Ponting saddened by allegations

Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes it will be a sad day for cricket if allegations of a betting scam involving Pakistan players are proved to be correct ().

The News of the World sting, which exposed player agent Mazhar Majeed as a man who could allegedly influence the actions of Pakistan players on the pitch, has rocked the cricketing world, with several recent results now being called into question.

The scandal surrounding the England versus Pakistan series involved bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif allegedly bowling no-balls at various times in the match, with Majeed accepting cash from an undercover reporter for passing the information onto what he thought was a betting syndicate.

The newspaper report also suggests that the outcome of the second Test of last winter’s Pakistan – Australia series was also influenced by Majeed, as the Asians failed to reach a target of 176 for victory, with the Aussies winning from a seemingly impossible position as Pakistan failed to press home their advantage ().

Despite the evidence against the players involved at Lord’s, Ponting is prepared to wait for the outcome of any investigation before condemning any of Salman Butt’s side.

“If the allegations are proved correct then it will take the gloss off,” he said. “But at this stage they’re just allegations from one newspaper and so I think we’ve just got to be careful not to start making our own conclusions about things that are just alleged at this stage.

“If the allegations are proved correct, then yeah it’s definitely disappointing and very sad for the game of cricket.”