ECB deny match-fixing claims against England players in Al Jazeera documentary

The ECB have strongly defended the integrity of the England team after an Al Jazeera documentary into cricket corruption alleged their involvement in spot-fixing on Test, ODI and T20 matches.

The documentary, Cricket’s Match-Fixers: The Munawar Files, aired today as a follow-up to an investigation released during England’s first Test of the home summer against Pakistan, which alleged corruption involving England and Australia players on tours of India.

This time, Al Jazeera have pinpointed 15 international matches involving 12 different teams between January 2011 and September 2012 that are said to have been fixed by Aneel Munawar, a notorious and elusive bookmaker. Eight of those matches involved England, including home (Lord’s v India in 2011) and away (the Pakistan series in the UAE in 2012) Tests, as well as games at the 2011 World Cup and the 2012 World T20.

The documentary refers to a recording of a call, apparently from a bookmaker to an unnamed and unidentified English cricketer which claims to reveal the player saying “lovely” when informed that funds would be with him soon for his part in a fix. It is alleged that 10-over “sessions” in a match saw a previously-agreed number of runs scored.

An ECB statement on Sunday said: “ECB takes its responsibilities on anti-corruption and preserving the integrity of cricket very seriously.

“Whilst the limited information we have been given by Al Jazeera is poorly prepared and lacks clarity and corroboration it has been properly assessed.

“Analysis of this by the ECB Integrity Team has cast no doubt on the integrity or behaviour of any England player, current or former.

“The materials we have been given have been referred to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption unit and we will continue to work with them, as is the correct procedure for protecting the game.”

The documentary also shows a number of leading international players – including Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and Graeme Swann – in the vicinity of Munawar in hotels at major events, although it does not suggest they knew who he was or had anything to do with him. The documentary also alleges that the ICC have been aware of Munawar since 2010, but failed to act upon him.

Alex Marshall, the General Manager of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, said: “The ICC is committed to working to uphold integrity in cricket. As you would expect we will again take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make seriously and will investigate fully. However, I must refute the assertion that cricket does not take the issue of corruption seriously, we have more resources than ever before working to rid our sport of corruption.

“The investigation into these allegations has already commenced and will run alongside a number of other live unrelated investigations. When considering the claims, we will work with professional independent betting analysts.

“As with the first programme we have, and will continue to ask for the cooperation of the broadcaster. We have made repeated efforts to engage with the broadcaster as it can play such a crucial part in the full and thorough investigation it has called for.

“We do welcome the commitment from the broadcaster to share the files with Interpol and, I hope, other law enforcement agencies who can act upon the information and support us in ridding the sport of these criminals.”