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Stewart would've been barred West Indies won't take action on match-fixing charges
LONDON (AP) -- Alec Stewart would have been suspended from the England tour of Pakistan had he not cooperated with authorities investigating alleged match-fixing, the head of the England and Wales Cricket Board said Friday. The former England captain was one of nine international and five Indian cricketers accused of accepting money in a match-fixing report released this week by the Indian government. Stewart has denied the allegations. Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the ECB, said Friday he was satisfied with Stewart's assistance in the ECB's inquiries and elected not to suspend him. "If Alec Stewart had not cooperated with us fully on Wednesday morning when we had a very long conference call with him, my board and I would have suspended him," MacLaurin said. "As soon as we contacted Alec, he made his declarations to us quite clearly and therefore he had no reason at all to ask him to go home. If there is any suspicion against any of our England players and they fail to come and talk to me or any or my colleagues about it, they will be suspended." MacLaurin was also forced to clarify why he was reported to have called for the suspension of Pakistan players suspected of taking bribes. He said he meant only that players who refused to cooperate should be suspended. "I am very sad about that because I know the Pakistan administrators very well indeed," MacLaurin said. "I was with them in Nairobi just a few weeks ago at an ICC meeting and they are very honorable people. "I get on very well with them and it would be very sad indeed if remarks are misinterpreted by journalists, for one reason or another, trying to put a wedge between ourselves and Pakistan." De Silva admits bookies approached himCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's former vice captain, Aravinda de Silva, has admitted that he was approached by bookmakers with offers to fix cricket matches, but said he never accepted any money. De Silva is one of two Sri Lankan players named by India's federal investigators this week as having allegedly taken US$15,000 in 1994 to lose a test match to India in Lucknow in central India. Calling the bookmakers a bad element, de Silva told a Sinhalese language television station Thursday that he was approached by bookies, but had refused all offers. He said he also informed the Sri Lankan cricket board. The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka has asked India to help investigate the charges against de Silva and former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranatunga, who has now retired, has flatly denied the charges. The Indian investigation was based mostly on testimony of Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta, who claimed that de Silva helped him fix the Lucknow test. But the report mentioned no specific event for Ranatunga. West Indies won't take actionBRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- The West Indies Cricket Board does not pan to take any action in response to an Indian government report that accuses former captain Brian Lara of match fixing, board president Pat Rousseau said. "We do not propose to take any action on this report and will leave it to the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate the matter," Rousseau said in a statement Thursday. The Central Bureau of Intelligence report, released this week, alleges that Lara took US$40,000 from Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta to "underperform" during two 1994 matches in India, based on Gupta's testimony. Lara denied it. Rousseau said he supports Lara and former vice captain Gus Logie, who the report claimed was approached by an associate of Gupta, but refused his offer. "We deny any involvement by Logie and Lara with Gupta," Rousseau said. "Furthermore, Logie and Lara deny that there were any approaches to them by gamblers at any time during their visits to India." He also questioned the credibility of Gupta as a witness. "Gupta by admission is a gamble and bookmaker, but seems to have trouble remembering detail," Rousseau said in the statement.
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