Report alleges Stewart was paid for match information

Allegations concerning the former England captain Alec Stewart are expected to be made in the long-awaited Indian report into match-fixing.

Stewart is named in the "foreign players" section of the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation's "report on cricket match-fixing and related malpractices".

It claims that bookmaker Mukesh Kumar Gupta told investigators he had paid Stewart for information on pitch, weather conditions and team morale after being introduced to the Surrey and England player by Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar in 1993.

The Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Lord MacLaurin, recently called for anyone under suspicion to be immediately suspended from playing until they are proved to be innocent.

Following a meeting of the International Cricket Council in May to formulate a policy on match-fixing in the wake of the Hansie Cronje affair, the options open to the game's governors in dealing with those found guilty of providing information for financial reward include a five-year ban.

That punishment relates to anyone supplying information on "weather, teams, state of ground, status or match outcome" although the ICC added that their policy is intended to deal with offences taking place after July 1 1993.

Stewart's alleged involvement is thought to be connected to an England tour of India and Sri Lanka, from January to March 1993.

The section of the new report which names Stewart has already been published in the press. It reads: "MK the bookmaker discloses that he paid #5,000 to Alec Stewart in exchange for information about pitch, weather, team composition, etc whenever England played."

It continues: "MK has further stated that Alec Stewart, however, refused to fix any matches for him."

ECB spokesman Andrew Walpole said yesterday: "We will not be saying anything until we see the report."

Stewart is currently on tour with England in Pakistan but not playing in today's match against the Patron's XI in Rawalpindi.