Al Jazeera documentary had 'insufficient evidence' on spot-fixing in England match, says ICC
- Published
England lost the Test match in Chennai by an innings and 75 runs
The International Cricket Council has said there is "insufficient credible and reliable evidence" to bring spot-fixing charges for claims made in a 2018 Al Jazeera documentary.
The documentary said evidence had been uncovered displaying "corruption at the highest levels of cricket", involving a "small group", external of England players.
The programme alleged England's game against India in Chennai in 2016 and Australia's in Ranchi in 2017 were fixed, as well as pitches in Sri Lanka being doctored.
The ICC engaged with four independent betting and cricket specialists who said the passages of play were "entirely predictable, and therefore implausible as a fix".
All five participants who featured in the programme have been interviewed by the ICC Integrity Unit, with the ICC saying there was insufficient evidence based on its normal thresholds to charge any individuals involved.
Alex Marshall, ICC general manager - integrity, said: "There are fundamental weaknesses in each of the areas we have investigated that make the claims unlikely and lacking in credibility, a viewpoint that has been corroborated by four independent experts.
"On the basis of the programme, the participants to the code who were filmed appear to have behaved in a questionable manner, however, we have been unable to assess the full context of the conversations that took place beyond what was seen on screen versus what the participants claim actually happened.
"This combined with the absence of any other credible evidence means there are insufficient grounds to bring charges under the ICC anti-corruption code."
When the documentary aired one of the journalists involved, David Harrison, told the BBC the evidence was "massive and compelling", while the England and Wales Cricket board said it was "poorly prepared" and lacked "clarity and corroboration".
On Monday, Al Jazeera said on Twitter, external: "The ICC says it carried out a 'comprehensive' investigation but was unable to pursue it beyond what was seen on screen.
"Some players we exposed have since been banned for corruption. Why did the ICC ignore this?
"We stand by our investigation and see this report as a whitewash."
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