Presumption of innocence as national boards support their players

Presumption of innocence is the order of the day as national cricket boards around the world stand by those players who have been implicated in the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation's match fixing report which was made public on Wednesday.

The cricket boards of Australia, England, Sri Lanka and the West Indies are all permitting Mark Waugh, Alec Stewart, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Brian Lara to continue playing international and/or domestic cricket until the varying allegations of wrong-doing reported in testimony compiled by the CBI can be proven.

Other non-Indian players implicated in the report, namely Hansie Cronje and Saleem Malik, are already serving life bans imposed by their respective national governing bodies. Cronje's lawyers repeated yesterday their intention to take legal action against the United Cricket Board of South Africa for setting the ban.

Although ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin was reported on October 16 to have said that any player suspected of wrong-doing should be suspended till proven innocent, he has subsequently said that he was misquoted.

What MacLaurin says were his actual words, and he repeated them yesterday, was that if any player was suspected of wrong-doing and refused to co-operate in investigations, that person should be suspended till inquiries were complete.

MacLaurin said this yesterday in defending the ECB's decision not to suspend Alec Stewart from England's tour of Pakistan.

The Australian Cricket Board called on Thursday for the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate the allegations while also referring the matter to their own special investigator, Greg Mellick.

The head of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), Thilanga Sumathipala, has written to his Indian counterpart, AC Muttiah, asking for a copy of the full report compiled by the CBI, along with authenticated transcripts of evidence.

Arjuna Ranatunga, who retired from international cricket in July, and Aravinda de Silva are both playing for their clubs in Sri Lanka's Premier Limited-Over Tournament today, Ranatunga for the Sinhalese Sports Club against Singha, and de Silva for Nondescripts against Galle.

The West Indian team flew into Perth today at the start of their Australian tour. Brian Lara has made no further comment after being instructed by his lawyers.

West Indian team manager Ricky Skerritt said at a press conference at Perth airport that Lara was "in good spirits but he's obviously a little bit distressed. It's difficult for any player to have mud slung around him when they have categorically said they were not involved."

West Indian captain Jimmy Adams and coach Roger Harper also spoke at the press conference in support of Lara. The WICB has decided not to instigate its own inquiry, but instead have left it to the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit.