England deny Test match fix
ENGLAND’S cricket team have been forced to deny match-fixing claims after a documentary alleged that a Test match against India had been rigged.
In an unprecedented statement, the English Cricket Board (ECB) said there was “nothing we have seen that would make us doubt any of our players in any way whatsoever” in the face of claims of “spot-fixing” during a match in 2016.
Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said that the documentary’s claims had been discussed with all of the players. “They emphatically deny the allegations, have stated categorically that the claims are false and they have our full support,” he said.
“Neither the ECB nor the International Cricket Council is aware of any credible evidence connecting any England players to any form of corruption.”
An undercover journalist, posing as a businessman looking to place bets on the match, filmed a match-fixer claiming that he had arranged spotfixes with three England players during the Test in 2016. Aneel Munawar,
who is accused of working for D Company, an international organised crime syndicate based in India, was recorded boasting that he has been fixing matches for “six or seven years” and can “fix” up to “60 to 70 per cent” of matches with players in every team.
“I’m telling you, each script I give you will happen, happen and happen,” he said. Just before the 2016 match in Chennai began he called a middleman working for the reporters to tell him how players would perform at certain points in the game. Though his predictions have not been revealed, Al Jazeera’s documentary Cricket’s Match Fixers claimed that they were accurate.
England players alleged to have been involved, who have not been named, told the documentary-makers that they categorically deny allegations “made by a source who is a known criminal”.
The fixers were also caught discussing plans to rig the outcome of England’s first Test in Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin on November 6, by doctoring the pitch to make it impossible for the contest to end in a draw.
Tharange Indika, a groundsman at Galle International Stadium, was last night suspended by the executive committee of Sri Lanka Cricket pending investigations. He denies all allegations.
Spot-fixing, which made headlines eight years ago when three Pakistan players were jailed over the practice, has become increasingly common. It is much harder to detect than throwing an entire match and provides more opportunities for bets. In the past it has involved players bowling deliberate no-balls at a specific point in the match.
Joe Root, England’s Test Captain, described the documentary’s allegations as “ridiculous”. He said: “It is outrageous that our players have been accused.” Root said they were concentrating on the second Test against Pakistan after losing the first yesterday, adding: “All the players have been told there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
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