Cricket Australia said it wasn’t aware of any “credible evidence” linking two of its players to match-fixing after a TV sting was aired by news channel Al Jazeera. CA chief James Sutherland urged the Qatari broadcaster to hand over its footage to the International Cricket Council following Sunday’s documentary, and pledged a full investigation if necessary.
“Although not having been provided an opportunity to view the documentary or any raw footage, our long-standing position on these matters is that credible claims will be treated very seriously and fully investigated,” Sutherland said in a statement.
“Cricket Australia will continue to fully cooperate with the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit in its review of the matter. Neither the ICC or Cricket Australia is aware of any credible evidence linking Australian players to corruption in the game.”
The documentary, which aired on Sunday morning, shows Galle stadium assistant manager and curator Tharanga Indika claiming to be able to prepare a pitch to suit a desired outcome.
“We urge Al Jazeera to provide all un-edited materials and any other evidence to the ICC investigation team, so, if appropriate, a full and thorough investigation can be conducted,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s investigation reveals the pitch for the Sri Lanka-India Test at Galle in 2017 was doctored to favour batsmen, while the match-fixers allegedly exposed in the documentary – Robin Morris and Tharindu Mendis – also claim the next match to be targeted is England’s Test at the same venue in November.
In that Test, 18 Australian wickets fell to spin bowling as the tourists failed to bat more than 85 overs across both innings. Australia were bowled out for 106 and 183 to lose by 229 runs.
