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ACB to probe fresh match-fixing claims

The Australian Cricket Board said on Monday a special investigator will determine whether there is any substance to new claims of corruption involving the Australian team.

ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed said the investigator will be appointed this week. He will look into claims allegedly made by former Pakistan captain Salim Malik that Australian players were involved in match-fixing during an unspecified game between the two countries in 1994.

"Before jumping to conclusions we must determine if the comments are simply the idle boasts of a man devoid of credibility who is seeking to impress others or if there is any evidence to support his comments," Speed said.

"Assuming the newspaper reports are accurate the allegations raised are very serious."

Former Pakistan cricket captain Salim Malik is alleged to have said a match between Australia and Pakistan in 1994 was a double fix so that both sides were trying to lose.

The match was believed to have been played in Colombo.

Britain's News of the World newspaper said its undercover reporters had video tapes of conversations with Malik alleging the match-fixing claims.

Australian cricket was forced to reveal in 1998 it had fined star spinner Shane Warne and batsman Mark Waugh for providing weather and pitch information to an illegal Indian bookmaker over a period of five months from September. The story had been hushed up.

Cricket has been rocked by revelations of match-fixing following the confession by former South African captain Hansie Cronje that he had taken money from a bookmaker to influence a game.

Malik is the central figure in Pakistan's match-fixing controversy, despite having twice been cleared by a Supreme Court judge.