Cricket match-fixing: Captains Sarfraz Ahmed and Graeme Cremer approached by crooked bookies as part of six ongoing corruption probes
Cricket chiefs at the ICC say there are seven live investigations into spot-fixing including three current international captains
THREE international cricket captains have been approached by match-fixers in the past ten weeks, it has been revealed in the wake of The Sun’s investigation.
Cricket’s anti-corruption unit admitted today they are currently in the middle of SIX live investigations into alleged attempts to rig play and manipulate betting markets.
Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed, Graeme Cremer of Zimbabwe and an unnamed captain are understood to have rebuffed offers from representatives of crooked bookies and flagged them up to the International Cricket Council (ICC) integrity unit .
Sarfraz, 30 – who has became skipper of the Pakistan team in all formats this year – was contacted before a one-day game against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi in October.
Zimbabwe captain Cremer, 31, is reported to have turned down an offer from a former Zimbabwe Cricket board member to spot-fix during their Test series against the West Indies.
The revelations follow The Sun’s investigation into match-fixing that smashed a multi-million pound plot to fix the Third Ashes Test in Perth between England and Australia.
Indian bookmakers Sobers Joban and Priyank Saxena were filmed offering to sell our reporter details of spot-fixing during the Test that started today.
They wanted £140,000 to fix certain markets, including the number of runs scored in an over.
The ICC has launched an investigation into our revelations that has sent shockwaves through the cricket world.
Former England star and TV pundit Kevin Pietersen tweeted ‘Wow!!!!!!!’.
Bookie Joban also claimed an Australian player and an Aussie cricket administrator had passed on information about spot fixes.
But Cricket Australia, who run the sport in the country, denied there was any suspicion on their players.
CA chief executive James Sutherland said: “There is no substance to these allegations or justification to suspect that this Test match or indeed the Ashes series as a whole is subject to corrupt activities.”
FIXERS HIT FOR SIX We smash multi-million pound plot to rig Third Ashes Test
ICC anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall said an investigation would be launched into the new claims about Australian involvement.
“We are conducting a live investigation and will do that by focusing on the facts, intelligence and evidence at hand,” he said.
“We will be looking in detail at the allegations, looking for any corroboration of what has been alleged, either from the Sun’s own investigation or our own intelligence, and we will be examining whether there is any evidence which we can now use.
"The ability to download mobile phones is one part of the investigative toolkit.”
Joban also told our undercover investigators, posing as underworld bookmakers, they could make millions in bets payouts on Twenty20 tournaments including the Big Bash in Australia, the Indian Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League.
No current England stars are named as being involved.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement: “ECB work closely with the ICC and their anti-corruption unit to protect the integrity of the international game.
“We are aware of these allegations and there is no suggestion that any of the England team is involved in any way.”
Before the toss in Perth, Australia captain Steve Smith said he was aware of the allegations and that there is “no place for that in our game”.
“As far as I know there’s nothing that has been going on or anything like that,” the Australia captain told TV.