Afridi, Pakistan’s one-day captain, made the surprise statement on the eve of their first Twenty20 International against England here on Sunday.
"I think it is very bad news," said the experienced allrounder. "On behalf of these players – I know they are not in this series – but on behalf of these boys I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations," he added.
Pakistan’s Test captain Salman Butt and fellow teammates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are embroiled in a betting scandal after being accused of taking bribes from match-fixers during the fourth and final Test against England at Lord’s last week. The trio were grilled for hours by Scotland Yard detectives in London on Friday. Officials say that the investigations might continue for weeks.
But Afridi said he wasn’t angry over the investigations. In fact he said that the man involved in the scandal, Mazhar Majeed, has been traveling with the accused players on assignments preceding his team’s ongoing tour of England. "This guy has been traveling with the guys in the West Indies and in Australia," he said. "I saw him on the tours. I didn't know anything about this." Afridi said that he is making all out effort to make his players shift their focus completely on the one-day series against England.
"I told the boys don't read the newspapers tomorrow, just focus on cricket. I know the Pakistan people are very upset. We all love cricket. As a team all we can do is to play good, aggressive cricket and maybe when we go back home maybe the things will settle down.
"It is a big challenge for me as a captain but I think we are all ready and focused. Myself and the coach have already told the boys: 'Don't talk about this issue, we are here to play cricket.'” Afridi’s Pakistan had a marathon practice session here on Saturday as the players warmed up for the series-opening Twenty20 game to be played today.
Meanwhile, Paul Collingwood, England’s Twenty20 captain, declared on Saturday that his team will overcome the ‘sadness’ caused by a betting scandal involving three Pakistani cricketers and will give its best in the series opener here on Sunday.
Collingwood, who is looking to beat Pakistan in the limited-overs series that includes two Twenty20 Internationals and five one-dayers, said that his players will give their 100 percent in spite of feeling low because of the ‘spot-fixing’ row that involves Pakistan’s Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
"There was an air of sadness (when the allegations of spot-fixing came to light)," Collingwood here on Saturday. "But the guys are looking forward to getting on with the cricket and hopefully winning the game." Collingwood said that last Sunday when allegations of spot-fixing were levelled against the Pakistan trio during the Lord’s Test was one of the lowest points of his career.
"Sunday at the Test match, it's fair to say it was one of the lowest points I've got as a cricketer.
"It was a difficult day, but as the week's gone on decisions have been made and we can now focus on the cricket in hand.
"The guys are very much 100 percent prepared to get on with the job in hand and play against Pakistan," he concluded.
