India vs England 2016 match 'fixed'? ICC gives verdict on Al Jazeera documentary claims

Three years after Al Jazeera's explosive documentary which claimed a string of cricket matches were fixed, the International Cricket Council (ICC) concluded its independent probe into the matter on Monday. The ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers’ broadcasted by Al Jazeera on May 27, 2018, had claimed that two high-profile matches were fixed to generate a pre-decided and favourable outcome. However, after the conclusion of the probe, the ICC has junked the claims made due to 'insufficient credible and reliable evidence'. 

The programme aired by Al Jazeera had claimed that - India vs England in Chennai in 2016 and India v Australia in Ranchi in 2017 - were fixed. To probe and verify the same, the ICC engaged four independent betting and cricketing specialists to analyse the claims. As per the ICC, all four specialists have concluded that the passages of play identified in the programme as being allegedly fixed were entirely predictable, and therefore 'implausible as a fix.'

The ICC also went on to interview all the five participants that featured in the programme and made the aforementioned fixing claims. Following the probe, the ICC concluded that there is 'insufficient evidence' to lay any charges under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. 

“On the basis of the programme, the Participants to the Code who were filmed appear to have behaved in a questionable manner, however, we have been unable to assess the full context of the conversations that took place beyond what was seen on screen versus what the Participants claim actually happened. This combined with the absence of any other credible evidence means there are insufficient grounds to bring charges under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code," Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager – Integrity said. 

Significantly, the ICC has kept the possibility of re-examining the case if any new substantial evidence comes to light. 

In the 2016 Test which was played in Chennai, India had registered a comprehensive win against England by an innings and 75 runs. The game saw Moeen Ali smash 146 runs as the visitors piled up 407 runs. In response, a triple century from Karun Nair and KL Rahul's innings of 199 runs helped India post a mammoth total of 759 runs. The Indian bowlers sweeped a victory in the second innings as Ravindra Jadeja skittled the visitors for just 207 runs. In the other game that had come under scanner, Australia had managed to salvage draw against India courtesy of an unbeaten 178 by Steven Smith and a century by Glenn Maxwell in the first innings.

ICC bans Heath Streak 

Continuing its crackdown on corruption in cricket, the ICC recently handed former Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak an eight-year ban after being found guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption code. Streak, who is one of the finest cricketers to have excelled for Zimbabwe at the highest level accepted all five charges as a participant under the Code by virtue of his status as the coach of Zimbabwe from 2016 to 2018 and as the coach of various domestic teams. Reports state that he disclosed inside information in relation to matches in the 2018 tri-series involving Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, the Zimbabwe v Afghanistan series in 2018.

Among others, the charges included (2.3.2) “disclosing inside information under both the ICC Code and various domestic Codes, in circumstances where he knew or should have known that such information may be used for betting purposes.”
The matches include some in international cricket as well as for stints in Twenty20 leagues including the IPL, the BPL, and Afghanistan Premier League.