It's defamation, says ECB chief
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb on Saturday said India's action in publicising names of nine foreign cricketers in a match-fixing probe amounted to defamation.
"It's unfortunate that India made public the names of foreign players," said Lamb, who is in Lahore to attend a meeting of the International Cricket Council's finance committee.
"I am not a lwayer but had this been done in the UK a defamation case would have been filed," he told reporters.
Lamb also said the ECB was justified in not suspending former captain Alec Stewart.
"There is absolutely no basis for suspending Alec Stewart on only unsubstantiated allegations, not sustainable in law," he said.
Stewart was among nine foreign players named in an Indian match fixing probe report released earlier this month.
Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta had told the Central Bureau of Investigation that he paid Stewart 5,000 pounds sterling to provide information relating to a match on England's tour of India in 1992-93.
West Indian Brian Lara, Australia's Mark Waugh and Dean Jones, South Africa's Hansie Cronje, Pakistan's Salim Malik, New Zealander Matrin Crowe and Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunge were other foreign players named in the CBI report.
"I want to clarify ECB chairman Lord Ian Maclaurin's radio interview on Friday in which he clearly mentioned that Stewart's case is closed for the time being and it's investigated by ICC body," Lamb said.
ICC formed an anti-corruption unit to investigate match-fixing allegations that has rocked the game since former South African captain Cronje admitted to taking money from bookmakers several times.
"ICC's anti corruption body chief Sir Paul Condon has conveyed to us that he entirely supports the decision of several boards not to suspend players on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations," Lamb said.
"Stewart has categorically denied allegations and we have no means to judge whether he is telling the truth or not but we believe him.
"Sir Condon has said that all the players named in the report will be interviewed in the due course of time but at the moment the body is re-examining the credibility of the allegations," Lamb said.
Condon also visited India and is expected to submit his first report in April 2001.
"In the specific case of Stewart no interview will take place until after the end of this series," Lamb said.
The cricketer was questioned by ECB officials after the release of the Indian report.
"Stewart is cleared and if the tour management decides so, he can act as captain if Nasser Hussain pulls out due to injury," he said.
Hussain passed a fitness test before the Test after suffering a back problem.
Lamb said the ECB did pass on to police the allegations made in 1998 by former England allrounder Chris Lewis against three English players. "We did the best thing and police found no evidence in that."
"ICC is determiend to root out this malice and we must rebuild the game's image and move forward," Lamb said.
ICC's finance committee will discuss on Saturday and Sunday the organisation's budget for the next year.
Mail Cricket Editor
