Lara maintains silence over match-fixing allegations

West Indies star batsman Brian Lara remained tight-lipped here Sunday over allegations he accepted money for match-fixing.

On the West Indian team's first full day in Australia after arriving Saturday, Lara, 31, refused to comment on claims he was paid 40,000 dollars US to under-perform in two one-day matches during his team's tour of India in 1995.

Indian bookmaker M. K. Gupta made the payment to Lara, a report issued last week by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation said.

Lara issued a brief statement in London last Thursday categorically denying taking money from a bookmaker or anyone else to under-perform.

But he has doggedly refused to talk to the media on the issue since the team landed in Perth Saturday.

West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt said Sunday Lara was remaining silent on the advice of his London lawyer.

He would like to comment, Skerritt said, but would not do so until he received the green light from his lawyer.

Meanwhile, Skerritt has said the West Indies team is fully behind Lara and will do everything to help him during a difficult time.

Lara joined his teammates at practice at the WACA Ground nets Sunday when he shaped up well with the bat.

Lara is among nine overseas cricketers alleged in the report to have accepted cash to fix matches, under-perform or provide pitch, weather and team information.

The other eight named are Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Alec Stewart (England), Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka), Martin Crowe (New Zealand), Asif Iqbal and Salim Malik (Pakistan) and Mark Waugh (Australia).

Five Indians named in the report as being involved with bookmakers are former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and Ajay Sharma.

Mail Cricket Editor