ICC weighs in on foul play claims

THE International Cricket Council has launched a probe into corruption in Sri Lanka a day after the country’s top players urged an investigation into former player and selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe’s claims of foul play.

Wickramasinghe, a former fast bowler who was part of Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning team, questioned the reasoning behind some of the decisions made during a oneday international defeat to Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Forty contracted players – including Test captain Dinesh Chandimal and limited-overs skipper Upul Tharanga – petitioned Sri Lanka Cricket to launch an inquiry into the “shockingly disparaging and hurtful” allegations, but the ICC has now stepped in.

Alex Marshall, the general manager of the ICC anti-corruption unit, said: “There is currently an ICC (ACU) investigation under way in Sri Lanka. Naturally as part of this we are talking to a number of people.”