A court in the United Kingdom has awarded former Pakistani cricketer Nasir Jamshed a 17-month jail sentence for involvement in fixing a February 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL) match in Dubai.
A Manchester Crown Court judge pronounced the judgment after the former opener of the national cricket team pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to bribe fellow cricketers as part of a Twenty20 spot-fixing coup.
Jamshed, 33, had initially denied charges but later pleaded guilty during a court hearing in the first week of December 2019 in Manchester, northwest England.
Today is the most difficult day of my life as Nasir starts his custodial sentence & I figure out what to tell my 4 year old
The court has also jailed two other men, Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz, for 40 and 30 months, respectively, after they had also admitted to offering financial advantages to PSL players with the intention of inducing them to perform improperly by failing to play competitively in good faith.
Jamshed was arrested with Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz last February in a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe. He played 48 one-day internationals for Pakistan and two Test matches from 2008 to 2015.
How corruption was uncovered?
Prosecutors told the court that an undercover police officer had unearthed evidence by pretending to be a member of a corrupt betting syndicate.
The policeman’s efforts then led to the discovery of an attempted fix in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) late in 2016 and an actual fix in the PSL in February 2017.
Read more: Nasir Jamshed’s 10-year ban for spot-fixing upheld
In both cases, an opening batsman in the Twenty20 tournaments had agreed to not score runs from the first two balls of an over in return for payment. The player would signal at the start of the match to confirm the fix was on. Typically, they would charge £30,000 per fix with half of that going to the player.
Wife’s heartfelt letter after husband jailed
Minutes after the court convicted Jamshed, his wife, Dr Samara Afzal, penned a heartfelt letter on the pain her family was going through and advised other players not be lured into “corruption”.
“Today is the most difficult day of my life as Nasir starts his custodial sentence & I figure out what to tell my 4 year old,” she wrote. “I’ve felt the need to write this in the hope that others learn from Nasir’s mistakes & no one goes through the pain we have suffered in the last 3 years,” she stated.
I hope and pray no other cricketer gets lured into to this temptation for money and no family has to bear the pain and humiliation we have endured and continue to do so
In addition, she stated: “Nasir could have a bright future had he worked hard and been committed to the sport that gave him so much but he took a short cut and lost everything: his career, status, respect and freedom. He would have got UK nationality and played country cricket and he threw his chance away.
“He would do anything to turn the clock back and not lose everything, especially his daughter who he’s very close to but it’s too late for him. I hope all cricketers look at his example as a deterrent against corruption,” she added.
Today is the most difficult day of my life as Nasir starts his custodial sentence & I figure out what to tell my 4 year old.. I’ve felt the need to write this in the hope that others learn from Nasirs mistakes & no one goes through the pain we have suffered in the last 3 years. pic.twitter.com/fgkkMiglgz
— Dr Samara Afzal (@SamaraAfzal) February 7, 2020
“An international cricket can probably earn more than I as a doctor can so I can’t understand the need to partake in corruption. I know in Pakistan one person is expected to provide for a dozen others but that doesn’t justify corruption. Praying for your country is a privilege and not an entitlement which as we have seen can be taken at any time.
Read more: Cricketer Nasir Jamshed pleads guilty in UK bribery case
“I hope and pray no other cricketer gets lured into to this temptation for money and no family has to bear the pain and humiliation we have endured and continue to do so.”
She wrote she was aware that there are too many financial expectations from families in Pakistan but nothing justifies corruption.