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New bribery allegations against Mark Waugh

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November 2, 2000 

SYDNEY (AP) - Admissions by Australian batsman Mark Waugh that he took money from an Indian bookmaker for pitch information could be reviewed after fresh doubt was raised over the sum of money he accepted.

Waugh was among dozens of internationals, including former captains of six nations, who were named in the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation report into cricket corruption.

The 162-page report, conducted by India's equivalent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, was released Wednesday in New Delhi by Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

In many cases, however, the report did not specify whether a cricketer was accused of receiving a bribe or had merely been offered money to underperform. The bulk of information was based on testimony from Indian bookmakers.

Waugh was bunched together with star West Indian batsman Brian Lara, former England captain Alec Stewart, disgraced South African captain Hansie Cronje and Pakistan's Salim Malik in one paragraph dealing with allegations made by Indian bookmaker M.K. Gupta.

Gupta told investigators another Australian batsman, Dean Jones, had been offered U.S. dlrs 40,000 to underperform in a series in 1992 but had refused.

In the report, Gupta told the CBI that he had paid U.S. dlrs 40,000 to Lara to underperform on a 1994 tour of India.

The CBI report alleged that U.S. dlrs 20,000 was paid to Mark Waugh on a tour of Sri Lanka in '94. Mark Waugh, twin brother of Australian captain Steve Waugh, has admitted receiving about U.S. dlrs 5,000 to provide pitch and weather information on the tour. He has already been fined by the Australian Cricket Board.

ACB spokesman Brian Murgatroyd said Australian authorities would not comment on Mark Waugh, the CBI report or any related issue until they had read the report and put it in context.

Murgatroyd said Waugh, who is on an Australian squad training camp in Queensland state preparing for an upcoming test series against the West Indies, would not available for comment.

ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed said he was yet to see any part of the report that would allow him to "make an informed assessment," and he would be urgently seeking a copy.

"Should any new evidence or credible allegation emerge against any Australian player, it will be referred to the ACB's special investigator, Greg Melick, for a thorough investigation," Speed said.

Jones, who has applied for the vacant Indian coaching position, had earlier said he was outraged at being named in the report and claimed he was being vilified for trying to expose match fixing in 1992.

The CBI investigation commenced in May when the bribery scandal erupted following admissions by Cronje that he'd taken money from an Indian bookmaker in exchange for team and pitch information.

Cronje, who is still the subject of Indian police investigations, was fired and banned for life by South African cricket authorities.

Other allegations have been raised against other current or former internationals including Martin Crowe of New Zealand and Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin.