ICC probes match-fixing in Bangladesh

DHAKA: The International Cricket Council is probing allegations of match-fixing in Bangladeshi cricket with former national captain Mohammad Ashraful among those being questioned, local officials said Thursday.

ICC anti-corruption inspectors were investigating allegations of wrongdoing during a match in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a spokesman for the Bangladesh Cricket Board said.

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.

Indian cricket is embroiled in its own scandal involving alleged betting and spot-fixing during the just-finished Indian Premier League season, with the arrest this month of three players and scores of bookmakers.

Cricket's world governing body confirmed that a probe by its
Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) was under way in Bangladesh.

Local media reported that 28-year-old Gladiators star Ashraful was
allegedly paid about one million taka ($12,800) to lose the February 2 match, but the cheque he was given later 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 became the country's youngest Test centurion in 2001 at the age of 17 and captained Bangladesh between 2007 and 2009, confirmed, in brief comments to one local newspaper, that he had spoken with investigators.

The probe in Bangladesh comes after the BCB banned indefinitely
ex-international spinner Shariful Haque in September after an inquiry found him guilty of spot-fixing during the first edition of the BPL. (AFP)