Wood hits back at corruption claims

PACE bowler Mark Wood says allegations of corruption against unnamed England players are ‘like the boy who cried wolf’.

The Al Jazeera network released its second documentary about match-fixing on Sunday and, as in the previous programme shown in May, claims were made against England players.

The report alleged evidence had been uncovered of 26 planned spot- fixes in 15 international matches — seven involving England players.

The ECB have been critical of the information shared with it and say internal analysis has given no cause to doubt the integrity of any England players, past or present.

Wood told talkSPORT: ‘Until Al Jazeera say something (definitive) I’m not going to believe what they say. Not until Al Jazeera bring out anything concrete, where they name someone or show a piece of evidence. They keep saying there’s this and that, but never producing anyone or showing there’s any evidence behind it.

‘Until they can produce something that I’m worried about, I don’t take any notice of it.’

England wrap up their rainaffected five-match ODI series today in Colombo, hoping to build on their 3-0 lead over Sri Lanka. Wood and Liam Plunkett are likely to play while Sam Curran and Joe Denly could also feature.