International cricket has been rocked by allegations in the News of the World that Pakistani players were involved in a betting scam.

Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal told John Humphrys that supposedly "easy money", from occasional no-balls that could be thought not to affect the outcome of the game, may have led to corruption.

He called on the International Cricket Council to take responsibility for the policing of corruption from national cricket boards, who were under too much pressure to punish corrupt players.

The allegations have turned attention to the practice of spot betting and spread betting in Asia, where large amounts of money are bet on a ball-by-ball basis.

"Something like this couldn't possibly happen in the UK," Racing Post spokesman Wally Pyrah told the programme, explaining how regulations covering UK bookmakers prevent them from taking these kind of bets.

"The reputation of cricket comes into tatters with things like this happening," he said.

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