A former member of the Pakistan cricket management team told me the England v Pakistan series would be rigged to ensure huge betting wins for crooked syndicates.
Indian bookmakers were effectively controlling games, telling a number of Pakistani stars what to do on the pitch. Once the paymasters knew what would happen in a game, they could rig the odds in their favour – and bet fortunes with other bookmakers who were not in the know.
The crucial extra piece of information I received in January was the name Mazhar Majeed, a millionaire businessman who acted as an agent for Pakistani players. I was told he was the fixer for the summer Test series in England.
We made a number of background checks on Majeed, but it wasn’t until August 8 that the investigation moved into top gear and I arranged to meet him, posing as a multi-millionaire businessman interested in holding a cricket tournament in the Middle East.
