Cricket: Players 'don't refute fixing

NEW DELHI - India's five tainted cricketers have not disputed match-fixing allegations levelled against them by a national police agency, the Indian cricket board's anti-corruption chief has said.

K. Madhavan, the anti-corruption commissioner of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), also said he might summon all the national players for questioning.

In its probe, which was launched on November 1, the Central Bureau of Investigation accused Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Ajay Sharma and whistle-blower Manoj Prabhakar with match-fixing and betting.

On Saturday, Madhavan, a former CBI detective, said the five were in no mood to refute the serious charges.

"I confronted the players with documentary evidence provided by the CBI ... None of the [five] players disputed the CBI report," Madhavan said after grilling allrounder Sharma for four hours in New Delhi.

Former skipper Azharuddin, who after remaining incommunicado since the CBI report's publication, finally surfaced last Thursday, and met the BCCI watchdog chief in Hyderabad.

"I might summon everyone, all players who can throw more light on the whole gamut of match fixing besides questioning other persons, who fall under the purview of BCCI," Madhavan said after grilling Sharma.

Madhavan, however, declined to give details of his cross-examinations, which had taken him to three Indian cities in the past 18 days.

"I cannot say anything on the issue as yet because I find that I am in the seat of a judge and I cannot pre-empt my judgment," Madhavan said, adding that he would hand over his inquiry report to the BCCI on November 25.

The CBI, which has also named nine foreign players in the scandal, has charged Azharuddin with fixing at least three international matches at the behest of a bookie and hassaid Jadeja and the others were as guilty.

All the five players have been banned by the BCCI from international and domestic cricket matches pending Madhavan's recommendations.



Meanwhile, Australian Cricket Board chief executive Malcolm Speed has rejected a call for Mark Waugh to be prevented from playing in the five-match test series against the West Indies starting this week.

The Weekend Australian newspaper called on Waugh and West Indian batsman Brian Lara to be stood down from international cricket after being mentioned by bookmaker Mukesh Gupta in India's CBI report.

The newspaper, which ran a large photograph of Gupta on the cover of its sports section, said Waugh and Lara standing down "would signal the determination of this generation to repair a game destroyed by some of the game's most admired players."

Waugh and Lara deny any wrongdoing with Gupta.

Speed was given the right of reply in the Weekend Australian and wrote why he believed Waugh, 35, should be allowed to continue his test career.

' "It is wrong because there is nothing that even approaches substantiated allegations against Waugh.

"It is wrong because whatever the arguments, it will be seen as a sign that there is a level of evidence that simply does not exist and it is wrong because it works against the basic Australian belief of giving every person a fair go."