ICC's Richardson believes Sharjah ODI was not suspicious

Shahid Hashmi 05:44 23/11/2015
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  • Not overly concerned: Richardson.

    The International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson said on Sunday he was “not too suspicious” over the one-day match between Pakistan and England in Sharjah, despite press reports it could have been fixed.

    British tabloid Daily Mail alleged the match on Tuesday was under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit of ICC over unusual patterns of betting.

    The newspaper claimed the investigators were tipped off before the match that Pakistan would underperform in the game and that three run-outs, casual dismissals of batsmen and sloppy fielding were suspicious.

    Pakistan were bowled out for 208 on a flat pitch, with skipper Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik run out and lost the match by six wickets. Richardson said odd run outs happen in cricket.

    “Yes, there could be odd occasions, there would be some strange run outs, in fact I have been run out on more occasions than I care to remember,” Richardson told BBC radio’s Test Match Special. Richardson praised Pakistan players for reporting any suspicious offer.

    Even Pakistan players themselves these days are reporting every approach that seems to come their way and I wouldn’t be too suspicious,” said Richardson.

    Richardson said he was satisfied regarding the progress made on fight against corruption. “I am pretty positive about where cricket is at the moment in the battle of keeping cricket clean,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the governing body revealed that after a positive meeting with the officials of the International Olympic Committee it will explore ways to remove hurdles for the sport’s inclusion at the Summer Games.

    Richardson and general manager cricket Geoff Allardice recently met IOC chief Thomas Bach in Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss cricket’s inclusion.

    “We have really explored the possibilities, at least we are talking, and we are open to the opportunity if it’s worthwhile to include cricket in Olympics,” Richardson said.

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