Sri Lanka says pitch-fixing claims 'difficult to believe'

AFP  |  Colombo 

Sri Lanka's board on Monday described allegations of pitch-tampering at International Stadium as "difficult to believe" but agreed to cooperate fully with an international investigation.

groundsman Tharanga Indika and also allegedly speculated about fixing the pitch to ensure a result in under four days in the Test against England in November.

Both men have been suspended by pending the outcome of an investigation by the International Council. A third man, Jeevantha Kulathunga, was also suspended.

But the board's said there had been no complaints about the Galle pitch from captains, umpires or the referee during the match between and in 2016.

"There is no need to investigate the Test. Players did not complain. Captains report, umpires report and the match referee's report did not say anything about the pitch," he told reporters.

"There is nothing adverse about the pitch. It is difficult to believe there was any wrongdoing." Indika and Mendis were stood down Sunday after a trailer for the Al Jazeera documentary was aired.

Kulathunga was suspended after the full programme by the alleged corruption at the highest levels of world cricket.

Sri Lanka said the alleged involvement of Sri Lankans in the scandal dealt a blow to the island's reputation.

"It has created kind of a bad impact on the organisation and the country as a whole.... We are not encouraging this type of thing (corruption)," de Silva said.

The board lodged a complaint on Sunday with Sri Lankan police, who have initiated a separate criminal investigation.

The board has also appointed a three-member panel to investigate the matter and issue recommendations to prevent any corruption at future fixtures in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan players and umpires have been accused of match-fixing in the past.

Jayananda Warnaweera, a former at Galle, remains under a three-year ban by cricket's world governing body until January next year for failing to cooperate with a corruption inquiry.

No big-name Sri has ever been convicted of corruption but several stars have alleged match-fixing and spot-fixing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, May 28 2018. 17:20 IST