Sri Lankan skipper Mathews questioned in match-fixing probe

Sri Lanka’s cricket captain Angelo Mathews on Tuesday has been questioned by the country’s financial crimes police officials as part of their ongoing investigations into a match-fixing approach made to two top players in his team.

Mathews said the police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) recorded a statement about what he knew of this fixing approach to these players to arrange a shock defeat at the hands of the West Indies at Galle last October.
This is in regard to the approaches made by some parties to Rangana Herath and also to Kusal Janith (Perera). So, as the captain they wanted to find out something in detail and I answered all the questions honestly,” Mathews said after a five-hour hour long investigation at the FCID office in Colombo.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said earlier this month that Kusal Janith Perera and Rangana Herath had been approached by two individuals associated with the national cricket team, in an attempt to bribe them to under-perform in a cricket Test against the West Indies.

The FCID investigation was launched after Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera lodged a formal complaint.

“We all want this game to be clean and whoever has done something wrong we want them to bring  them before court and take certain decisions. At the same time, I have to mention as the captain of the team that the cricketers felt really uncomfortable in the last few days because they are the ones who came forward and reported this to the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the SLC. Some media and some web sites have taken it against players and send the message as if we have done something wrong. This is not about the players being investigated, this is about the player approach. They are carrying out the investigation regarding the player approach,” the Sri Lankan skipper said.

The two players have apparently refused the offer to fix the match for several thousand dollars and Sri Lanka beat the tourists by an innings and six runs at the Galle International stadium.

Veteran left-arm spinner Herath took 10 wickets.

Mathews said it was the players themselves who had reported the approach.

On Monday the Sri Lanka cricket board suspended its fast bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake for two months and sacked a part-time employee, net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, for their alleged roles in trying to bribe players.

The FCID has already recorded statements from wicketkeeper Perera and Herath over the incident.

The West Indies have never won a Test match in Sri Lanka and went on to lose the two-match series 2-0.

No big-name Sri Lankan player has ever been convicted of match-fixing.

Source :AFP