by the International Cricket Council, in Doha.

A three-member anti-corruption tribunal heard the case against the trio last month for more than 45 hours spread over six days, poring over oral and written testimonies, watching video recordings and listening to tapes and forensic submissions.

The cricketers face possible life bans if they are found guilty.

All three have consistently denied wrongdoing.

Obtaining and accepting corrupt payments carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment while cheating carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment, the CPS said.

Afridi confirmed as Pakistan captain

KARACHI, (Reuters) - All-rounder Shahid Afridi was confirmed as Pakistan’s World Cup captain on Friday following his team’s one-day series victory in New Zealand.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named their 15-man squad for the tournament opening on Feb. 19 without naming a captain, fuelling speculation that test captain Misbah-ul-Haq could be appointed ahead of Afridi,

However in a statement on Friday the PCB said Afridi, 30, a veteran of 311 one-day internationals, will lead the side for the World Cup which will be jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Misbah-ul-Haq will be the vice-captain.

“The board has also retained Waqar Younis as chief coach and Aaqib Javed as bowling consultant for the World Cup,” PCB media manager, Nadeem Sarwar said. He gave no explanation for the delay in naming a captain.

Sarwar said the board had also decided to send security advisor Wasim Ahmed with the team while former captain Intikhab Alam will continue as team manager.

Pakistan are in Group A of the World Cup alongside Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said Afridi was the correct choice.

“It was the logical thing to do because he has now been leading the one-day side since last year and the players are also comfortable with him and understand his leadership style,” Latif told Reuters.

“If anything I don’t understand what prompted the board to delay the announcement. It only led to speculation which is not good for Pakistan cricket ahead of such an important event.”

Another former test captain Zaheer Abbas said Afridi would now have to show great responsibility.

“He has a golden chance to create history for Pakistan because we haven’t won the World Cup since 1992. Afridi because of his experience was the right choice,” Zaheer said.