Thursday, March 3, 2011

Forget fixing, says Younis

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis Wednesday insisted the World Cup was clean and urged an end to talk about match-fixing in cricket.

His comments come after Sri Lankan state TV channel ITN speculated over whether Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera may have "changed the game" by getting out cheaply in their team's defeat against Pakistan.

The station added a local businessman had placed an 18,000-dollar bet on Sri Lanka losing the game.

Sri Lanka's cricket authorities angrily denied the allegations and Jayawardene was considering legal action against the station for implying he was guilty of corruption, the BBC said.

Indian media also reported that Australia's slow start in their innings against Zimbabwe was "scrutinised by the International Cricket Council anti-corruption and security unit" -- speculation laughed off by Australia's Brad Haddin.

Former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer last month received lengthy bans on charges of corruption relating to last year's Lord's Test against England.