7 September 2010, 8:57 am
ALLEGATIONS surrounding corruption in cricket continue to widen, with Indian Premier League officials claiming that a leading batsman had to be moved up the order to prevent him manipulating matches. And witnesses claim the West Indies were "all over" the same man who made approaches so dubious to Australian players in London last year that they reported him. Sri Lanka players also reported "suspicious characters" who made approaches during last year's World T20 in England. The latest revelations came as Pakistan tried to discredit secretly recorded claims from batsman Yasir Hameed that match-fixing was rampant in the team. Two IPL officials from India independently verified that a leading batsman had played so suspiciously that they could not explain his behaviour. When The Australian asked direct questions about the batsman both officials agreed that his performances were highly suspect. They did not want him named for fear that it could be traced back to them and lead to retribution in India. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Related Coverage * Leadership foreign to ICC's wise monkeys The Australian, 4 days ago * Pakistan accused facing life bans The Australian, 4 days ago * Watson slams ICC inactivity Fox Sports, 6 days ago * Don't ban Pakistan, says Taylor Courier Mail, 6 days ago * Sinister offers start with casual chat at bar The Australian, 7 days ago End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. One of the officials claimed that the player's performances were "puzzling", particularly scoring slowly towards the end of an innings when the opposite should have been happening. He consistently under-performed and often appeared uninterested or distracted. The other official revealed that IPL franchise owners often complained about matches being "rigged" and claimed that the player in question had to be moved up the order for the good of the team. "He has been under the scanner for a while," the official said. Neither official could say if the player was being monitored by the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption and security unit. The ACSU does not comment on its investigations. However The Australian has been told that the ACSU has been "frustrated" by "several" boards on the subcontinent for failing to take stronger action against their players after being provided with information about dubious behaviour. The two main targets have been the Pakistan team and the IPL. Three Pakistan players, captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, have been provisionally suspended and charged by the ACSU after being exposed in a News of the World sting. All have been questioned by police after the News of the World showed secret footage of player agent Mazhar Majeed receiving pound stg. 150,000 ($260,000) for organising Amir and Asif to deliberately bowl no-balls at specified moments in the recent fourth Test against England at Lord's. The ACSU also did not comment on whether West Indies had made any reports for suspicious approaches during last year Twenty20 World Cup. Witnesses claimed they were "surprised" by the remarkably friendly relationship between some West Indies players and the Indian who was eventually reported to the ACSU by four Australian players and identified as having a dubious past and strong links with bookmakers. The ACSU was unable to act against the man because all his approaches were considered too "social" to provide direct evidence. Sri Lankan officials confirmed that its players had been approached at two separate events over the past year. The first approaches were at the World Twenty20, where senior ACSU investigator Alan Peacock spoke to the Sri Lankan players. Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, confirmed that "the report was handed over to ACSU by manager Brendon Kuruppu". Additional reporting: Agencies http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/leading-batsman-under-ipl-cloud/story-e6frg7t6-1225915016973... Read More »
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