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We were naive, stupid admit Waugh, Warne

Australian Test cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne said today they were naive and stupid for accepting money from an illegal Indian bookmaker during the 1994 tour of Sri Lanka. Australian Cricket Board chairman Malcolm Speed, meanwhile, said the reputation of Australian cricket had been tarnished because the two players accepted money from the bookmaker.

Reflecting the extent of soul-searching and disappointment across the cricket loving country, Prime Minister John Howard said he shared a feeling of intense disappointment with cricket-loving Australians over the bookmaker scandal.

In a prepared statement read out today before a packed media conference in Adelaide, Waugh said he was approached by a man during the tour to provide mundane information on weather and pitch conditions.

Their confessions amid accusations of a cover-up that threatens to damage Australia's international reputation for fair play.

Waugh accepted $ 6,000 from the bookmaker and Warne was paid a sum of $ 5,000. They were fined $ 10,000 and $ 8,000 respectively by the Australian Cricket Board early in 1995.

They were fined $ 10,000 and $ 8,000 by the ACB, which informed the ICC of the matter but reportedly asked that it be kept confidential.

Former ACB chairman Alan Crompton said the issue had not been made public in 1995 because the ACB decided it was an internal disciplinary matter and there was no suggestion of match-fixing involved.

Speed said the ACB would consult with sponsors and suppliers, saying he believed they would be disappointed in the controversy.

He said the matter first arose when an Australian journalist contacted team management on tour with rumours of bookmaker involvement with some players.

He believed the players were contacted two to four times over a period of about one month.

But both players strenuously denied being involved in any match-fixing.

"I accept fully that my actions were naive and stupid, at the time I didn't see the implications of offering such information which I thought to be routine,'' said Waugh.

Waugh said he spoke to the bookmaker on a handful of occasions.

"At the time I did not see the implications of offering such information, which I thought to be mundane and exactly the same as any pre-match media interview,'' he said.

"In early 1995, the Australian Cricket Board asked me if I had ever provided information to a bookmaker and I replied I had done so the previous year.

"I have never spoken to the bookmaker again since.''

Warne read out a similar statement.

"In return for speaking to me on that handful of occasions (the bookmaker) offered me $ 6,000 which I accepted,'' added Waugh.

"At the time did not see the implications of providing such information, which I thought to be mundane.

"I have never spoken to the bookmaker since.''

In a similar statement Warne said he had been paid $ 5,000 by a man he later learnt to be an Indian bookmaker to pass on similar information but like Waugh never divulged any information about team tactics.

Warne said he deeply regretted his actions.

Both players refused to take questions from the media, leaving ACB chairman Speed to face the music. "Australian cricket has a very high reputation but that has been damaged by this incident,'' said Speed.

"There is a general sense by both players that they were foolish. They both realise they have made a mistake.''

Interestingly, Mark Waugh, in his book, A Year to Remember, Mark Waugh on tour with the Australian Cricket Team, released 12 months ago, talks about his betting.

"I've been a mad-keen punter ever since I can remember. When I was a kid, dad took us to Bankstown trots and I must have backed a winner because I've been going back ever since.

Today he owns the pacer Clever Kiwi and a filly called Hit Wickette -- so named after the controversy which surrounded his wonderful match-saving innings in the Third Test against South Africa in Adelaide in February.

In the book, Waugh says punting "only got in the way of my cricket once".

"I backed Super Impose when it won the Cox Plate at 25-1 over the favourite Naturalism in 1992. I was batting for Bankstown against Sydney University and we needed 30 to win and they were about to jump at Moonee Valley.

"We were home and hosed. I just couldn't miss it. I went for a big hit and top-edged the ball in the air and I got to see my long-shot bring home the cash."

Speed at the media conference said Waugh had answered truthfully all of the questions he was asked when giving evidence against former Pakistani captain Salim Malik who has been accused of match-fixing.

The ACB chairman said he did not think there needed to be another investigation into the matter which took place on the 1994 tour of Sri Lanka, although he thought it would be high on the agenda when the International Cricket Council met on January 10 in Christchurch.

Waugh and Warne had admitted they had been "naive and stupid'' for accepting money from the bookie for providing information on the weather and pitch conditions.

`"Australian cricket has a very high reputation but that has been damaged by this incident,'' he said.

"There is a general sense by both players that they were foolish.

"They both realise they have made a mistake.

"There is no new evidence and the matter has been dealt with efficiently and effectively.

"Penalties were imposed and the penalties were paid... people that make those decisions at the time had good reason to make that decision.''

Meanwhile, former ICC president Sir Clyde Walcott said the ICC was told "four or five years ago'' that Waugh and Warne were fined a total of $ 18,000 for selling weather and pitch reports to an Indian bookmaker in Sri Lanka.

"It was after a meeting in Sydney that we were told of this situation and the players had been disciplined, which they were entitled to do, and asked us to keep the matter very confidential,'' Sir Clyde told ABC TV from Barbados.

"We were asked by the ACB to keep the matter confidential and we decided to do so.''

The pair took the money during a short tour to Sri Lanka in 1994, but the fines imposed on them in February 1995 were kept secret until last night.

Sir Clyde, still a member of the ICC, said the ACB did not explain its request, but it was not surprising.

"It would have done nothing for the image of the international game of cricket to publicise these bad happenings.

"I can understand media people objecting to anybody wanting to keep anything confidential because that's big news, very unfortunate news, very sad news for cricket.''

