England’s tour of Sri Lanka in jeopardy after documentary reveals fixing
Galle is scheduled to be a host to a couple of Tests this year.
England is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for an ODI, T20I and Test series later this year. The Barmy Army’s campaign will start with five ODIs followed by a one-off T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Their journey ends with a three-match Test series in Galle, Palekelle and Colombo respectively. However, the scheduling of the series has come under the clouds.
In a recent documentary released by Al Jazeera, the officials of the Galle International Stadium has been seen fixing a couple of matches. They have been accused of the same in 2016 against Australia and versus India in 2017. While the Islanders thumped the Kangaroos by 229 runs, India brushed aside the hosts by a mammoth margin of 304 runs.
The uncertainty over the tour
Robin Morris, a match fixer, admitted that he bribed them to alter the nature of the pitches. Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched an inquiry into the grave issue in order to punish the culprits. The England Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to wait for the verdict by the world’s apex cricket board.
“The ECB are aware of the planned Al Jazeera documentary, though not the full content. We endorse the ICC’s position and fully support their work and investigations,” an ECB spokesperson was quoted as saying by the media.
Galle is listed to host the opening Test of the series, which starts from November 6. South Africa will also tour Sri Lanka for a full-fledged series next month. Galle will be a host to the first Test, which begins on July 12. However, they are yet to opine on the shambolic incident.
Cricket is deemed to be a gentleman’s sport. However, match-fixing, spot-fixing and several other undesired actions have threatened to mar the sanctity of the game.
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