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. 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 US dollars) to organize 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 1.3 million US dollars 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. 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. IPL players approached for spot-fixing – Wassan Indian Premier League (IPL) cricketers had been approached about spot-fixing over the last two-and-a-half years, former India player Atul Wassan said Tuesday. Wassan said that a couple of IPL players, whom he would not name, confided to him that they had received approaches about spot-fixing which they had turned down. Wassan declined to disclose details about the approaches to IPL players.
