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Mark Waugh refuses to be interviewed by ICC
Jan 22, 2001, 11:40 Hrs (IST)

Sydney: Senior batsman Mark Waugh, acting on legal advice, has refused to be interviewed by the Australian Cricket Board's (ACB) special investigator Greg Melick, his manager said on Monday.

Melick and the International Cricket Council's (ICC) chief investigator Sir Paul Condon had sought to interview Waugh early next month over allegations contained in an Indian police report that he had taken $ 20,000 from illegal bookmaker M K Gupta.

Gupta has in turn been implicated in rampant betting and match-fixing among cricket's elite international players, particularly in the subcontinent.

The highest profile scalp claimed so far in the still-unravelling scandal is South African captain Hansie Cronje.

Cronje admitted he accepted money from bookmakers to rig match results, becoming the first high-profile player to end his career in ignominy after the scandal broke.

Other high profile players in South Africa and India have since been implicated in corruption.

A statement issued by Waugh's manager Leo Karis on Monday said, "Mark Waugh's lawyer Raff Pisano of Maddock, Lonie Chisholm today informed the ACB that their client has presently declined its request for him to be interviewed by ACB and ICC investigators in early February.

"Pisano says Waugh has co-operated with previous ACB and ICC inquiries and is continuing to co-operate with their present inquiries. The ACB and the ICC have not provided Waugh with any evidence about the unsubstantiated allegations made by M K Gupta in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report.

"He has already denied those allegations. Waugh's focus is on his commitment to cricket and to ensure the game's reputation is not further tarnished by endless inquiries and speculation," the statement concluded.

The only public forum in which Waugh has addressed the latest allegations was an impromptu media conference in Queensland last year.

He said then he had already participated in the two inquiries conducted in Australia and Pakistan.

In 1998, Waugh and Test leg spinner Shane Warne admitted to taking money from a bookmaker called "John" in return for pitch and weather information in 1994.

The two players were fined by the ACB in 1995 but the matter was hushed up until it was brought to light by the media in 1998.

Both Karis and Pisano, when asked on Monday for a reason for Waugh's refusal to be interviewed, put the emphasis on the fact Waugh had "presently declined" to be interviewed.

Neither would speculate on whether Waugh would agree to be interviewed at a later date.

Copyright AFP 2000

Extras: Focus:Match-fixing