Aus stars targeted by bookies

Sydney - Australia stars Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were approached by a suspected Indian gangster with ties to illegal bookmakers last year, a report said Tuesday, as a major betting scandal engulfed cricket.

The Sydney Morning Herald said Watson was approached at a London hotel during last year's Ashes series, while Haddin was confronted during the World Twenty20 tournament.

It said senior International Cricket Council (ICC) sources described the man as a Mumbai gangster with links to illegal bookies in India, adding that he was under investigation.

The report comes after Britain's News of the World said it paid alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed 150 000 pounds ($230 000) to organise three no-balls by Pakistan's bowlers during last week's fourth Test against England.

Majeed, who was arrested and later bailed, also reportedly boasted that he earned $1.3m for January's Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan, when the visitors were in a dominant position but slumped to defeat.

Cricket Australia called the British report "most disturbing" but said it would wait for more evidence before making further comment. The Herald said the governing body confirmed approaches to two players and one of its officials.

The Australian newspaper meanwhile said Pakistan's tour of Australia, where they lost all three Tests and five one-dayers, was under scrutiny after earlier warnings from ICC anti-corruption agents about possible fixing.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said the team had no suspicions during the Sydney Test, but added that all players were aware of approaches by bookmakers in recent years.

"We've had instances in the past couple of years where blokes have come up to players in bars and wanted to talk about what is happening, and strange phone calls going through to the (hotel) rooms," Ponting wrote in The Australian.

"We know what to do and we do it. We let the team manager know straight away and the ICC is informed from there. You have to be so careful with everything you do now, everyone you meet, everywhere you go."

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones recalled being offered a cake tin full of cash during the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka, while columnists said cricket's credibility was reeling from the scandal.

"Cricket's already shaky integrity has been blown out of the water," said the Herald's Peter Roebuck in a front-page column.

"Credibility has been destroyed and it's not coming back until someone with guts gets hold of the game."