England's top cricket official expressed fears on Tuesday that corruption in the scandal-hit sport could be widespread.

Lord MacLaurin, Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), made his claims as the International Cricket Council (ICC) met at Lord's for a two day emergency meeting.

The ICC hopes that decisive steps can be taken this week towards cleaning up the sport in the wake of the Hansie Cronje scandal and other allegations of match-fixing.

Delegates began arriving early to the ECB offices, but few were prepared to stop and talk to the assembled media.

ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya was one of the first to arrive, but would only say "We're hopeful" when questioned about the meeting while Dennis Rogers, Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board, refused to comment. But most of the interest centred on Ali Bacher, Managing Director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa and Chairman of the ICC's Development Committee.

Bacher has promised to unmask the teams and the umpire he claims were involved in match-fixing during last year's World Cup and said: "We want to eradicate once and for all the cancer from the game - I'm sure there'll be positives from this meeting."

Lord MacLaurin meanwhile, when asked on BBC radio if he thought corruption was rife in cricket, replied: "I have a nasty feeling that it might be. If it is, and we are ferreting it all out now, so be it. This game of cricket is a very great game and it cannot be tainted by people destroying it in the ways that have been alleged in recent times."

The ICC is still awaiting the findings of Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's report into match-fixing in Pakistan. But MacLaurin believes the problem is not solely restricted to the sub-continent.

He continued: "I hope we have the Pakistan report today. We have had inquiries here and in South Africa, and we have had problems in Australia so you could say it is worldwide.

"I really don't think anyone knows - but we have to make sure we put all the rules and regulations in to clear it out of the game." MacLaurin believes the ICC have to deal with the problem quickly and effectively. He said: "We, as the senior people in cricket worldwide, have to establish our own credibility to be able to deal with this matter.

"We'll be asking everyone round the table to make a full declaration that their past is absolutely clean and clear.

"You can't have a board of directors pontificating about the future of the game if any one of them have any skeletons in the closet. They have to be crystal clear in their past dealings otherwise the thing becomes a farce." He added: "The ICC has got to grab this one. It has got to show leadership of the game, it has got to show their teeth. If it doesn't the great game of cricket will be seen to be leaderless."