 "Sri Lanka Cricket Team")
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it had invited the International Cricket Council (ICC) to probe match-fixing allegations concerning the home Test series against Pakistan held in July.
This comes weeks after a member of parliament from the Opposition, Nalin Bandara, alleged match-fixing during the drawn series (1-1) played in Galle.
According to a report in AFP, the SLC executive committee has asked the cricket's world governing body's anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall to investigate the accusation, which has caused "immense reputational damage".
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In the statement, the board has said that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is committed to the game's integrity and believes an ICC probe is "the correct course of action to take in light of the recent allegations."
The two-match series against Pakistan was played in Galle during the peak of Sri Lanka's economic crisis this year. The island nation saw months of political unrest, power cuts and fuel shortage during the declared emergency.
Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in the second test by 246 runs to end the series at 1-1.
Corruption allegations are not new to the Sri Lankan cricket team.
In the words of Harin Fernando, the former sports minister of the country, the ICC considers Sri Lanka as one of the world's most corrupt nations under its purview.
Last year, one of Fernando's predecessors, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, told the Sri Lankan parliament that match-fixing was plenteous in the island nation.
As per AFP, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said he could not comment on an investigation being conducted by SLC and linked it to the host country's cricketers.
"No one — neither the ICC nor the Sri Lanka Board — approached us on the recent allegations made by one of the opposition leaders regarding the 1-1 drawn Test series between the two countries. So unless and until we are being approached, we are not in a position to say anything," a PCB official, when contacted by the AFP, said.
Quoting the official, AFP said that the PCB has maintained that the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit officials always keep a close watch on international matches.
"The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit always keeps a close check on all international matches. They were there in Sri Lanka during the July series, nothing happened, and no eyebrow was raised. If the Sri Lanka Board wants to investigate their players, they are free to do that. The PCB has nothing to do with it as it has something to do with SL cricketers. We will only react if the SL Board or ICC approaches us. So far there is no such thing," the official told AFP.
