Two ex-SL Test cricketers charged with match-fixing

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan Test players Nuwan Zoysa and Avishka Gunawardene have been charged with match-fixing and given two weeks to respond, the International Cricket Council announced Friday.

The charges against the two cricketers relate to a T10 league played in the United Arab Emirates in December, the ICC said.Zoysa was charged under four counts, including for “being a party to an agreement to influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspects of a match”.

The ICC slapped two charges against Gunawardene, one for soliciting a match-fixing breach and the other for failing to inform the Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC.The charges are the latest in a spate of match-fixing controversies to hit former world champions Sri Lanka in recent months.

Three months ago, the ICC banned Sri Lanka’s former skipper and ex-chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya from all forms of the game for two years for failing to cooperate with an anti-corruption investigation.Last month, ex-Sri Lanka fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended over three match corruption accusations.

And last year, a match-fixing controversy blew up after a sting operation for a TV documentary. In December, Sri Lanka’s Sports minister Harin Fernando announced that the country has been rated as the most corrupt cricket nation by the ICC, the world governing body of the sport.