Hashan agrees to reveal names to ICC

Former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne has said he is ready to share information with the ICC to back his allegations regarding match-fixing in Sri Lanka since 1992.

“I made the statements [about match-fixing] neither to get political mileage nor to put anyone in an awkward position,” said Tillakaratne, now a politician affiliated to the opposition party in Sri Lanka.”I made the comments in good faith and I will share the information with the ICC. The exercise was meant to protect the game and the players we all love so much,” he told PTI.

On Monday, Sri Lanka Cricket had termed Tillakaratne’s decision to make the revelations after so many years as “strange”. Tillakaratne’s response was that he had kept quiet for so long since he feared for his life. “I stand by my comments about match fixing but can’t reveal names for my safety,” he said. “I made the statement in good faith and I will reveal the names to the ICC.”

Meanwhile, Muttiah Muralitharan, who was Tillakaratne’s team-mate for the most part of his career, joined Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in asking Tillakaratne to prove his claims.

“I don’t know why he has said this,” Muralitharan told PTI. “If somebody is making such claims, he should first give enough proof to support them, otherwise someone can sue him. He has made allegations and only he is answerable for that. These are mere allegations which have not been proved yet.”

Muralitharan said he had never been approached by match-fixers during his career. “In any case, I will tell this to ICC’s anti-corruption unit only,” he added. “There is a code and all the players follow that.”

Ina  related development NDTV reported that former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga said he would “reveal more details” that is likely to substantiate Hashan Tillakaratne’s match fixing allegations.

“I am planning to hold a press conference soon and will reveal more details on this,” Ranatunga said from Colombo yesterday after his former teammate Tillakaratne revealed on Friday that match fixing in Sri Lankan cricket was rampant since 1992.

Both Ranatunga and Tillakaratne have entered politics and belong to the opposition party.

Ranatunga, who led the islanders to a World Cup triumph in 1996, also headed the Sri Lankan cricket board in 2008. Meanwhile, a former Sri Lankan player found something strange about two matches in the early 1990s.

“I am suspicious about at least two matches. Sri Lankan players had no money then,” he said. When asked why he did not disclose the information for 20 years, he said: “The truth would not have come out even now had this not been revealed by Tillakaratne.”