Bangladesh cricket board suspends ex-captain Mohammad Ashraful over match fixing allegations

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) suspended ex-cricket captain Mohammad Ashraful after he confessed to fixing matches in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Ashraful confessed before the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

Ashraful's suspension comes days after the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that it is probing allegations of match-fixing in Bangladeshi cricket, and even went so far as to name Ashraful as among those cricketers being questioned.

"The allegations involve a match between Dhaka Gladiators and Chittagong Kings in the second edition of the BPL," BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus, was quoted, as saying.

Local media reported that 28-year-old Gladiators star Ashraful was allegedly paid about a million taka (12,800 dollars) to lose the February 2 match, but the cheque that was given to him bounced.

The big-hitting batsman was also allegedly involved in fixing another match 10 days later, against the Barisal Burners, which his team lost by seven wickets, the reports by English-language daily New Age and several Bengali newspapers said.

Ashraful, who captained Bangladesh between 2007 and 2009, could not be reached for comment. The owner of the club, Salim Chowdhury, has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Officials from the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) were expected to submit a report on their investigation to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

The BCB hired the ICC officials at a cost of 20 million taka (255,000 dollars) to monitor the second edition of the BPL that concluded in February.

The allegations are the latest to hit Bangladeshi cricket including the BPL, which was launched in 2012 in emulation of neighbouring India's lucrative Twenty20 tournament.