ICC panel grills Arjuna, Aravinda

COLOMBO, MAY 2. ICC investigators have grilled Sri Lanka's ex- skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva in a probe that goes beyond match-fixing allegations orignally made against them.

The International Cricket Council's anti-corruption panel questioned de Silva in the company of his lawyer yesterday and questioning of Ranatunga was underway today, local investigator Desmond Fernando said.

The two cricketers were among nine foreign players named in India's CBI report on betting and match-fixing last year.

De Silva was questioned by Fernando as well as the chief investigator of ICC's anti-corruption panel Jeff Rees and fellow investigator Alan Peacock.

``Questions suggested by the New Zealand (cricket) board and Mr. Martin Crowe's counsel were also put to Mr. de Silva,'' Fernando said without elaborating on what the questions were.

Former Kiwi skipper Crowe has admitted receiving $7,500 for what he believed was a series of media articles, but broke contact when he realised it was a scam involving an Indian bookmaker. It has been alleged that Crowe was introduced to bookmakers by de Silva.

Ranatunga and de Silva were accused in the CBI report of taking bribes to engineer a Sri Lankan defeat in the 1994 Test against India at Lucknow. The report contained testimony from an Indian bookie who alleged he gave $15,000 to de Silva but it was not clear if money had also been given to Ranatunga.

Ranatunga has flatly denied the charges while de Silva said he never took bribes, although he was approached by bookmakers.

The head of the ICC anti-corruption panel, former Scotland Yard chief Sir Paul Condon, said after arriving here for a brief visit on Saturday that international players named in the Indian match- fixing probe would be investigated beyond the charges made public against them.

Asked whether the inquiry would be confined to the Indian CBI report, he said it would also look into matters not mentioned by the Indian investigators.

``There would be a whole realm of charges and not confined to the CBI report ... It will expand to further material that would not be in the public domain.''

He said all Test-playing nations were affected by the allegations. It was not immediately clear if more players were under investigation and the nature of the new investigation line, but Condon said they had collected an enormous amount of information on how matches were fixed. - AFP

Preliminary report filed

PTI reports from London: In a related development, the ICC's anti-corruption unit has submitted its preliminary report to Lord Griffith, head of ICC's Code of Conduct Committee, reportedly drawing a deep pessimistic picture of match-fixing in international cricket and indicating that the scourge has not been eliminated, sources said.

Confirming that it has been submitted an ICC spokesman told here on Wednesday that Lord Griffith would now convene a panel to consider the report which would be forwarded to the ICC board scheduled to meet here on June 15.

The board would consider the confidential report on June 18, the spokesman said. He, however, said details of the report would not be made officially known till then.

According to sources, the scourge of match-fixing was still going on in international cricket and at least a couple of the matches in the recent one-day series between Pakistan and New Zealand might have been affected.

Though no specific allegations have been made against any Pakistani players, Javed Miandad who was coach of the Pakistan team during its New Zealand tour, also reportedly told journalists in Pakistan that matches were fixed and that he wanted an inquiry. Though he later denied having made the comments, the Pakistan board has now appointed its own inquiry panel, headed by a former inspector general of police, Dilawar Hussain, sources said.

Court refuses to restrain interim panel

A city civil court has declined to restrain the interim committee running the affairs of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board from using its finances and property, according to a Colombo report.

Colombo district judge Sunil Rajapakse yesterday declined to grant an `enjoining order' or interim injunction against the panel, but posted the suit filed by one of the board's affiliates for further hearing on May 4. Some office- bearers of the Nugegoda sports and welfare club, an affiliate of the Sri Lankan board, filed the suit seeking to stop the interim committee members from using the movable or immovable assets of the board, including the money lying in its bank accounts.

According to the plaintiffs, the board stood dissolved after a notification sacking it was issued by the sports ministry on March 28, and the interim administration had no right to use any of the dissolved board's assets. Its affiliated members would suffer grave damage if the interim panel was allowed to handle its assets, they contended.

They sought an order restraining the committee from using the movable and immovable assets, doing any transactions using money belonging to the board, withdrawing money from its bank accounts or signing cheques. Sports minister Lakshman Kiriella sacked the board, headed by its then president Thilanga Sumathipala

on March 28, amidst a spate of litigation surrounding the board's affairs.

Subsequently, he appointed a four-member interim panel, comprising Vijay Malalasekera, Michael Tissera, Sidath Wettimuny and Ashantha de Mel - all former cricketers - to run the board's affairs till fresh executive is elected.

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