Former England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon has revealed that an unnamed Indian businessman had approached him to fix one of County Twenty20 matches in 2010 with a mind boggling offer of 5 million pound ($ 8 million).
In an extract from his autobiography Keeping Quiet, available in newspaper Daily Mail, Nixon said the businessman, mentioned as 'K', had also sent him a gift on his marriage anniversary.
"Over a period of months, always in London but in different hotels, K's interest never faded -- and a friendly, working rapport was established," Nixon, who had retired last year after Leicestershire won the domestic T20 title, wrote.
"It was that October, while driving with my wife, Jen, to London, the first surprise was sprung. K called my mobile and declared he had an "anniversary gift" to give us. 'Don't be daft, you don't need to do that,' I replied. 'Please, I insist. I am in India, but my brother has it. He will give you a call," Nixon further wrote.
Nixon said he came to know the intent of the man later on when he was told, "A lot of people have made a lot of money in India. And you could make a lot of money in England also."
"I thought: what am I doing here? I want out of this hotel. This isn't for me. But I stayed. I wanted to know more. Who, exactly, was K? What were his connections? I was shocked by his offer but addicted to its detail."
Nixon also said that he had mentioned the offer to his coach Tim Boon, the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit and the Professional Cricketers' Association but kept 'K' interested.
"I knew with 100 percent certainty, I wasn't going to accept the offer, but kept bouncing the possibilities around in my head during the drive home," Nixon wrote.
Nixon said he declined the offer two weeks before the targeted match, which Leicestershire had lost and K never contacted him after that.
