By Former West Indies player Marlon Samuels has been found guilty of his conduct while playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 league in 2019 as he failed to disclose “receipt of hospitality with a value of $750 or more.”
Samuels was a highly talented batsman who was capable of scoring runs quickly and fluently. He was also a useful off-spinner who could bowl at a good pace. In 2008; he was banned for two years for receiving money from a bookmaker
. He was also involved in a number of other controversies, including a run-out incident with Brian Lara in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
As the ruling of Samuals has been made many are interested in finding out what would be the outcome of ongoing investigations on corruption allegations made against sri Lankan cricketers.
The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Colombo banned former Sri Lanka cricketer Sachithra Senanayake from traveling overseas after a probe was launched against him. It is alleged that Senanayake had approached two cricketers in the first edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in 2020 via telephone from Dubai to fix matches.
In 2019, n former sports minister Harin Fernando said that the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of the world’s most corrupt cricketing nations.
In July 2023, an opposition member of the Sri Lankan parliament, Nalin Bandara, made allegations of match-fixing in the first Test of the Pakistan series. Bandara claimed that the match was fixed and that players had been paid to lose.
Sri Lanka Cricket has asked the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate the allegations. The ICC has said that it is “committed to taking all necessary steps to protect the integrity of cricket” and that it will “investigate any credible allegations of corruption”.
The Sri Lankan investigations are ongoing and it is not yet clear what evidence has been uncovered. However, the allegations have raised serious concerns about the integrity of Sri Lankan cricket.
Allegations against the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit have also been made by Sri Lankan cricketers, including former captain, Arjuna Ranatunga. Ranatunga has accused the ACU of being “a kangaroo court” and of being “fixed” against Sri Lankan cricketers.
