ICC is investigating three former Sri Lankan players over alleged corruption, officials said Wednesday, in the latest scandal to hit the sport in the country.
Sri Lanka Cricket did not name the targets of the probe by the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit but insisted no current national players were involved. The board was responding to media reports on comments made by Sports Minister Dullas Alahapperuma on Tuesday. The reports said Alahapperuma had hinted current players were being investigated by the ICC for match-fixing. “What the honourable minister actually mentioned was about an investigation launched by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit against three former Sri Lanka players and not the current national players,” the board said in a statement. The ICC said it would not comment on any active investigation.
Sri Lanka introduced tough penalties for match-fixing and tightened sports betting restrictions in November in a bid to stamp out graft that has tainted the country’s cricket team. Alahapperuma also said the government would soon focus on the dropping standards of cricket at the school level. It has come to light that schools are no longer producing quality players. At a recent meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, greats such as Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya highlighted the need to resurrect cricket at the grass-root level.
