Majeed's claims about access to Yuvraj, Bhajji wild: BCCI

Rubbishing the comments made by Mazhar Majeed, the agent involved in spot-fixing controversy, of having an access to players like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, the BCCI said they were nothing but 'wild claims'.

Ratnakar Shetty, CAO of BCCI, said: "BCCI does not think that this is important enough to be discussed because there is no allegation against any player as such."

Rajiv Shukla, BCCI vice-president, also shunned the claims. "Why are you giving too much importance. After 6 months he is dropping names. Both players (Bhajji and Yuvraj) have spoken to me and they don't know him," he told NDTV.

During the fourth day of the trial of Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, undercover investigative journalist Mazhar Mahmood, who exposed the alleged spot-fixing controversy, told the court that agent Mazhar Majeed boasted he had access to world cricket stars like Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Brett Lee & Ricky Ponting.

India batsman Yuvraj Singh said he did not know Majeed. "And who is majid!! absolute rubbish! Don't no never met," Yuvraj tweeted. (Read Full Story)

"The problem in India is if some one says a rooster has given an egg it will become news!! Whether its true or not its doesn't matter," he wrote on his Twitter account.

Ponting's manager, James Henderson, also dismissed his claims. "We have never heard of him," Henderson said.

Also Listen: Cricket Australia's Rebuttal

Majeed also named Pakistan Cricket Board President Ijaz Butt. The name dropping and boasting was heard in a recording that also saw Majeed mention that Pakistan were to throw atleast one limited over international on the 2010 tour of England.

He also named Pakistan Cricket Board President Ijaz Butt. "I had a meeting with Ijaz Butt about doing a domestic tournament. What we were going to do was look at putting a sponsor with each region and do a Twenty20 league because Pakistani people are not getting any cricket to watch. They will come in droves."

In recordings played to Southwark Crown Court, Majeed alleged that Australians, as well as some of the biggest names in Pakistani cricket, were prepared to fix parts of matches.

Jumping to the players' defence, Cricket Australia on Tuesday said it was not aware of any evidence implicating Australian players in match-fixing and slammed the credibility of the man who made the claims in a London court.

"We were very surprised to hear the report this morning," said Cricket Australia (CA) General Manager of Public Affairs Peter Young.

"We are aware that some very outlandish claims have been made by a person of very dubious repute and they've apparently been replayed to the court."

During the trial, a video secretly filmed in a car was played showing the agent and Mahmood meeting during the first day of Pakistan's Test against England on August 18 last year.
In it, Majeed alleged that Australian players would fix "brackets", a set period of a match on which punters bet.

"The Australians, they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game," he said.

Arranging a "bracket" could cost between £50,000 and £80,000, he said.

"For a result, Twenty20 is about £400,000 and Test matches, depending on the situation, are about £1 million," he added.

Young said CA would be talking with the International Cricket Council on Tuesday "to understand any advice they might have".

"We do note that the ICC has had an anti-corruption expert scrutinizing every single ball that we've bowled and every single ball that we've faced for well over a decade," he added.

"There has been no suggestion of any concerns about Australian cricket."

The court also heard Majeed saying he was reluctant to work with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi because "you have to kiss his a*** every day". He also boasted of turning down the chance of being part of the Oscar winning movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

Majeed's bragging was heard in a recording while Mahmood was in the witness box at Southwark Crown Court in central London, on the fourth day of the trial of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who have been charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat following the Lord's Test in August. The two have denied the charges.