Pakistan batsman Nasir Jamshed jailed after pleading guilty for spot fixing

Pakistan cricketer Nasir Jamshed has been put behind bars for 17 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to buy off fellow cricketer as part of a T20 spot fixing scheme in Dubai.

Jamshed persuaded other cricketers to fix a Pakistan Super League (PSL) game by getting batsmen to avoid scoring from certain deliveries in return for a share of £30,000.

the 30-year-old was taken into custody alongside two other men--Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz—last February as part of a UK National Crime Agency investigation into alleged spot fixing.

Anwar, played the most leading role in the plan, and was sentenced to three years and four months at Manchester Crown Court. While Ijaz, was sentenced to two years and six months.

All three admitted their roles in the conspiracy at a previous legal proceeding.

Sentencing them, Judge Richard Mansell stated that Anwar and Ijaz had become involved in sophisticated and organised criminal activity.

Nasir Jamshed was "vulnerable to succumbing to the temptation of financial reward", he said.

"Corruption of this kind has sadly been taking place in the game of cricket for a very long time," he told the court.

"If anything it has become worse due to the proliferation in the last decade of hugely popular televised international T20 tournaments in all the major cricketing nations, combined with a huge increase in online gambling.

"What makes cricket, and specifically these T20 tournaments in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, so vulnerable to corrupt practices, is the existence of a huge, largely unregulated online betting industry in the Indian sub-continent."

Ian McConnell, NCA senior investigating officer, stated after the proceeding: "These men abused their privileged access to professional, international cricket to corrupt games, eroding public confidence for their own financial gain."

An undercover police penetrated the network by posing as a member of a betting syndicate.

His work led to an attempted fix in the Bangladesh Premier League towards the end of 2016 being revealed, as well as an actual fix in the PSL in 2017.

In both cases, an opener in the T20 tournament had agreed to not score from the first two balls in return for a share of £30,000 fee.

Jamshed was the target of bribery in Bangladesh ‘two dot ball’ plan which was later dropped.

He then turned perpetrator as he encouraged other players to spot fix at a PSL fixture between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi in Dubai.

The court was told a corrupt betting syndicate could earn hundred of thousands of pounds from such spot fixings by putting illicit in-play bets.

Jamshed, who has more than 60 appearances for his nation, refused the PSL bribery offence but changed his plea to guilty after his trial opened in December.

Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar names Australian batsman who resembles him

Also Read: Yuvraj Singh bats for all-rounder Shivam Dube to challenge for Hardik Pandya’s spot