Outgoing ICC anti-corruption boss Lord Condon believes members of the Pakistan team may have deliberately underperformed during the Sydney Test loss to Australia.
The question to be answered is why.
Leaked testimony by then Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam and tour manager Aaqib Javed has suggested the match may have been tainted by the involvement of bookmakers.
And Condon has revealed that Australia's dramatic win is the subject of a "live investigation" by the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit.
This was news to the Australian players, who up to now had regarded their win as the most exhilarating moment of an unbeaten home summer.
It was also a complete surprise to Cricket Australia, for as recently as Thursday they reported no contact from ICC officials about any investigation into the conduct of the match.
CA chief executive James Sutherland will write to the ICC to seek a briefing on the investigation.
But Condon, who by coincidence had been scheduled to appear alongside his successor Sir Ronnie Flanagan at Lord's little more than a day after the testimony first leaked, was unequivocal.
"It is a match and series that worried us, we spent a lot of time talking to the players and PCB. The challenge is finding where is the solid fact," Condon told reporters.
"What you have there is a lot of strife within the team and Pakistan politics with rivals camps making allegations.
"We are satisfied that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistan point of view.
"The dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, to maybe players potentially underperforming deliberately."
"What we still need to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to do down captains or potential captains, or whether it was more serious, doing it for a financial fix."
Whatever the circumstances or motivations, the case for underperformance is strong.
There are the dropped catches and missed run out of `keeper Kamran Akmal, and the bizarrely defensive fields used by the captain Mohammad Yousuf when Mike Hussey and Peter Siddle clawed Australia to a narrow lead.
Also up for analysis are the series of suicidal shots played on the match's final afternoon as the last nine Pakistani wickets went down for 89 runs.
Condon said the spectre of individual players falling prey to the lure of a bookie's dividends for "spot-fixes" to encourage betting on particular incidents, is ever-present.
"One or two mix with the wrong people and are tempted to do these spot-fixes, so the challenge for the game is to stop that small minority getting seduced by them," he said.
"My prediction is you will never totally eradicate it from cricket. There will always be that temptation.
"But we had a cadre of modern players who know the risks and are playing for the right reasons."
While remaining confident that their victory was gained on merit, CA said they would co-operate with the investigation, even if that meant submitting players for interview on their experiences during the Test.
"If the ICC needed additional assistance we would do whatever was needed," a CA spokesman said.
