COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Cricket on Sunday suspended a player and a groundsmanwho allegedly agreed to tamper with the pitch to alter the result of anupcoming Test against England, as police launched an investigation into theclaims.

The Sri Lankan board (SLC) said it had suspended the curator of the GalleInternational Stadium as well as a professional player, who were featuredin an Al Jazeera documentary on corruption in cricket.

The board also lodged a complaint with the local police, who launched acriminal investigation into the scandal exposed by the Doha-basedtelevision network.

“Sri Lanka Cricket decided to suspend with immediate effect the allegedindividuals involved in the said incident against whom the ICC is carryingout investigations,” the board said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Saturday it wasinvestigating allegations involving the two Sri Lankans and a former Indianplayer, urging “all evidence and supporting material” to be shared with theinvestigators.

Tharindu Mendis, a player from Colombo, and Tharanga Indika, the curator ofthe Galle International Stadium, were featured in the documentary broadcaston Sunday, which showed them talking about doctoring pitches during ameeting with an undercover reporter.

The men were reportedly discussing ways to prepare the pitch to ensure thatthe first Test at the Galle ground in November against England would notend in a draw and would yield a result in less than four days.

SLC said it has appointed a three-member panel to study the issue and makerecommendations to prevent any corruption at future tournaments in SriLanka.

A former curator of the Galle International Stadium, Jayananda Warnaweera,is already under an ICC ban for three years until January 2019 for failingto cooperate with a previous anti-corruption investigation.

Warnaweera, a former Test player, had failed to attend interviews with theICC s anti-corruption unit. He had been previously handed a two-year ban bythe local board over the same allegations.

Sri Lankan players and umpires have been accused of match fixing in thepast, but Warnaweera is the highest ranking official punished so far.

Although no big-name Sri Lankan player has ever been convicted ofcorruption, several former stars have made allegations of either matchfixing or spot-fixing — when players deliberately bowl or field badly togive away a set number of runs. – APP/AFP