Arjuna Ranatunga lashes out at Gupta allegations

The silence has been broken. Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan captain accused of fixing matches by bookmaker Mukesh Gupta in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report, has lashed out at the recently dissolved cricket board and Desmond Fernando, the chief investigator of the cricket board inquiry, for taking the "patently ridiculous" allegations seriously.

Ranatunga, who was questioned by Fernando and two detectives from the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) earlier this week, denies any involvement whatsoever with bookmakers throughout his international career in a formal written response to Fernando, the contents of which were printed in full by the Sunday Leader today.

The former captain's indignant letter claims that the allegations, "based entirely on the wholly uncorroborated evidence of a self-confessed rogue", represent an attempt to rubbish his name by the former cricket board, who had sacked his brother, Dammika Ranatunga, as Chief Executive of the board.

"The very fact that the recently dissolved Executive Committee of the BCCSL has purported to take these allegations seriously makes evident the fact that the majority of the members have been actuated by `Mala Fides' against me," he said.

Ranatunga attacks Fernando for taking the allegations seriously. "I am amazed that you, Mr Desmond Fernando, President's Counsel, who is said to be an experienced and eminent counsel, have evidently failed to advise the board that these allegations are so utterly and patently unsubstantiated and unworthy of credit that no other proceedings need to be taken on them."

He defends his reputation, stating: "I have always played cricket for and only for the love of the game and have never sought to make cricket a business or a means of amassing personal wealth," adding that he has never appeared in a advertisement for his personal gain, and pointing out that by doing so he has "passed up the opportunity of making a colossal amount of legitimate money".

He goes on to reveal why he believes the allegations to be "so patently ridiculous", after denying that he knows Mukesh Gupta or has had any dealing with a bookmaker.

Responding to the allegation that he agreed to under-perform in a Test match against India in 1994, he points out that Sri Lanka had lost two consecutive series to India and one to South Africa. Moreover, they had never won a Test match on Indian soil. In these circumstances he asks the question: "Is it even scarcely conceivable that a bookmaker would offer bribes to any Sri Lankan cricketer to `under-perform' in any match against India on Indian soil?"

He derides the logic of Gupta's evidence, pointing out that: "I appear to have agreed to have under-performed without any kind of negotiation with regard to the price of betrayal. Even Judas Iscariot agreed upon a price of 30 pieces of silver before he betrayed Jesus Christ!

"Further, according to Gupta, he had paid Aravinda a sum of US $15,000 to under-perform but makes no mention of having made any payment to me. It would appear from his statement that I have betrayed my country, my people and my team just to oblige Gupta," he says, before adding that "this is so fanciful that it defies belief".

The long letter goes on to question why Gupta would pay Manoj Prabhakar for an introduction with Aravinda in 1991, but not make use of this investment for three years? Why did Prabhakar need Aravinda to introduce Martin Crowe to Gupta when Crowe was well known to Prabhakar? Why, if they had agreed "to do other Tests", as is alleged, did Gupta not make use of this in 1996 or after when Sri Lanka were riding high in international cricket and the odds where therefore far more favourable?

He signs off by demanding that the BCCSL do not harass and insult a cricketer again in the future just because of "a scurrilous complaint by an unsavory character", stating that "I believe that our cricketers deserve better treatment than this".

Desmond Fernando is expected to submit an interim report on match-fixing to the Sri Lankan board within two weeks. Vijaya Malalsekera, the Chairman of the Interim Committee, said recently that the contents of the report would be revealed to the ICC before a decision on the correct course of action.