2018 cricket pitch fixing and betting scandal
[1] Revealed by Al Jazeera, a documentary claimed that the groundsmen at these matches deliberately altered the nature of the pitch in order to produce results that favored the home team.
The news reports claimed that two of the four-pitch fixing offenses occurred in Galle, with the groundsmen at Chennai being accused of pitch-fixing charges after hosting the final Test Match of the series between India and England in 2016.
[2] On 29 May 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) criticized Al Jazeera for failing to share conclusive evidence of pitch-fixing before broadcasting the documentary regarding the match-fixing allegations.
[4] However, on 26 May 2018, a shocking development revealed that the curator of Galle International Stadium, Tharanga Indika, had indeed been involved in the operation, with the discovery of camera footage linking him to the scandal.
[5][6][7] The Al Jazeera news network has continuously refused to provide the pitch-fixing related evidence to the ICC stating that the lives of journalists are at risk.
[11][12] The pitch tampering incident involving both India and Sri Lanka is a developing controversy in international cricket following the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal.
[14] Manoj Deshapriya, the captain of the Kalutara Physical Culture Club was also found guilty of match-fixing after the unusual scoring rate by Panadura side in a first class cricket match held in January 2017.
With regards to the match-fixing probe, the ICC cited that the host nation had been accused and found guilty of changing the pitch conditions to suit themselves in these longer format games.
[22][23] Robin Morris, a professional cricketer from Mumbai, was suspected by the ICC of playing a major role in match fixing during Sri Lanka home Test series against both Australia in 2016 and against India in 2017.
[25] Robin Morris told the under cover reporters that he bribed the groundsman to monitor and alter the conditions of the pitch in order to guarantee certain outcomes.
[26][27] Al Jazeera's documentary Cricket's Match-Fixers has identified the groundsman and Robin Morris along with another Sri Lankan, Tharindu Mendis, for planning to alter the pitch conditions.
[34] The Pakistani first-class cricketer, Hasan Raza, who did not take part in the conversation with Robin Morris, Tharanga Indika, and Tharindu Mendis, according to the Al Jazeera documentary, has also been identified as the suspect linked to the fixing scandal.
[35] He is seen seated near Robin Morris (who he played with during his time at the Mumbai Champs team in the Indian Cricket League) in the Al Jazeera documentary.
[39] Al Jazeera also released photographs which were taken in Sri Lanka's Cinnamon Grand Colombo related to Aneel Munawar, who was standing just some distance away from the former English cricketers, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann.
[54][55] The scheduled inaugural edition of the Lankan Premier League which was supposed to be held in August 2018 was indefinitely postponed as a result of the change in country's cricket administration.
[57] The groundsman, Tharanga Indika, who is in-charge of the cricket ground was found guilty for helping the bookmakers to engage in match-fixing after allowing them to doctor the pitch conditions.
Australian players including Steve Smith, David Warner, and Nathan Lyon complained to the match officials about the poor pitch conditions after a thrashing loss to Sri Lanka.
[75][76][77][78] The current President of the Sri Lanka Cricket, Thilanga Sumathipala, announced that independent groundsmen would, with immediate effect, be appointed in the future to supervise ground preparation.
[85] The SLC also refuted some of the allegations made by Al Jazeera, claiming that it is not a strange thing to prepare a turning bouncy track in Galle for test matches.
[86] The SLC also reacted negatively to the documentary's claims on pointing out the involvement of the Galle groundsman, stating that the person did not have any authoritative powers to alter the conditions of the pitch.
[104] The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated that it would take necessary actions against Robin Morris who is accused as the main suspect of the match fixing allegations.
[114] Despite Cricket Australia denying any wrongdoing by its team, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was reported by Al Jazeera to have been possibly involved in a match-fixing affair without mentioning his name directly in its documentary film.
