Sri Lanka’s former cricket captain Hashan Tillakaratne has claimed that his country had been fixing games since 1992, once again raising the spectre of corruption in the sport. The left-handed batsman, who played 83 Tests and 200 one-dayers for Sri Lanka during his 15-year career, said he was prepared to back up his allegations by naming some of those involved.
“Match fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This has spread like a cancer today,” Tillakaratne was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper on Friday. “According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992. “There were threats of this issue being exposed at various times. But it was pushed down by giving money to various people.
“If the people who were responsible for that are listening to this, I state this today with great responsibility, I will shortly reveal the names of those responsible,” he said. Tillakaratne, who skippered Sri Lanka between April 2003 and March 2004, stopped short of suggesting the 2011 World Cup final was rigged, although he expressed reservations about the selection of the Sri Lankan team that was beaten by India.
There was no immediate comment from the Sri Lankan cricket board over the allegations. Tillakaratne is now an opposition politician.
