Stewart's England future threatened, claims report

Sir Paul Condon's Anti-Corruption Unit will call for Alec Stewart to be dropped from the England team unless he meets the ACU, it has been claimed today.

It is alleged that Stewart received £5,000 from an Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta for supplying information during England's 1993 tour of India.

Condon interviewed Stewart briefly in January but the pair have not met since and Sir Paul is becoming increasingly frustrated that he has not been able to question Stewart at length.

In a statement, Sir Paul said: "Negotiations have been conducted primarily through Mr Stewart's lawyer, and the ACU is becoming increasingly frustrated by the inability of Mr Stewart and his advisers to agree a convenient date.

"The ACU remain determined to meet Mr Stewart in the near future."

The BBC says it understand that unless Stewart meets the anti-corruption unit, the unit will urge the England cricket authorities to drop him from the national side.

ECB chairman Lord McLaurin has backed Stewart since he was first named in an official Indian corruption report last November and he is playing down the seriousness of the situation.

He told the BBC: "I think this is a big mountain being made out of quite a small mole hill.

"Alec has said all along he is very happy to talk to Sir Paul and his unit.

"This is really a matter for them both. But I would expect in the next couple of days for Alec to sit down with Sir Paul."

He added: "When these allegations first came out last year, we conducted our inquiry with Alec, we passed on to Sir Paul and if he needs any help from us he knows where we are - it is between Alec and the ACU now."

MacLaurin, though continued to maintain his tough stance. "We've said all along that if any player refuses to co-operate they will be suspended until they do," added MacLaurin.

Stewart claims he may have met Gupta socially on tour but strenuously denies accepting money from him.