British reports say Dilshan under ICC scanner, SLC denies

LONDON - British media reported Friday that Sri Lanka’s dashing batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan is under the International Cricket Council (ICC) scanner for his alleged links with a bookmaker, but Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) denied the report.

SLC said it was pacer Dilhara Fernado, who was approached by a bookie, and that the incident was reported to the ICC.

British daily The Daily Mail reported that Dilshan was the player named in a Sri Lankan cricket board report to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit last year after he was allegedly spotted with a suspected illegal bookmaker in a London nightclub.

The report was filed by the Sri Lankan team manager after captain Kumar Sangakkara passed on suspicions among team-mates that Dilshan had been seen with the bookie during the World Twenty20 tournament in England in June 2009.

The Sri Lankans followed the ICC’s protocol to the letter, reporting the alleged incident as soon as it was made known to the team management.

But Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara defended Dilshan and said that “neither I nor the Sri Lankan cricket board ever reported anything specific against any team mate”.

Sangakkara said Fernando “should be applauded for following the rules” and alerting the Sri Lanka authorities, who, in turn, shared the information with the ICC.

“We have no reasons to suspect any of our team members being involved in any such thing like fixing. We encourage players to report any suspicious behaviour they observe. Players should not be afraid of reporting this,” Sangakkara was quoted as saying by TV channels.

Sangakkara said he trained with Tillekaratne in the morning and also had a word with him after the British daily claimed that Dilshan was named to ICC’s corruption unit last year.

Sangakkara said: “I have not seen anything of this sort during the IPL. It was time to restore public confidence in cricket. We need to give good game to the sports. I am sure people will embrace the game.”

Sri Lankan board’s chief executive Ajith Jayasekara also said that Dilshan was not under ICC scanner.

“We dont go by speculation or what any newspaper wants to say. We don’t want to go by such reports. The Anti corruption Unit of the ICC has not reported any such involvement of any player. We cant go by speculation. This has not been brought to our notice by the anti-corruption unit of the ICC. There is no evidence against any Sri Lankan player,” Jayasekara said.