Cricketer Nasir Jamshed jailed over spot-fixing

Nasir Jamshed was initially a target of bribery before turning perpetrator

Pakistan international batsman Nasir Jamshed has been jailed for his part in a spot-fixing scandal.

He was arrested with Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz last February in a National Crime Agency probe.

Jamshed encouraged other players to fix a Pakistan Super League (PSL) game in February 2018 by getting batsmen to avoid scoring runs from certain balls in return for a share of £30,000.

The three defendants were jailed after admitting bribery offences.

An attempt to fix a Bangladesh Premier League match towards the end of 2016, and an actual fix in the PSL, were uncovered by an police officer who posed as a member of a corrupt betting syndicate.

Jamshed, from Walsall, was initially targeted in the Bangladesh plan which was later called off.

He then acted as a go-between and encouraged other players to spot-fix at the PSL fixture between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi in Dubai.

He initially denied the bribery offence but changed his plea to guilty during his trial in December.

'Undermining cricket'

Anwar, 36, of Littlebrook Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, and Ijaz, 34, of Chippingham Road, Sheffield, had admitted conspiring to offer bribes to professional cricketers at an earlier hearing.

During their sentencing at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Richard Mansell QC said: "By far the most insidious consequence of these offences is the undermining of public confidence in the integrity of the sporting contest, not simply in the individual match directly affected but in the game of cricket generally."

Anwar was jailed for 40 months, Ijaz sentenced to 30 months and Jamshed, who made more than 60 appearances for his country, for 17 months.

Jamshed was previously banned from playing cricket for 10 years following an investigation by the Pakistan Cricket Board's anti-corruption unit.

Two other players, Sharjeel Khan - who carried out the PSL fix - and Khalid Latif, received five-year bans.