Warne under pressure to attend bribe inquiry (14 October 1998)

14 October 1998

Warne under pressure to attend bribe inquiry

By Peter Deeley

SHANE WARNE is again being pressed by Pakistan cricket officials to come here and testify in the bribery and match-fixing inquiry, which has been extended by a month.

The Australian leg-spinner is negotiating to go to Bangladesh next week to commentate for a television station on the one-day series being held there.

The capital, Dhaka, is a two-hour flight from Pakistan and the authorities here are anxious to obtain Warne's evidence in person about an alleged bribe offer from Salim Malik to help throw the 1994 Karachi Test. They have also issued an invitation to Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman, whose name has occurred in evidence.

The judge heading the judicial commission into allegations against Malik and two other Pakistan players, Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram, was ill yesterday and the hearing was postponed until today.

Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer Ali Sibtain Fazli issued an appeal to Warne. "We will pay his fares and hotel accommodation and guarantee him an in-camera hearing with all the security he wants," he said.

"The problem is that we largely only have hearsay statements. Warne would give us direct testimony which could be fundamental to the case. The evidence is pointing in the direction of some key players and they would have the right to cross-examine."

Warne, who is recovering from a shoulder operation, said his immediate plans were still uncertain. Earlier he had ruled out any idea of returning here. "We signed affidavits and we got called liars by another judge," said Warne. "We left it up to the authorities."

It seems, however, that these Australian authorities saw fit to sit on the allegations for nearly five months without telling their Pakistani counterparts.

Australia manager Colin Egar learnt what had happened while still in Pakistan in late 1994. He says that he immediately contacted David Richards, chief executive of the International Cricket Council, who was also in the country. Egar said: "I think at the time the ICC should have taken a hold of the matters."

But Zafar Altaf, a Pakistan board member, says that when he later demanded an explanation from Egar for his silence, Egar answered that the allegation was not brought to his notice and therefore not much credence should be placed on it, and that he suspected it was an attempt to fracture the Pakistan side.

In January 1995 Rashid Latif, vice-captain of the Pakistan side in South Africa and Zimbabwe, publicly denounced his captain, Malik, for fixing a game in South Africa.

Australia's top cricketers are to have their salaries cut by up to £14,000 a year under a new pay scheme designed to pump more money into developing players.

The deal guarantees increased funding for players in the first-class Sheffield Shield competition but reduces the salaries of the game's biggest names.

Warne, who earns £74,000 a season under his current contract, in addition to endorsements and sponsorships, supports the deal and said: "The top players have taken a bit of a cut but you need some sort of foundation in cricket and Shield cricket is the best way."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)