New TV probe will claim another Test was fixed

CRICKET is bracing itself for new corruption allegations after it emerged that Al Jazeera have gathered fresh evidence for a follow-up broadcast to their recent match-fixing documentary. Details of the second programme remain under wraps but Sportsmail understands it is likely to include concerns about the integrity of at least one other Test match. The first programme alleged that three England and two Australia Test players were involved in spot-fixing during games in India in 2016 and 2017. England have strongly denied the claims. The new show is also likely to delve more deeply into the activity of Aneel Munawar, an alleged operative with Mumbai crime syndicate D-Company. Al Jazeera are confident Munawar is who he claims to be, and not a chancer looking to make a quick buck. He was a central figure in Al Jazeera’s explosive Cricket’s Match Fixers documentary and also featured in a photo in yesterday’s Sportsmail, standing in a hotel lobby in Galle, Sri Lanka, only a few yards from England stars Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan. The photo was taken six years ago, and there is no suggestion whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of either Swann or Bresnan. News of Al Jazeera’s planned follow-up will come as a blow to the ICC’s anti-corruption officials, especially with the game’s governing body currently attempting to persuade the network to hand over all unused material from the first show. ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said yesterday that officials from his anti-corruption unit would meet the broadcasters in the next couple of days, and added that ‘there’s no reason to think we’re not going to be allowed to investigate fully by Al Jazeera’. But a spokesman for Al Jazeera’s investigative unit told Sportsmail: ‘No meeting has been arranged. We are considering the legal implications of co-operating with the ICC, given the possibility of criminal and/or civil proceedings arising. We are committed to exposing corruption in cricket.’ Richardson also expressed annoyance at suggestions that the ICC would be less than rigorous in their investigation. He said: ‘I’m a little perturbed by any accusation that we would attempt to sweep it under the carpet or pretend that nothing has happened.’