Harsha Bhogle says he's sure match-fixing happens in cricket

In the wake of the Pakistani duo of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif being held guilty of spot-fixing by a London court, noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle today admitted that match fixing happens in cricket.

In a stunning revelation, Bhogle told CNN IBN: “I have been to a few cricket matches and I have looked at it and said ‘oops what’s happening here’. I remember telling myself one day that don’t look at the match from that angle, a cricket lover in you will die.

“That’s a naive way of looking at it…but we all have been to cricket matches and felt this doesn’t look right..but around the world it’s still happening,” he added.

“I’m absolutely sure it’s happening but I don’t have evidence,” added Bhogle.

The timeline of the spot fixing trial (courtesy Reuters)

August 29 2010: Police confiscate the trio’s mobile phones after allegations in The News of the World that they had arranged for deliberate no-balls to be bowled in the fourth test against England at Lord’s. Their agent, Mazhar Majeed, is arrested and released on bail.

August 30: Pakistan slump to the heaviest defeat in their test history, losing the series 3-1. Manager Yawar Saeed says the one-day series, involving two Twenty20 matches and five one-day internationals, will go ahead.

September 1: BoomBoom, official kit suppliers to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), announce they have suspended their commercial relationship with Amir and are reviewing their position with the board.

September 2: Saeed tells reporters before a warmup match against Somerset at Taunton that Butt, Amir and Asif will take no further part in the tour. The decision is welcomed by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke. The three players attend a meeting at the Pakistan High Commission in London. High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan tells reporters the trio had maintained their innocence but had asked the PCB to pull them out of the remainder of the tour because of the “mental torture” they had undergone.

Later in the day, the ICC release a statement saying the three players had been suspended under its anti-corruption code and face possible life bans.

September 3: The three are questioned separately by London police. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat tells a news conference at Lord’s that the sport faces its worst crisis since the 2000 match-fixing scandal which resulted in life bans for international captains Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Salim Malik (Pakistan) and Mohammad Azharuddin (India).

September 4: The News of the World quotes Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed as saying match-fixing was rife in the team. Hameed denies ever speaking to the Sunday tabloid. The newspaper also says a fourth, unidentified Pakistan player is being investigated.

September 5: Hameed attends a meeting at the Pakistan High Commission and afterward issues a statement saying he was duped into speaking to The News of the World.

September 10: Butt, Amir and Asif return home after agreeing to return to England if requested to help with the police investigation.

September 14: Police interview Pakistan pace bowler Wahab Riaz.

September 18: Lorgat issues a statement saying an investigation had been launched into the scoring pattern in Pakistan’s innings in the third one-day international at the Oval on the previous day. Pakistan had won by 23 runs.

September 20: The ECB threaten legal action against PCB chairman Ijaz Butt after he suggests the England team had been bribed to lose at the Oval. Riaz and England batsman Jonathan Trott clash in the nets before play begins in the fourth one-day match at Lord’s.

September 23: ECB say they will start immediate legal proceedings against Ijaz Butt unless he gives a “full and unreserved apology” for his allegations. Butt withdrew his allegations six days later.

February 4: Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service charge Salman Butt, Asif, Amir and Majeed with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and with conspiracy to cheat.

February 5: Three-man ICC tribunal finds Salman Butt, Amir and Asif guilty of corruption. Butt is banned for 10 years, with five suspended, Asif for seven, with two suspended, and Amir for five.

November 1: Butt and Asif found guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London of “conspiracy to cheat” and “conspiracy to accept corrupt payments” for fixing part of a test match. It is later revealed Amir pleaded guilty before the start of the trial.

Watch Harsha Bhogle speak on spot fixing in cricket