MELBOURNE, Oct 9: Former Australian cricket team manager Colin Egar today .angrily denied suggestions that he failed to react properly to claims his players had been offered bribes while touring Pakistan in 1994, reports AFP.

Egar, who was in charge of the Australians at the 1994 Karachi Test which Pakistan won by a wicket, hit back after reports that he had not told the Pakistani authorities of the bribery allegations.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board member Nusrat Azeem Thursday told a Lahore-based Judicial commission into match-fixing that Egar had not told him of the allegations during the 1994 tour because he did not place much credence in them.

Egar, one-time Australian Cricket Board chairman and prominent umpire, told Azeem of the bribery claims early in 1995 when the allegations were published in an Australian newspaper.

"He said it was not brought to my notice because not much credence should be paid to this.” Azeem told the hearing.

Egar, 70. today distanced himself from questioning the credibility of tne Australians saying he could not even recall the conversation with Azeem.

"What's more, I was rather annoyed about the whole thing that happened over there so I certainly thing this comment that was made by him was absolute rubbish," Egar told ABC Radio.

"In relation to my feeling. 1 was highly annoyed that such a thing could actually happen in cricket and from there on I thought, well probably it will all die away because I had no proof as to what I had heard."

Egar immediately passed the allegations on to International Cricket Council chief executive David Richards, who was in Pakistan at the time, but neither. reportedly, informed Pakistan officials.

"As far as I was concerned there could have been credence — but I do not know." said Elgar.

When he knew of the claims he thought: If it is true, let somebody prove it and I think at the time the ICC should have taken a hold on the whole allegations."

One of the players at the centre of the match-fixing allegations. spinner Tim May. said today the affair had been handled poorly -.liould have been

resolved four years ago and had left a cloud over himself and fellow complainants. Shane Warne and Mark Waugh.

May. now retired from Test Cricket and a leading players’ union official, supported the argument that the ICC should have acted swiftly on the issue and also criticised both national authorities for failing td move decisively at the time.

"I think it s been handled poorly from the start." May. now the president of the Australian Cricketers Association, told domestic agency AAP today.

May said time had not softened his stance.

"We gave sworn statements in 1995 and we stick by every word of them." he said.

Warne said he had done what was necessary four years ago and had no intention of going to Pakistan to appear before the Inquiry.

"Three or four years ago we signed affidavits and wrote down exactly what happened and we gqt called liars from a Pakistan judge." Warne said.

Let's just put it behind us. it’s such a big issue let's Just squash it. do what we have to do. get it right and get on with playing cricket.

"I'm not sure if it could have been handled any better. We told the right authorities, we told our manager, we told all those sort of people and we left it up to the authorities."