Lewis angry at ECB's attitude

LONDON, APRIL 19. Former England all-rounder Chris Lewis, who has implicated three colleagues in a match-fixing investigation, said on Wednesday he had told English cricket leaders of the allegations eight months ago.

As cricket's match-fixing scandal rolls on the wake of an admission by South African captain Hansie Cronje that he received money in connection with a betting scam, Lewis was called before the England and Wales Cricket Board to explain what he had reported to a tabloid Sunday newspaper.

The Leicestershire Star said he was approached by an Indian sports promotor who told him he knew of three England players who had accepted money to influence the result of matches. The names of the three have so far not been made public.

Lewis passed on this information to the ECB on Tuesday but, afterwards, said he was angry that he had simply repeated what he had told them back in September.

``It was billed as some sort of disciplinary hearing, but from my perspective it wasn't anything of the sort,'' Lewis said of the meeting.

``I was in a meeting with a couple of representatives from the Board and I was asked about new information that had come to light bearing in mind the article that was published in the News of the World.

``I pointed out to the Board that there wasn't any new information. It was all information that had been offered up initially,'' he said.

"I have no way of proving whether these allegations were right or wrong or just hearsay. I have played this by the book and I have done it a long time ago. Right at the beginning, which was last year, those players' names were mentioned and they weren't interested in those names,'' Lewis said.

``Subsequently the police became involved and from the out set they have been aware of those players' names so there is none information. It was all given to the Board and the police right at the beginning.''

- AP

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