LONDON: A British judge dismissed claims on Wednesday that Pakistan bowler Mohammad Aamer was only involved in one episode of spot-fixing, as three Pakistan players awaited sentencing in the case.

The 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat at gambling and to accept corrupt payments by plotting to bowl pre-arranged no-balls during the Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s in August 2010. Judge Jeremy Cooke, sitting at London’s Southwark Crown Court, said that text messages sent from murky contacts in Pakistan suggested the talented youngster was also implicated in fixing during the preceding Test at The Oval.

“There are certainly texts and the like which suggest that Aamer’s first and only involvement was not limited to Lord’s, it was not an isolated and one-off event,” Cooke said. “What I have in mind are the various texts relating to the Oval Test.”

And with reporting restrictions now lifted, it has been revealed that agent Mazhar Majeed also pleaded guilty two weeks before the trial, and is also in the dock.

Aamer, in fact, for the first time in the now 21-day trial sat in the same dock as Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif — who had hitherto unsuccessfully protested their innocence and were declared guilty on two counts by a 12-member jury on Tuesday — with only a woman Urdu interpreter for Aamer separating them.

Aamer sported a grey suit and black shirt, his hair almost shoulder length.

There was exceptional media and public interest in what has transpired to be a landmark trial, as journalists in particular packed into court number four at the Southwark Crown Court on the banks of the river Thames to follow proceedings. Special room was made for excess media in an area next to the jury seats.

Aamer’s lawyers agreed a basis of plea with prosecutors when he admitted conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments at a pre-trial hearing in September, the Daily Mail reported.

This noted: “The defendant’s involvement was limited to the final Test match at Lord’s on August 26 and 27. This was the defendant’s first and only involvement, and was therefore an isolated and one-off event.

But the judge dismissed Aamer’s claim that he was not involved in fixing before the game at Lord’s in north London.