Dirk Nannes reveals spot-fixing practices in Bangladesh Premier League

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: In the wake of fresh spot-fixing claims dragging cricket's most revered rivalry, the Ashes, through the mud, former Australia bowler Dirk Nanes admitted that he might have played in matches which were compromised.

Reacting to the reports of a British newspaper claiming to have exposed attempts to rig the third Ashes Test at WACA, Nanes said that he had witnessed questionable passages of play in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

"The Bangladesh Premier League, that was the interesting one. The first time there were owners who'd come along. The owners weren't allowed on the ground, but there'd be a team manager going to the owner and saying, 'What are we doing next?' Then going to the coach.

"The security guys were saying enough was enough. But it just kept going on. The owners were sitting there on the phone. The owners were demanding that they be in constant touch with the coach because that's why they bought the team," the 41-year-old said while speaking Grandstand on day two of the third Ashes Test.

The left-arm fast bowler turned up for Sylhet Royals in the 2013 season of the BPL, and had the first hand experience of how match-fixing was practice in open view of everyone.

"The spotters were people up in the crowd. They'd have a microphone in the cuff of their shirt, and 10 mobile phones around their waist. Anytime something happened, they'd lift their sleeve and speak into the microphone, and have time to do whatever they were doing. Security couldn't do anything except kick them out. Actually in Bangladesh they couldn't even do that," he added.

Interestingly, former Bangladesh captain, Mohammad Ashraful, had earlier confessed to spot-fixing in BPL 2013.

Earlier this week, a match-fixing bombshell rocked the Ashes after a British newspaper claimed that it has exposed attempts to rig the third Test in Perth.

Two bookmakers, including an Indian "Mr Big", allegedly offered to sell details of rigged periods of play which could be bet on to win huge sums, The Sun reported.

One of them claimed to have worked on the scam with former and current internationals including a World Cup-winning all-rounder. They said they liaised with a fixer in Australian cricket known as "The Silent Man".

In a short international career, Nanes played one ODI and 17 T20Is for Australia, before retiring from first-class cricket in 2010. He, however, featured in many franchise-based T20 leagues. In fact, he was a hot property in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, and represented as many as three franchises — Delhi Daredevils (2009-10), Royal Challengers Bangalore (2011) and Chennai Super Kings (2013).