In Pakistan in 1994, soon after the Sri Lanka tour, Waugh, Warne and Tim May claimed they were approached by Pakistani cricketer Salim Malik and offered money to play poorly.

Sir Clyde said these allegations were "completely different'' to those levelled against the Australians.

Nevertheless Waugh and Warne had been silly and had committed a serious offence, he said.

"We hope that now it's come out in the open we hope it'll be an example to others,'' Sir Clyde added on ABC radio.

"It certainly doesn't speak well of them (Waugh and Warne) but I assume that they regret very much the incident.''

Former ACB chairman Alan Crompton, whose statement was read by Speed, said, "Graham Halbish and I discussed the matter with Shane Warne and Mark Waugh immediately they made us aware of their actions.''

"They confirmed that for relatively small amounts they provided to bookmakers by telephone what to them was harmless information regarding weather conditions and likely pitch conditions.

"The seriousness of the situation was strongly emphasised to Shane and Mark.

"It was pointed out to them that their behaviour was naive and foolish in the extreme because the public could wrongly make the mental leap that the players were also involved in bribery and match fixing.''

Speed said he believed Waugh was fined more because he had more contact with the bookmaker, who lives in Delhi.

He ruled out any further inquiry into the matter, saying it was now over.

"I don't think there's any need for any further investigation at this stage,'' he said.

"There is no new evidence and the matter has been dealt with efficiently and effectively.

"Penalties were imposed and the penalties were paid ... people that make those decisions at the time had good reason to make that decision.''

Speed said Waugh was willing to outline the matter when he went before a Pakistani inquiry into match fixing and bribery last October.

But he said it was unlikely Waugh would return to the inquiry, which is expected to hand down its finding within two weeks.

Asked how the Pakistan Cricket Board would react Speed said: "I don't know, I don't expect they'll be happy about it.''

Meanwhile, English captain Alec Stewart said his country's preparations for the third Test would not be affected by news that Mark Waugh and Warne had accepted money.

Stewart, at a packed media conference earlier today, also said that he wasn't aware of any similar incidents within the English team.

"I read it today for the first time, I've always said you can't always believe what you read, but I say it's nothing to do with English cricket,'' Stewart said.

"It won't affect us at all. We've come here to try and win a Test match and square the series and I'm sure Australia will be trying to make it 2-0 and we'll just be treating the Test match like any other Test match.''

Former Test player and now commentator David Hookes named Waugh and Warne on Melbourne radio last night while the ACB confirmed two players had been fined during the 1994 tour of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Howard has said it would have been far better if the issue had been more openly dealt with at the time.

But he believed the issue was best left to cricket authorities to deal with.

"I would imagine that, given the great passion that Australians have for cricket, there's an intense feeling of disappointment about the whole issue,'' he told reporters shortly after watching a press conference given by the players and Malcolm Speed.

"Australians love their cricket and anything that looks as though it's knocking cricket off its pedestal is something that's going to deeply disturb Australians.

"It's clear with the benefit of hindsight that what Malcolm Speed has just said, that is if the incident had been revealed at the time and the actions taken at the time been made known, it would then have been seen in a much better perspective.

"Perhaps some of the connotations that are now being presented would not have been presented.

"These things are probably best dealt with more openly and more candidly.''

He said the question of discipline was not something for day-to-day commentary by a prime minister and was more properly dealt with by the relevant tribunal in the game, the ACB.

He said he had followed the issue because he loved cricket.

Howard said he had spoken to former ACB chairman Alan Crompton but did not reveal what he had to say.

In Pakistan, former captain Salim Malik has again labelled allegations of match-fixing levelled against him as baseless, on the eve of a judicial commission completing its findings.

Malik claimed he was innocent and would prove it.

Commission chief Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, meanwhile, has announced he will submit his report on the match-fixing scandal to Pakistan's president next fortnight.

"I will require a week from Tuesday to complete my investigations and submit a detailed report to President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar," Qayyum said. "I wouldn't commit on who are the players ... but I admit that something is wrong somewhere and the allegations levelled in the past are not baseless."

Malik said after a Lahore-Zimbabwe match: "All the allegations are baseless.

"There are some people who are against me and want to put an end to my career. I will come out clean and will play for Pakistan again."

Malik, likely to be left stranded on 99 Tests for Pakistan, said the ongoing bribery affair had affected his and other players' form.

Pakistan lost a recent home series 1-0 to Australia and trail 1-0 in a series against Zimbabwe.

"Every [Pakistan] player has been having a bad patch but, like in the past, the axe fell on me -- this is unjust," Malik said. "The poor performance is a clear reflection that all the players are so seriously perturbed. I am sad not to have played my 100th Test. If I get this honour it will be an honour for Pakistan."

Malik said evidence given by Pakistan bookmaker Salim Pervez to Qayyum that he had accepted US$ 100,000 to fix a match in Sri Lanka in 1994 was senseless.

"I will request the judge to take notice of his confession of being involved in illegal practice," Malik said. "How can a man give us such a big amount when he, himself, has nothing?"

Qayyum said the judicial commission which began in September and examined more than 40 witnesses, including Mark Waugh and Australian captain Mark Taylor, would be finalised on Tuesday.

But his report will not be released when he submits it to the President.

No matter what action the government takes, PCB chief executive Majid Khan said Pakistan would not be banned by the International Cricket Council if corruption charges were proven.

"The ICC will support us," Khan said. "I don't think we would be put into isolation because two or three players are found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.

"The objective of the investigation was to restore the pride and glamour of the sport."