ECB working 'very closely' with British govt to 'criminalise' match fixing

The chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has revealed that the board is working with the British government to make match fixing a criminal offence.

This comes in the wake of serious corruption allegations by former New Zealand player Lou Vincent, who claimed that an English county player is one of 12 professionals from around the world being investigated by the ICC's anti-corruption unit.

According to The Guardian, the ECB and Cricket Australia (CA) have in recent days been involved in urgent discussions with the ICC and are investigating the concerned players either for fixing or failing to report a corrupt approach, and three county matches that Vincent played in.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke confirmed that the board is working very closely with the government in the hope of finding some route through to provide legislation that covers the issue, adding that the ECB ids also helping the ICC's review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the anti-corruption unit.

However, Giles demurred from commenting on ongoing investigations, although he said that any allegation suggesting corruption in sport is damaging.