Watson on Tuesday said both players immediately reported their separate meetings to team management because the approaches were "more intense" than the usual contact with ordinary fans.
The bookmaker met Watson while the Australian team was staying at an exclusive hotel in London and praised the 29-year-old allrounder before inviting him out for drinks and "a bit of fun." The revelations come as British police investigate allegations by a tabloid newspaper that two of Pakistan's players deliberately bowled no-balls in a test last week against England in exchange for money, sparking another cricket match-fixing scandal.
Australia's Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were fined in 1995 for taking money from an Indian bookmaker in exchange for information on pitch and weather conditions during a tour to Sri Lanka. Players from South Africa, India and Pakistan were banned from international cricket in the game's more recent match-fixing scandals.
"I didn't think too much more of it until I found out a bit more information and that he was actually one of the illegal bookmakers," Watson said of the meeting in England. "It was just a little bit different to what normal fans are." Watson said he was sorry to hear about the possible involvement in the alleged betting scandal of Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir.
"I probably feel for him more than anyone because he's only a young, naive and innocent young guy," Watson said.
"I found him to be a brilliant competitor on the field.
He always gave everything he got every single time that I competed against him and I found him to be an extremely skillful bowler for a 19-year-old." Haddin said he was approached separately, with an Indian man coming to the wicketkeeper's hotel room while he was talking to his wife on the telephone.
"I got a knock on my door from someone asking if I wanted to come across to their room to have a drink, which I thought was a bit odd," Haddin explained.
The unusual encounter raised Haddin's suspicions and he alerted team manager Steve Bernard and the ICC's security manager John Rhodes.
Amid the latest claims of match-fixing, Pakistan's surprising loss from a commanding position in a test against Australia earlier this year has been called into question by some critics. Pakistan lost the three-match series 3-0.
