Cricket Australia slam match fixing claims

Agent Mazhar Majeed told an undercover journalist that Australian cricketers and Pakistan stars were involved in betting scams. Photo / Getty Images

Cricket Australia has slammed the credibility of the man behind "outlandish'' claims in a London court implicating Australian players in match fixing.

The claims surfaced on Monday as Mazher Mahmood, a former journalist for the now-defunct News of the World, gave evidence at the spot fixing trial of ex-Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif.

Agent Mazhar Majeed, who is accused of taking bribes to fix matches, said on a covert recording played to Southwark Crown Court that Australian players were "the biggest'' when it came to rigging games.

On the tape Majeed, 36, told undercover journalist Mahmood that Australian cricketers and Pakistan stars were involved in betting scams.

The jury was played recordings of meetings between the London-based agent and Mahmood, who was posing as a rich Indian businessman seeking major international players for a tournament.

The pair met in London on August 18 last year and Majeed alleged that Australian players would fix "brackets'', a set period of a match on which punters bet.

"The Australians, they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game,'' Majeed said.

Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday voiced serious doubt about Majeed's credibility but were wary of saying too much while the court case was underway.

"We were very surprised to hear the report this morning,'' said CA general manager of public affairs Peter Young.

"We are aware that some very outlandish claims have been made by a person of very dubious repute and they've apparently been replayed to the court.

"We're very conscience of respecting the judicial process and we're very conscience of the importance of not saying anything that might inadvertently compromise that process.

"What we can say is that we are not aware of any evidence.

"Our long standing formal view for well over a decade since this (match fixing in international cricket) became an issue has been that any credible evidence needs to be pursued and investigated with vigour and that is our position today.''

Young said he had faith in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) thorough scrutiny of Australian cricket over the years and would contact the governing body to seek advice on the matter.

"We do note that the ICC has had an anti-corruption expert scrutinising every single ball that we've bowled and every single ball that we've faced for well over a decade and there has been no suggestion of any concerns about Australian players,'' Young said.

"I think the important thing to understand is that while we are necessarily cautious in what we say, we are also aware that the particular person who is talking on this tape is not regarded with any credibility anywhere.

"We will later today be talking to the ICC to understand any advice they might have.''