Indian police have sought Scotland Yard's help to find out whether matches held in England during the 1999 cricket World Cup were fixed by gambling syndicates, according to a media report on Sunday.
LONDON: Indian police have sought Scotland Yard's help to find out whether matches held in England during the 1999 cricket World Cup were fixed by gambling syndicates, according to a media report on Sunday.
Following the interrogation of South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs last week, Delhi police requested Scotland Yard to make available video footage of South Africa's matches during the 1999 tournament.
They also sought details of South African captain Hansie Cronje and Indian bookie Sanjeev Chawla's UK bank accounts and telephone records, the Sunday Times said.
"The inquiry is the first suggestion that a scandal in which a number of leading international players were banned for accepting bribes reached British soil," the report said.
The Delhi police are looking into matches that they suspect of being fixed by the betting racket. Their main concern was Pakistan's loss to Bangladesh in a group game, but claims have been made about South Africa's loss to Zimbabwe and a second-phase match between India and Pakistan.
Zimbabwe and Bangladesh won when their opponents were sure of qualifying.
The Indian police are focusing on the dealings of Hansie Cronje, the former South Africa captain, and Chawla, an Indian who lived in London. Tapped phone conversations between the two in 2000 led police in Delhi to claim that Chawla was negotiating with Cronje to fix South Africa's matches in India.
But the King Commission inquiry set up by South African authorities did not include the 1999 World Cup.
Cronje, in April 2000, admitted accepting bribes from gambling syndicates to help fix matches and individual batting scores. He was banned for life and later died in a plane crash.
"Cronje admitted accepting a bribe to ensure that his team lost a one-day international against India in Nagpur in March 2000. His opening batsman, Herschelle Gibbs, later admitted that he had agreed to accept the money in exchange for scoring 20 runs or less and was banned for six months," the report said.
Last week Gibbs -- who is India for the ICC Champions Trophy -- was questioned by Delhi police and was asked if he knew whether Cronje fixed matches in Britain.
Gibbs told detectives he did not know but said that Cronje had lied when he told South Africa's King Commission that he had never approached teammates to throw a game for cash, the report said.
"According to Ranjit Narayan, Delhi's joint commissioner, Gibbs said Cronje had approached Gibbs to offer the money if he scored no more than 20 runs in the one-day international in Nagpur, and that Cronje had called a team meeting to offer more if they lost a Test match in Bombay in 1996. According to Gibbs, the plan collapsed because players refused to go along with it," the report said.
"Indian detectives have particular suspicions about South Africa's match against India at Hove in 1999. South Africa won, but the police are skeptical about earpiece microphones and transmitters worn by Cronje and other players. Detectives believe they could have been used to fix the match," it said.
In a letter to be sent via the Home Office, the police refer to the match as a "curious incident" and ask if ICC officials had raised the issue at the time.
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