The missing link: Phone-hacking and Pakistani cricket spot-fixing

Phone-hacking and Pakistan's spot-fixing in cricket are two different rows, but many today remember that News of the World, the UK tabloid of media baron Rupert Murdoch that broke the story through a sting operation, is no more.

Yesterday's conviction in court of three Pakistan cricketers -- Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammad Amir --brought to a conclusion the story broken by the tabloid's former investigations editor, Mazher Mahmood, who conducted the sting operation.

The 168-year-old tabloid, which was at one time Britain's largest selling newspaper, closed down on July 7 in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

It was accused of indulging in unethical news-gathering practices to secure information for use in sensational stories.

Its last issue reproduced the front pages of several major stories it broke over the years, including Mahmood's sensational story of how aspects of the Lord's Test were fixed by an agent who boasted of close links with the Pakistan team members.

Mahmood, who has several investigative stories to his credit, had posed during the sting operation as an Indian businessman with connection to an Asian betting ring.

The revelations during the sting led to charges against the three cricketers, which have now been proved.

The News of the World lost 104,300 pounds in cash that Mahmood paid to the agent at the centre of the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations, the court was told during the hearing, but the tabloid and its owner, Rupert Murdoch and his media empire, lost much more.