Yasir Hameed, who reportedly accused his team-mates of fixing "almost every match", said he was only repeating allegations he read in the newspapers.

Hameed said he was approached by a man he believed was offering him a sponsorship deal and did not know the conversation was being recorded.

In a statement read out on the steps of the Pakistan High Commission in central London, a spokesman said Hameed was approached when he was having dinner at the Holiday Inn in Nottingham on the evening of August 30.

The man offered to arrange a sponsorship deal.

It was only later that Hameed discovered the man was the News of the World's "fake sheikh" Mazher Mahmood.

"Naturally, I was interested in what he had to say and we began a conversation," the statement said.

"He offered me at least £50,000 for the deal."

He said he was asked for the names of four more players who may be interested in a similar deal and then asked about the match-fixing allegations.

"As I saw him as a friend and a potential agent I naively started to answer his questions," he said.

"As far as I recall, I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about the matter."

Hameed said he was unaware of the hidden camera.

He said two days later the man called him and offered £25,000 to give a statement against the three players under investigation.

He said he refused and put the phone down.

Hameed said he later received a text from the man, which read: "Please call me. Incidentally you are in video drinking wine and saying all the quotes. Denying it is just stupid and we will be releasing the video to TV. Better that you just stand up and speak the truth."

He said he decided not to respond and told the Pakistan Cricket Board about what had happened.

The spokesman did not respond to questions over whether he would take legal action over the reports.

Hameed summoned to Pak High Commission

Yasir reached the High Commission in the afternoon and met the High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan and Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt.

He is in the eye of a storm after his video interview was released by the British tabloid 'News of the World' and in it he was seen and heard making various allegations that many Pakistani players regularly fix matches.

Yasir has, however, denied the interview and tried to take damage control steps insisting the newspaper had cheated with him.

"I never knew they were recording anything. This guy came to me to talk about a bat sticker sponsorship deal. He started talking about the 'News of the World' stories and I just repeated them. I had general discussion with him," Yasir claimed.

The batsman, who played in the last two Tests against England, said the newspaper had called up his brother and offered him large sum of money and even British passport if they do not deny the interview.

Sources close to the batsman said the Pakistan High Commission and PCB wanted to see what legal steps Yasir could take to seek damages against the newspaper.

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