Known simply as John the bookmaker john came to limelight in 1994-95 when he bribed Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne for providing with pitch conditions and weather information. Australian Barrister Rob O’Regan from Quensland Criminal Justice Commission submitted a report on this matter in the same year concluding that the players were not fully aware the dangers of interacting with any bookmaker.
In 1994, during the Singer World Series in Sri Lanka, the playing teams Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia and India were staying at the Oberoi Hotel in capital city Colombo. Mark Waugh and Shane Warne ventured out to a casino close by. At the casino, Waugh was approached by an Indian occupant from the same hotel. He addressed himself as “John” providing no further information about him. He made a deal with Waugh in exchange of weather and pitch information. He also asked for the players’ details, selection methodologies and any other inside information of the team. Waugh was offered US $ 4,000 in exchange of the information which he is said to have accepted for the pitch and weather information. Waugh refused to provide any further information to John. 
The pitch and weather information were important in deciding the playing tactics of teams. Also the number of batsmen, bowlers and key fielders to be included in the team was dependent on the pitch conditions. Waugh later confirmed this deal and commented that he saw nothing wrong in providing such information. John was introduced to Shane Warne by Waugh. Warne was also bowled over by John as he pretended to be his huge fan and a better.
Later, John invited Warne to his hotel room and offered him US $ 5,000 as a “gift” with no bound conditions. Warne initially refused to accept the “appreciation” but John was insistent and Warne eventually gave in. The money was later recognized as that won through betting on Australian victories.
The Australian tour of Pakistan in the succeeding season led to another controversy regarding Salim Malik. The Pakistani Captain tried to bribe the Australian players before their match against Australia. Waugh and Warne choose to remain silent regarding John even when the events of being bribed came to surface. The Australian coach Bob Simpson maintained his stand of being unaware of any such developments.
John was in contact with Waugh and Warne during the England tour of Australia in 1994-95. The inquiry that followed the controversy confirmed that Waugh was continuously delivering pitch and weather conditions to John while Warne continued to talk to John on many occasions.
The media started to wake up to the evils of betting and match-fixing issues in early 1995. The Sydney Morning Herald published a report of Salim Malik offering bribe to Australian players. The report revealed that the players had reported about this matter in a private complaint to the authorities. The Australian Cricket Board launched a private investigation into the matter.
Further twist and turns occurred when Mark Ray with the Sunday Age was posted an anonymous letter describing Waugh and Warne’s illegal tags with John the bookmaker. As a result of another private investigation by the team’s manager Ian McDonald, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne accepted the charges in a hand-written statement in February 1995. The ACB CEO Graham Halbish was informed about these statements and Waugh and Warne accepted the charges in front of Halbish in a private meeting held at the team hotel. Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, 2 key players for the Australian team were fined A $ 10,000 and A $ 8,000 respectively, the highest ones ever fine for any Australian cricketer. But they were allowed to tour West Indies along with the team.
Gradually the news was leaked to the ICC board of Directors. The ICC handed out fait accompli to Crompton and Halbish for failing to inform them on this account and still allowing the players to go on a tour to West Indies. The whole matter was handled with extra secrecy and this angered some key authorities, coach Simpson being one of them. The media was also kept out of the issue. No media questionnaires were entertained by the team management or the players. This led to the media highly criticizing for disappointing the Australian fans and disregarding the public’s right to information. The sport’s community, however, were in support of the players.