The normally sedate hotel that the Pakistan team were staying at in Regents Park, northwest London came abuzz Saturday night, but not for the right reasons
The normally sedate hotel that the Pakistan team were staying at in Regents Park, northwest London came abuzz Saturday night, but not for the right reasons.
England were heading for a crushing innings victory ufffd which they duly sealed the next day ufffd but it was news filtering through about events off the field that caught the imagination.
The News of the World newspaper's allegations that several Pakistan players were involved in spot-fixing in the match suddenly meant its players had their minds on more sinister topics than saving a Test match.
Gradually more information was drip-fed from news desks to their reporters in the field and rumour by rumour, fact by fact, working media scrambled to shed more light on world cricket's latest bombshell.
I entered the hotel without protest from staff, and why should there have been for a legitimate reporter doing his job? But this relaxed attitude from the hotel was soon to change as television camera crews began to assemble outside.
I patrolled a designated corridor on the seventh floor in search of the team manager for answers but was politely informed that he was away from the hotel.
Apparently he was accompanying police with their inquiries after the arrest of so-called cricket agent Mazhar Majeed had been made. We later learned that the rooms of the manager, captain and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir had been searched. The threeu00a0 players had their mobile phones confiscated.
I wandered towards one room, nearby the manager's, and skipper Salman Butt greeted me briefly before closing his door. On my way back to the lobby I came across Shahid Afridi who seemed cool but concerned by the furore. He was back in England to lead the one-day side.
We shared the elevator as I headed back to the lobby and as he got out on the second floor I noticed he briefly exchanged pleasantries with Mohammed Yousuf and his children. On my way back to the lobby Mohammad Asif was on his way out after telling reporters of his innocence.
With more answers needed and interest growing, hotel staff began to realise the scale of the situation brewing and the nervous manager asked media to leave and assembled a line of security staff at the entrance. TV crews were made to wait at the edge of the car park at a distance.
Despite the growing nervousness and fear amongst the team and panic among the hotel, there were surprisingly very few reporters there. Players in the main stayed in the privacy of their rooms. But they knew the cameras and the world were waiting for answers.
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