Miandad book opens murky chapter again

Raking up the match-fixing issue all over again, legendary Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad has said Pakistan may have deliberately lost a ...

Raking up the match-fixing issue all over again, legendary Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad has said Pakistan may have deliberately lost a One-Day International against England in Sharjah prior to the 1999 World Cup.

In his autobiography, 8216;Cutting Edge8217;, Miandad, no stranger to controversy, claims that concerns over the conduct of his team in the match on April 12, 1999, led him to resign as coach just a month before the World Cup. Now back in charge as the team coach and preparing for Pakistan8217;s three-match Natwest series opener with England at Old Trafford on Tuesday, Miandad8217;s claim backs up allegations about the Sharjah game made earlier by current captain Rashid Latif. Pakistan lost to England by 62 runs 8211; five days after thrashing them by 90 runs 8211; and Miandad, the highest run-scorer in Pakistan8217;s Test cricket history, says in his book that he was 8220;concerned that our performance may have had little to do with cricket8221;.

According to a report in 8216;The Mail on Sunday8217;, Miandad claims that during the interval between innings, he received telephone calls which suggested his players may have been bribed to lose the match.

8216;8216;I called them to swear on the holy koran; they said they knew nothing,8221; he writes.

8216;8216;It ended up being a turbulent team meeting during which some of the senior players were especially riled up. I didn8217;t let the friction get to me.

8220;Instead, I outlined a simple strategy and alerted everyone to play according to plan. The way our innings proceeded, though, it was as if I hadn8217;t said a word to anyone,8221; Miandad writes in his book.

Miandad says, 8220;it was a pathetic performance in cricketing terms, which was bad enough.

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8220;But with all the talk of betting syndicates in international cricket, and with match-fixing allegations swirling around major cricket centres like Sharjah, I was also concerned that our performance may have had little to do with cricket. It wasn8217;t easy for me to shake off this idea.8221;