ICC suspends Lankan bowling coach Zoysa over fixing

Agence France-Presse, Colombo,

Oct 31 2018, 20:51 ist
updated: Oct 31 2018, 21:20 ist

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday suspended Sri Lanka's bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa after accusing him of match-fixing and other "corrupt conduct" in the sport.

"Mr Zoysa has 14 days from 1 November 2018 to respond to the charges," the ICC said in a brief statement.

Zoysa is charged, among other things, for "being party to an effort to fix or contrive or to otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect of an International match", the statement said.

It gave no further details.

Forty-year-old Zoysa is the second Sri Lankan to be charged by the ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACU).

Earlier this month, dashing former batsman, ex-chief selector and former captain Sanath Jayasuriya was charged for failing to cooperate with a match-fixing probe and concealing information.

Jayasuriya, 49, was reportedly asked to cooperate with an inquiry from ACU chief Alex Marshall who visited Sri Lanka last month.

The ACU is acting further on their previous investigation which in January 2016 saw Galle stadium curator Jayananda Warnaweera banned for three years after he failed to cooperate with the ACU.

ACU head Marshall last month said: "There is currently an ICC (ACU) investigation underway in Sri Lanka. Naturally, as part of this, we are talking to a number of people."

It was not immediately clear if the charges against Zoysa and Jayasuriya relate to the same case or if they are being investigated separately.

Sri Lanka has recently sought help from India to drafting laws to combat cheating in the game.

Colombo has also promised to establish a special police unit to investigate match-fixing after a documentary aired in May showed Galle groundsman Tharanga Indika and professional cricketer Tharindu Mendis allegedly talking about doctoring the pitch for the Test against England starting November 6.

Indika and Mendis have been suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket pending an ICC investigation. A third man, provincial coach Jeevantha Kulatunga, was also suspended.