Spot fixing claims rock Ashes series

Cricket chiefs voiced "grave concern" but said there was no evidence the third Ashes Test between Australia and England has been corrupted after a match-fixing bombshell rocked the series.

British newspaper The Sun alleged two bookmakers, including an Indian "Mr Big", had offered to sell it details of rigged periods of play in the Test in Perth which could be bet on to win huge sums.

One of them claimed to have worked on the scam with former and current internationals, including a World Cup- winning allrounder. They said they had liaised with a fixer in Australian cricket known as "The Silent Man". No Australia or England players were named as being involved.

The tabloid said their undercover reporters were asked for up to £140,000 ($187,000, 158,000 euros) to "spot fix" markets such as the exact amount of runs scored in an over. "Before match. I will tell you this over, these many runs and then you have to put all the bets on that over," one of the bookmakers was quoted as saying. Asked if it was a good source, he said: "Absolutely correct information."

The International Cricket Council said the revelations were of "grave concern" and an investigation had been launched, but it did not believe the match, where England are battling to avoid going 3-0 down in the five-Test series, had been tainted.

"From my initial assessment of the material, there is no evi-

dence, either from The Sun or via our own intelligence, to suggest the current Test match has been corrupted," said the ICC's anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall. "At this stage of the investigation, there is no indication that any players in this Test have been in contact with the alleged fixers."

Cricket Australia Chief James Sutherland said the allegations were serious, but he was confident, based on the dossier handed to the ICC, there was no reason "to suspect that this Test match or indeed the Ashes series as a whole is subject to corrupt activities". He added that all players were educated on a regular basis about the risks of corruption.