Fixing claim rocks Ashes

Perth: Cricket chiefs voiced “grave concern” but said there was no evidence the third Ashes Test between Australia and England started on Thursday has been corrupted after a match-fixing bombshell rocked the series.

British newspaper The Sun alleged two bookmakers, including an Indian “Mr Big”, had offered to sell it details of rigged periods of play in the Test in Perth which could be bet on to win huge sums.

One of them claimed to have worked on the scam with former and current internationals including a World Cup- winning all-rounder. They said they liaised with a fixer in

Australian cricket known as “The Silent Man”. No Australia or England players were named as being involved. The tabloid said their undercover reporters were asked for up to Pound 140,000 ($187,000, 158,000 euros) to “spot fix” markets such as the exact amount of runs scored in an over.

“Before match. I will tell you this over, this runs and then you have to put all the bets on that over,” one of the bookmakers was quoted as saying. Asked if it was a good source, he said: “Absolutely correct information.”

The International Cricket Council said the revelations were of “grave concern” and an investigation had been launched, but it did not believe the match, where England are battling to avoid going 3-0 down in the five-Test series, had been tainted.

“From my initial assessment of the material, there is no evidence, either from The Sun or via our own intelligence, to suggest the current Test match has been corrupted,” said the ICC’s anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall.