ICC confirms suspected bookie approached Aussie player

October 11th, 2009 LONDON - With his smashing 136 for the club side Sutherland, forgotten opener Phil Jaques hopes to register his presence with Australian selectors. It was Jaques' second century in as many innings since making a comeback from a career threatening back injury.

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Wednesday denied International Cricket Council's (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat's claims that it was not supportive of a world Test championship. Lorgat had said that England and India were the only countries blocking the proposed venture.

August 26th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam has once again denied match -fixing allegations during the Sri Lanka series, asking cricket fans not to believe and pay attention to such rumours. Terming the reports about Pakistani players being approached by Indian bookies during the Sri Lanka series as 'baseless' and 'far from truth', Alam said such allegations affect the morale of the players.

August 20th, 2009 LONDON/BRISBANE - Though the International Cricket Council (ICC) is investigating a report made by the Australian team that one of its players was approached by a suspected bookmaker at their London hotel after the Lord's Test, the problem of illegal bookies approaching cricketers is rife in India, a source has said. "This (match fixing and bookies approaching) is a massive problem that has its tentacles at all the high levels of the game," he added.

August 19th, 2009 DUBAI - The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday confirmed that its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) had received a report from the Australia team management concerning an approach to one of its players by a man suspected of links to illegal bookmaking. "There is no evidence of any illegal activity as a result of this approach, which took place following the second Test at Lord's in July, and the ICC would like to place on record its praise for the player approached and the Australia team management for reporting the issue," an ICC press release said.

August 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has cleared Pakistan players of coming in contact with bookmakers on their recent tour of Sri Lanka. The ICC said in a statement on Monday that it was satisfied "no evidence of any such contacts exists" after its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit held an investigation following media reports that the visitors had been approached.

August 8th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board is unlikely to take any legal action against former players who have voiced fears of players being involved in match-fixing during the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had said he was consulting legal advisors to take action, but board insiders have ruled out any defamation suit against the former players.

August 1st, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Saturday expressed surprise over the demands of a probe into an alleged effort by bookmakers to contact national cricketers in Sri Lanka, saying that such an exercise is out of its domain. A PCB statement said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has strict regulations to stop match-fixing and that the matter was referred to the games governing body.

July 31st, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan cricket team manager in Sri Lanka Yawar Saeed has rejected reports that the players were approached by some alleged bookies during the Test matches in Colombo earlier this month. "No such thing happened," Saeed said.

July 31st, 2009 KARACHI - Despite the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) decision to put the issue of bookmakers allegedly trying to contact the country's national players in Sri Lanka under wraps, an influential member of the board has promised to raise the issue at a meeting soon. Muhammad Ali Shah, a member of the PCB Governing Board and sports minister of the southern province of Sindh, has said it is an important issue and should be discussed thoroughly.

July 29th, 2009 KARACHI - The menace of match-fixing reared its ugly head again Wednesday with a media report claiming that Pakistani cricketers were approached by bookmakers in Colombo during the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka. Express, a mainstream Urdu daily, claimed in a report that some unidentified Indian bookies approached several Pakistani players during the second and third Tests against Sri Lanka in Colombo earlier this week.

July 20th, 2009 LONDON - Andrew Strauss led England team beat its arch rival Australia in second test at the Lord's ground after 75 years making a history, as they thrashed the visiting Aussies by a margin of 115 runs on the fifth and final day on Monday. England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff finished with figures of five for 92 as England took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

July 15th, 2009 LONDON - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting hosted a gala black tie dinner for some of his team mates and their WAGS here on Tuesday. While beauty Lee Furlong and her boyfriend Shane Watson joined 800 guests, including the entire British cricket squad to raise money for the charity foundation, absent from the group was the highest profile Aussie WAG Lara Bingle and her partner, vice captain Michael Clarke.

June 18th, 2009 NOTTINGHAM - Once bitten twice shy seems to be the case for Pakistan all rounder Abdul Razzaq, as he has turned down a series of county offers after making a come back in the national squad. Razzaq returned to the international fray for Pakistan in the ICC Twenty20 World Championship after two years of suspension, after he and several other players terminated their respective contracts from the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

June 15th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Aussie cricket ace Mitchell Johnson's fiancee Jessica Bratich has been named the hottest WAG in a poll by a men's magazine. Bratich, a karate black-belt, has beaten Aussie vice-captain Michael Clarke's fiance Lara Bingle, who secured the second place in the online poll by Ralph magazine.