This has been the episode Australian cricket authorities have been dreading since the Pakistani spot-fixing scandal was scheduled to go to trial. In a London court on Tuesday, a jury was played a recording involving an undercover journalist and a player agent in which the agent, Mazhar Majeed, implies Australian cricketers are routinely involved in episodes of spot-fixing during international matches.

Majeed makes references to ‘brackets' - a specific number of runs scored in a given period of time, e.g. one over - when casually implicating the Australians. "The Australians, they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game," the jury heard in the recorded conversation.

Unsurprisingly, Cricket Australia has come out on the offensive in response, with Peter Young, CA's head of Public Affairs, calling the claims "outlandish" and, "from a person of dubious repute," descriptions later repeated by CA CEO, James Sutherland.

However, rather than close ranks and deny the existence of fixing in the Australian game, Sutherland chose to play an admirably straight bat, beginning his first public statement on the matter with the warning that corruption in Australian cricket will not be tolerated. "There is no place for corruption in our sport," he said. "And if there is one skerrick of credible evidence against Australian players then we will work with the ICC to ensure that it is investigated with vigour."

Paul Marsh, CEO of the Australian Cricketers' Association was more forthright in defence of his members, saying, "I think it is appalling that the reputations of all Australian players have been stained by someone with a highly questionable reputation and alleged involvement himself in match fixing."

"Let's not forget that all of our matches are scrutinised by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit and there is no evidence whatsoever of Australian players being involved in any form of match fixing. In the event that any meaningful, credible information came to light on this issue, we would welcome an investigation, however unless this occurs we should view these allegations as baseless."

The cricket world now awaits the rest of the trial on tenterhooks, fearful of the next allegation to be played to the jury or repeated by an accused or witness under oath.

As Marsh and Sutherland assert, the fact remains that until any credible evidence is forthcoming the allegations remain just that and Australian cricketers remain innocent of any charges and should remain so until proven otherwise.

But what makes this extremely uncomfortable for Australian cricket is that the person making the allegations has already pleaded guilty for organising the fixing of matches. Of the original case brought about by the News of the World sting, Majeed and the youngest of the Pakistani cricketer's implicated, Mohammad Amir, have pleaded guilty to the charges. The case being heard by Southwark Crown Court involves just Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who, implausibly, deny the charges against them.

As CA has claimed, Mazhar Majeed is certainly a person of dubious repute, but that does not automatically mean he is lying. In the context of the allegation, he was seeking to finance a fix involving England and Pakistan, his reference to Australia was as an aside to indicate how institutional the fraud had become and soothe any anxiety the prospective financier may have felt.

Majeed's claims of influence in this country are thrown into doubt however by other boasts of his regional influence being swiftly rebutted. Apparent links to both Nathan Bracken and Ricky Ponting received short shrift on Tuesday as player representatives moved into damage limitation mode.

There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the coming days about the allegations, their merit and the appropriate response to them. However, events in London will surely supersede them. This trial remains in its early stages and there are many more claims and counter claims likely to be aired in court.

As this column noted back in March, this current Australian group is by no means immune from allegations of sporting irregularity, and, discomfortingly, exactly the kind of fraud Majeed alleges Australia are the ‘biggest' at perpetrating.

For however long these allegations remain unsubstantiated they shall receive the same credibility as any other unproven accusation levelled at protagonists with unpredictable professions. It is clear though, through CA's response that they are prepared not simply to sweep these claims under the carpet should firm evidence make its way to Jolimont or Dubai.

These are difficult times for the credibility of international cricket and while the culture of one international side is literally on trial, that of another faces substantial damage to its reputation. It can only be hoped the integrity of Australian cricket and its cricketers endures.