Melbourne: Cricket Australia on Monday demanded unedited evidence to be made available to an International Cricket Council (ICC) investigation team, after a documentary by a Middle-East television channel alleged pitch doctoring and spot fixing in three Test matches.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, however, stressed that there was no credible evidence linking any Australian players to the revelations made in the sting, cricket.com.au reported.
In the documentary, a match-fixer claims that two unnamed Australian batsmen were paid off to bat slowly during a period of play in a Test match in Ranchi between India and Australia.
“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,” cricket.com.au quoted Sutherland as saying.
A Middle-East television channel recently carried out a sting operation which alleged pitch doctoring in three Test matches, which India played.
The matches in question are India vs Sri Lanka (Galle, July 26-29, 2017), India vs Australia (Ranchi, March 16-20, 2017) and India vs England (Chennai, December 16-20, 2016).
While India won the match against Sri Lanka and England, the match against Australia ended in a draw.
The channel also alleged the involvement of some Australian and England players in spot-fixing.
The Indian connection to the latest scandal is a former Mumbai cricketer Robin Morris, who is now alleged to be a match-fixer.
In the sting operation, Morris is seen introducing a pitch curator to the undercover reporter. He is also boasting about getting pitches doctored as sought by fixers.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that it has a zero-tolerance approach to any activity or act that brings the game of cricket to disrepute or mars the integrity of the game.
The BCCI’s anti-corruption unit is working closely with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption unit on the alleged claims by a television channel, the body said in a notification.
ANI