21 May 2011

Pakistan trio's trial date set

6:56 am on 21 May 2011

The three Pakistan Test cricketers accused of corruption will stand trial in Britain on October the 4th.

Former captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have been charged with conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.

Agent Mazher Majeed is accused of accepting STG 150,000 ($NZ 306,000) to arrange for the players to bowl no-balls during three dates in Pakistan's Test series at Lord's last August.

The trial date was fixed in a hearing by judge John Saunders at London's Southwark Crown Court.

None of the four accused attended the hearing.

Prior knowledge of when no-balls will occur could be exploited in what is known as 'spot-betting', hugely popular in South Asia, whereby gamblers bet on various possible incidents in a match rather than the final result.

A separate and independent International Cricket Council (ICC) ti-corruption tribunal has already banned the three players for a minimum of five years each.

All three have, however, filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.