Nasir Jamshed, the former Pakistan international cricketer, has been sentenced to 17 months in prison for his role in a fixing scandal involving T20 tournaments in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In a statement released on Friday, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said that the 33-year-old Jamshed was jailed alongside British nationals Yousef Anwar (40 months) and Mohammed Ijaz (30 months), after the trio admitted their roles in a conspiracy to fix elements of Bangladesh Premier League games in 2016.

“By far the most insidious consequence of these offences is the undermining of public confidence in the integrity of the sporting contest, not simply in the individual match directly affected but in the game of cricket generally,” Judge Richard Mansell QC said during their sentencing at Manchester Crown Court.

Jamshed had already been banned for 10 years by an anti-corruption tribunal in 2018 for his part in the spot-fixing scandal that engulfed the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2017. The former Test opening batsman played 68 matches for Pakistan, the last being a 2015 World Cup match against the UAE in New Zealand.

“Using an undercover officer, NCA investigators identified that the group were plotting to fix elements of the 2016 Bangladesh Premier League T20 tournament which Jamshed was due to play in,” NCA said in its statement.

The following year, Anwar was captured on CCTV in St Albans, purchasing 28 different coloured bat handle grips which would subsequently be used by the players in the PSL as the signal to show any potential fixing was going ahead, it added.

“These men abused their privileged access to professional, international cricket to corrupt games, eroding public confidence for their own financial gain,” NCA senior investigating officer Ian McConnell said.

Jamshed’s wife, Dr Samara Afzal, wrote on Twitter: “Today is the most difficult day of my life … I’ve felt the need to write this in the hope that others learn from Nasir’s mistakes.”

“Nasir could have had a bright future, had he worked hard and been committed to the sport than gave him so much, but he took a short cut and lost everything, his career, status, respect and freedom,” Samara added.

“He would have got UK nationality and played county cricket, and he threw his chance away. He would do anything to turn the clock back and not lose everything. I hope all cricketers look at his example as a deterrent against corruption.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board slapped batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif with five-year bans last year, while paceman Mohammad Irfan and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz received shorter suspensions for their roles in the scandal.

In 2011, Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed prison sentences in Britain for their role in a plot to bowl pre-arranged no-balls during a Lord’s test against England in 2010. Butt’s agent, Mazher Majeed, was also jailed for 32 months.