Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mohammad Ashraful was suspended from the sport on Tuesday after he confessed his involvement in fixing, a top cricket official said.
The International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has been probing allegations of match-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 competition.
“As Ashraful has confessed his involvement in fixing to the ACSU team, so he should not be allowed to play any level of cricket until we get a full report of the investigation,” Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters.
“I have spoken with Ashraful, he told me that he has confessed everything to the ASCU,” Hassan said, although he added that the batsman had not disclosed details of his confession to him.
Hassan made Tuesday’s announcement during a meeting of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in the capital Dhaka called to deal with the allegations, which have been widely reported in local media.
The alleged fixing involves a match between the Dhaka Gladiators and the Chittagong Kings teams during the second edition of the BPL, BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said.
Local media have reported that 28-year-old Gladiators star Ashraful was allegedly paid about one million taka ($12,800) to lose the February 2 match, but the cheque he was given later bounced.
The big-hitting batsman was also allegedly involved in fixing another match 10 days later, against the Barisal Burners, which his team lost by seven wickets, the local newspaper reports have said.
Ashraful became the country’s youngest Test centurion in 2001 at the age of 17 and captained Bangladesh between 2007 and 2009.
The allegations are the latest to hit Bangladeshi cricket, including the BPL, which was launched in 2012 in emulation of neighbouring India’s lucrative tournament.
Indian cricket is embroiled in its own scandal involving alleged betting and spot-fixing during the just-finished Indian Premier League season, with the arrest last month of three players, scores of bookmakers and others.
