The Int'l Cricket Council launched an investigation into "corruption allegations in the sport" made in a documentary aired by Al Jazeera on Sunday, according to Sudipto Ganguly of REUTERS. The documentary allegedly "uncovers a groundsman agreeing to doctor pitches for test matches involving some of the world's top teams." The ICC said in a statement, "The ICC is aware of an investigation into corruption in cricket by a news organisation and as you would expect we will take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make very seriously." The documentary alleged spot-fixers "bribed the groundsman at Galle to doctor the pitch" used for the '16 second test between host Sri Lanka and Australia. Last year's test between Sri Lanka and India at Galle "was also under suspicion," while match-fixers reportedly "also targeted England's test at the same venue in November." Sri Lanka Cricket later said in a statement that it "would fully cooperate with the world governing body" (REUTERS, 5/26). In Sydney, Peter Lalor reported the ICC anti-corruption unit is set to meet Al Jazeera on Wednesday "to seek more material from the investigation," but is said to have been "aware of some of the program's contents since last year" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 5/29).
NO WORRIES: In London, Elizabeth Ammon reported the England & Wales Cricket Board and England captain Joe Root "denied allegations that three England players were involved in spot-fixing." The documentary claimed an unnamed trio of England players were "paid to fix parts" of their test match against India in Chennai in Dec. '16. Root said that the allegations are "outrageous" and that the England players have been told by ECB officials that they have "nothing to worry" about. He said, "I've just been told to strongly deny the accusations because it sounds quite ridiculous really." The three players were contacted by Al Jazeera and their lawyers told the program that they "categorically denied" the claims which were being "made by a source who is a known criminal" (SUNDAY TIMES, 5/27).
'UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS': The AAP reported Australia captain Tim Paine dismissed allegations of fixing and Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said that there is "no credible evidence linking Australian players to corruption." Al Jazeera shined the spotlight directly on last year's drawn test between Australia and India in Ranchi "as one of several to be questioned across the world." In the documentary, a criminal claims two unnamed Australian batsmen were paid to "bat slowly" during a period of play in the test. Paine said, "At this stage it's unsubstantiated claims. We're confident that none of our guys are involved in it." There is no time stamp on the footage and there is no audio of any Australian player present in the documentary (AAP, 5/28).
