12 Oct 2011

Court told matches fixed for years

1:31 pm on 12 October 2011

A court in London has heard accusations from a cricket agent that leading Australian and Pakistani players have been fixing matches for years.

At the corruption trial of former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif, covert recordings were played of Mazhar Majeed identifying players he said were involved in match-fixing. Majeed maintained Australians were "the biggest" offenders.

He said Australian players would fix as many as 10 "brackets" in a match - set periods of a match on which punters bet, for example, on how many runs will be scored.

Prosecutors say Majeed conspired with them to fix parts of the Test at Lord's between England and Pakistan in August last year.

Butt and Asif deny the charges. The trial continues.