ECB strongly deny allegations England players conspired to fix matches

The claims were made during a documentary from Al Jazeera

The ECB denied all allegations (Getty)

England have strongly denied accusations three players conspired with bookmakers to ‘fix’ a session during the Chennai Test against India in December 2016.

The spot-fixing allegations were made in a documentary by Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera that aired on Sunday titled ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers’.

In it Mumbai-based fixer Aneel Munawar is filmed by a hidden camera telling an undercover reporter that three England players co-operated with bookmakers to manipulate passages of play in the final Test of the five-match series in Chennai 18 months ago.

England lost the Test by an innings and 75 runs, a result that ensured a 4-0 series defeat.

The claims relate to the number of runs scored in a session, with bookmakers able to manipulate the market if they have the co-operation of players to ensure the amount of runs exceeds or is less than the market bracket.

Munawar also made similar allegations against Australian players in relation to a Test match against India in Ranchi in March of last year.

The documentary claims Munawar correctly predicted the outcome of the ‘fixed’ sessions in both matches before they happened.

However, England have denied the claims, with Test captain Joe Root and coach Trevor Bayliss both labelling them “outrageous”.

Root, speaking after England’s nine-wicket defeat by Pakistan in the first Test at Lord’s, said: “I am aware that there is a documentary and it is outrageous that our players have been accused. It’s not anything for the guys to worry about, we have to focus on winning [the next Test] at Headingley.”

Bayliss strongly denied the claims (Getty)

Bayliss added: “It’s outrageous. I haven’t seen what’s in it [the documentary] so we’ll leave that up to the ECB (England & Wales Cricket Board) to deal with. Outrageous claims.”

The International Cricket Council have opened an investigation into the Al Jazeera documentary, which alleges widespread corruption across the sport.

However, Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, dismissed the allegations against England players, saying there was “no credible evidence” of wrongdoing.

Harrison said: “There is nothing we have seen that would make us doubt any of our players in any way whatsoever. The limited information we have been given has been discussed with all the England players. They emphatically deny the allegations, have stated categorically that the claims are false and they have our full support.

“Neither ECB nor the ICC is aware of any credible evidence connecting any England players to any form of corruption. ECB had been aware of the planned Al Jazeera documentary for some time but have not been given the full content.

“There have been repeated requests for any evidence and unedited materials to be shared with the ICC so they can fully investigate. We, like other member Boards, are disappointed that Al Jazeera have not been more cooperative and responsible when making such serious allegations.

“ECB has a regular dialogue with the ICC and its anti-corruption unit, fully supports its work and will continue to cooperate with their review.”

Alex Marshall, the head of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, said: “We are taking the contents of the programme and the allegations it has made extremely seriously.

“A full investigation led by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, working with full cooperation from all Member countries identified in the programme, is now underway.

“We have been in ongoing dialogue with the broadcaster which has refused our continual requests to cooperate and share information which has hampered our investigation to date.

“The content of the programme, is of course useful to the investigation, but I would now urge the production team to provide us with all un-edited and unseen evidence they are in possession of, to enable us to expedite a thorough investigation.

“Given this is a live investigation and one that is likely to be subject to the legal process, it is not possible to provide any further comment.”